What is Magnetic Declination?

[aristotle73]

What is magnetic declination? SatFinder says I have a magnetic declination of approximately -11*. What does this mean?

 

[PSB]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination

 

[sharris]

A quick and dirty expanation is the difference between Tru North and Magentic North. A compass of course works on magnetic north, so the declination either subtracted or added would be True. E.g., 0 or 360 degrees being north, if your declination is -11 then 360-11 or 349 degrees. This being said, if G10r is at 123 degrees true, it would be at 134 magnetic on your compass. Oddly enough and for trivia sake, declination changes over time depending on the magnetic field generated by the earth, so every so often (2 to 3 years), countries around the planet measure these and make declination charts for there country.

Never followed the link that PSB had here but I'm sure it will be a wealth of info as well.

 

[aristotle73]

This being said, if G10r is at 123 degrees true, it would be at 134 magnetic on your compass.

So if a sat is 97*W, which comes to about 210* Azimuth for me, would that mean that the sat is located on my compass at 221*?

 

[Katrinasucks]

So if a sat is 97*W, which comes to about 210* Azimuth for me, would that mean that the sat is located on my compass at 221*?

Close.. but not. Didn't you say it was MINUS 11? ;-)