Symbols and Abbreviations
The standard symbol for marking the arcminute is the prime (′) (U+2032), though a single quote (') (U+0027) is commonly used where only ASCII characters are permitted. One arcminute is thus written 1′. It is also abbreviated as arcmin or amin or, less commonly, the prime with a circumflex over it .
The standard symbol for the arcsecond is the double prime (″) (U+2033), though a double quote (") (U+0022) is commonly used where only ASCII characters are permitted. One arcsecond is thus written 1″. It is also abbreviated as arcsec or asec.
| Unit | Value | Symbol | Abbreviations | In radians (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Degree | 1⁄360 circle | ° | deg | 17.4532925 mrad |
| Arcminute | 1⁄60 degree | ′ (prime) | arcmin, amin, am, MOA | 290.8882087 µrad |
| Arcsecond | 1⁄60 arcminute | ″ (double prime) | arcsec, asec, as | 4.8481368 µrad |
| Milliarcsecond | 1⁄1,000 arcsecond | mas | 4.8481368 nrad | |
| Microarcsecond | 10−6 arcsecond | μas | 4.8481368 prad |
In celestial navigation, seconds of arc are rarely used in calculations, the preference usually being for degrees, minutes and decimals of a minute, written for example as 42° 25′.32 or 42° 25′.322. This notation has been carried over into marine GPS receivers, which normally display latitude and longitude in the latter format by default.
Read more about this topic: Minute Of Arc
Famous quotes containing the word symbols:
“The twentieth-century artist who uses symbols is alienated because the system of symbols is a private one. After you have dealt with the symbols you are still private, you are still lonely, because you are not sure anyone will understand it except yourself. The ransom of privacy is that you are alone.”
—Louise Bourgeois (b. 1911)