Points on a rotating astronomical body where the axis of rotation intersects the surface
A geographical axis of rotation A (green), and showing the north geographical pole A1, and south geographical pole A2; also showing a magnetic field and the magnetic axis of rotation B (blue), and the north magnetic pole B1, and south magnetic pole B2.
Ageographical pole orgeographic pole is either of the two points on Earth where itsaxis of rotation intersects its surface.[1] TheNorth Pole lies in theArctic Ocean while theSouth Pole is inAntarctica. North and South poles are also defined for other planets or satellites in theSolar System, with a North pole being on the same side of theinvariable plane as Earth's North pole.[2]
Relative to Earth's surface, the geographic poles move by a few metres over periods of a few years.[3] This is a combination ofChandler wobble, a free oscillation with a period of about 433 days; an annual motion responding to seasonal movements of air and water masses; and an irregular drift towards the 80th westmeridian.[4] Ascartography requires exact and unchanging coordinates, the averaged[citation needed] locations of geographical poles are taken as fixedcartographic poles and become the points where the body'sgreat circles oflongitude intersect.
^Kotlyakov, Vladimir; Komarova, Anna (2006)."pole; geographic pole".Elsevier's dictionary of geography : in English, Russian, French, Spanish and German (1st ed.). Elsevier. p. 557.ISBN9780080488783. Retrieved22 June 2015.
^Archinal, B. A.; A’Hearn, M. F.; Bowell, E.; Conrad, A.; Consolmagno, G. J.; Courtin, R.; Fukushima, T.; Hestroffer, D.; Hilton, J. L.; Krasinsky, G. A.; Neumann, G.; Oberst, J.; Seidelmann, P. K.; Stooke, P.; Tholen, D. J.; Thomas, P. C.; Williams, I. P. (February 2011). "Report of the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements: 2009".Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy.109 (2):101–135.Bibcode:2011CeMDA.109..101A.doi:10.1007/s10569-010-9320-4.S2CID189842666.
^"Polar motion".International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy. 2013. Retrieved22 October 2020.
