Nautical mile latitude could be used as the basis for a unit of measurement for distance and proposed the nautical mile as one minute or one-sixtieth () of one degree of latitude. As one degree is of a circle, one minute of arc is of a circle (or, in radians, ). These sexagesimal (base 60) units originated in Babylonian astronomy. Gunter used Snell's circumference to define a nautical mile as 6,080 feet, the length of one minute of arc at 48 degrees latitude. Since the earth is not a perfect sphere but is an oblate spheroid with slightly flattened poles, a minute
Circle of equal altitude Circle of equal altitude The circle of equal altitude also called circle of position, CoP, is the real line of position in celestial navigation. It is defined as the locus of the Earth on which an observer sees a star, at a given time, with the same observed altitude. The center of the CoP, is the substellar point or geographical position of the observed body, and its radius is the great circle distance equal to the zenith distance of the body. The equation links the following variables formula_1 Being "B" the latitude (+N/S), "L" the longitude (+E/-W). "LHA" = "GHA"