Nautical mile 1 sea mile", followed by "For most practical purposes distance is measured from the latitude scale, assuming that one minute of latitude equals one nautical mile". One tenth of a nautical mile is a cable length. The derived unit of speed is the knot, defined as one nautical mile per hour. The metre was originally defined as of the meridian arc from the North pole to the equator passing through Dunkirk. The Earth’s circumference is therefore approximately 40,000 km. The equatorial circumference is slightly longer than the polar circumference – the measurement based on this (40,075.017 km x x =
Longitude of the periapsis Longitude of the periapsis In celestial mechanics, the longitude of the periapsis, also called longitude of the pericenter, of an orbiting body is the longitude (measured from the point of the vernal equinox) at which the periapsis (closest approach to the central body) would occur if the body's orbit inclination were zero. It is usually denoted "ϖ". For the motion of a planet around the Sun, this position is called longitude of perihelion ϖ, which is the sum of the longitude of the ascending node Ω, and the argument of perihelion ω. The longitude of periapsis is a compound angle,