Circle of latitude can be calculated by a common sine or cosine function. The 60th parallel north or south is half as long as the Equator (disregarding Earth's minor flattening by 0.3%). A circle of latitude is perpendicular to all meridians. The latitude of the circle is approximately the angle between the Equator and the circle, with the angle's vertex at Earth's centre. The equator is at 0°, and the North Pole and South Pole are at 90° north and 90° south, respectively. The Equator is the longest circle of latitude and is the only circle of latitude which also is a great
Latitude coordinate system. The relation of Cartesian and ellipsoidal coordinates is discussed in Torge. Astronomical latitude () is the angle between the equatorial plane and the true vertical at a point on the surface. The true vertical, the direction of a plumb line, is also the direction of the gravity acceleration, the resultant of the gravitational acceleration (mass-based) and the centrifugal acceleration at that latitude. Astronomic latitude is calculated from angles measured between the zenith and stars whose declination is accurately known. In general the true vertical at a point on the surface does not exactly coincide with either the normal