Chacana & Equatorial Monument (latitude 0º0'8''), Middle of the World City at 2,483 meters (8,146 ft) above sea level, Ecuador.

            The name is derived from medieval Latin word aequator, in the phrase circulus aequator diei et noctis, meaning ‘circle equalizing day and night’, from the Latin word aequare meaning ‘make equal’.

***

Mysteries from Middle Earth:

The idea of standing with one foot in each hemisphere is an intriguing one, and the closer you get to the equator, the more you hear about the equator’s mysterious energy. But what is fact and what is fiction?

There’s no point in starting softly, so let’s debunk the biggest myth first: La Mitad del Mundo is not on the equator – but it’s close. Global Positioning System (GPS) devices show that it’s only about 240m off the mark. And no one who sees the photos of you straddling the equator has to know this, right?

Another tough one to swallow is the myth of the flushing toilet. One of the highlights of the Museo Solar Inti Ñan is the demonstration of water draining counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise 3m away, south of the equator. Researchers claim it’s a crock. The Coriolis Force – which causes weather systems to veer right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere – has no effect on small bodies of water like those in a sink or a toilet. Draining water spins the way it does due to plumbing, eddies in the water, the shape of the basin and other factors.

How about some truth: you do weigh less on the equator. This is due to greater centrifugal force on the equator than at the poles. But the difference between here and at the poles is only about 0.3%, not the 1.5% to 2% the scales at the monument imply.

It is true that the spring and autumn equinoxes are the only days when the sun shines directly overhead at the equator. In fact, that’s what defines an equinox. But that doesn’t mean the days and nights are equal in length, as many would have you believe – this happens just before the spring equinox and just after the autumn equinox, and the day depends on where you are on the planet.

More fascinating than any of the myths perpetuated by Inti Ñan and the Mitad del Mundo, however, is the fact that the true equator (0º0'0'' degrees, according to GPS readings) resides on a sacred indigenous site constructed more than 1,000 years ago. The name of the site is Catequilla, and it sits on a hilltop on the opposite side of the highway from the Mitad del Mundo.

***

The latitude of the Earth's equator is, by definition, 0° (zero degrees) of arc. The equator is one of the five notable circles of latitude on Earth; the other four are both polar circles (the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle) and both tropical circles (the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn). The equator is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle—that is, one whose plane passes through the center of the globe. The plane of Earth's equator, when projected outwards to the celestial sphere, defines the celestial equator.

In the cycle of Earth's seasons, the equatorial plane runs through the Sun twice per year: on the equinoxes in March and September. To a person on Earth, the Sun appears to travel above the equator (or along the celestial equator) at these times. Light rays from the Sun's center are perpendicular to Earth's surface at the point of solar noon on the equator.

Locations on the equator experience the shortest sunrises and sunsets because the Sun's daily path is nearly perpendicular to the horizon for most of the year. The length of daylight (sunrise to sunset) is almost constant throughout the year; it is about 14 minutes longer than nighttime due to atmospheric refraction and the fact that sunrise begins (or sunset ends) as the upper limb, not the center, of the Sun's disk contacts the horizon.

Earth bulges slightly at the equator; the "average" diameter of Earth is 12,750 km (7,920 mi), but the diameter at the equator is about 43 km (27 mi) greater than at the poles.

Sites near the equator, such as the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, are good locations for spaceports as they have a fastest rotational speed of any latitude, 460 m/s. The added velocity reduces the fuel needed to launch spacecraft eastward (in the direction of Earth's rotation) to orbit, while simultaneously avoiding costly maneuvers to flatten inclination during missions such as the Apollo moon landings.

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Taken in: Ecuador / Provincia de Pichincha / San Antonio / San Antonio (show map)

Taken on: December 9, 2019

Tags:

Ecuador

Equador

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

Middle of the World City

Cidade da Metade do Mundo

Pichincha

South America

San Antonio

the Monument to the Equador

Franco-Spanish Geodesic Mission

Museo Etnográfico Mitad del Mundo

Ethnographic Museum Middle of the Earth

the indigenous people ethnography of Ecuador

the Geodesic Mission of the French Academy of Sciences

the Earth

the French Geodesic Mission

Quitu-cara culture

egg-shaped

GPS

Latitud 0º0'0

the city's official double-decker bus

the Quito Tour Bus

Viator

tripadvisor

Equator Line Tour

Mitad del Mundo

Línea Equinoccial

Monumento Ecuatorial

Equatorial Monument

Central Highlands

Casa Carpedm

Jackie Luzuriaga

Cerros de la Marca

Pululahua

La Marca Hills

The Monument to the Equator

Monumento a la Mitad del Mundo « less

Sets appears in: • Straddle the Equator in Quito.

Groups appears in: • South America - public group • Sculptures, Statues, and Public Art more » • Views 8000 • 50+ Faves 1-2-3 (Post one,Comment and Fave two). • ! 60-89 Faves (P1,A+F3) • Ecuador, country of the sun • ! FavTop 50-99 (P1, A+F4) • SONY ILCE-6000/6300/6500 • Flickr Social • FAV 51-80 (P1, A+F5) • ALL AMERICAS • A PLACE TO VISIT. SOUTH AMERICA « less

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Camera:	Sony ILCE-6300
Aperture:	f/10.0
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length:	16mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
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Software:	ILCE-6300 v2.01
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