The North Pole Is The South Pole: Communication Breakdown

Magnetically speaking, anyway...

Came across this interesting note in a lecture today.. I've done a fair amount of research concerning magnetics, somehow this just slipped by me..

Earth's North Magnetic Pole is actually the south pole of the magnetic field.

A link..


At least in consideration of a dipole, or a magnetic bar, the field points to the north magnetic pole, which in the case of this planet is technically the geographic south pole as we know it..

This leads me to think, who in history identified the geographic "north pole" as north? I mean solar-system-wise, it's a 50-50 shot, right? Maybe I'm missing something, or perhaps this is more of a philosophical question..

Good day.

Wait, the only bit of information about the poles being backwards is that one single photo. Am I missing something? No hardcore info about it in your link or thread, just one sentence in the link saying it's backwards

The word north is related to the Old High German nord, both descending from the Proto-Indo-European unit ner-, meaning "down" (or "under"). (Presumably a natural primitive description of its concept is "to the left of the rising sun".)

en.wikipedia.org...

ancient egyptians knew draconis was the north celestial body, even the sun rotates around it..
so the circumpolar stars like the pleides are considered northern stars, as seen in this part of the hemisphere.

the suns magentic poles effect the earths magnetic pole.....if there is a large magnetic flux (solar flares) then you will see temporary changes in our magnetic field...including temporary magnetic flips....but the question is...would it stay like that??

the E&M universe is more important than you think....the suns E&M forces can manipulate time and space (including mass) as we know it.....

peace

Actually sorry, found more info in your link:

Earth's magnetic poles are actually pretty far from its geographic poles. In 2005, the North Magnetic Pole (NMP) was about 810 km (503 miles) from the Geographic North Pole. The NMP was in the Arctic Ocean north of Canada. The South Magnetic Pole (SMP) was about 2,826 km (1,756 miles) from the Geographic South Pole. The SMP was off the coast of Antarctica in the direction of Australia.

From your own link, it states that north is north and south is south. Just off by a couple hundred miles. I don't get the whole "backwards pole" thing that you are trying to put forward

Originally posted by QuantumPhysicist
Actually sorry, found more info in your link:

Earth's magnetic poles are actually pretty far from its geographic poles. In 2005, the North Magnetic Pole (NMP) was about 810 km (503 miles) from the Geographic North Pole. The NMP was in the Arctic Ocean north of Canada. The South Magnetic Pole (SMP) was about 2,826 km (1,756 miles) from the Geographic South Pole. The SMP was off the coast of Antarctica in the direction of Australia.

From your own link, it states that north is north and south is south. Just off by a couple hundred miles. I don't get the whole "backwards pole" thing that you are trying to put forward

"North Magnetic Pole":

Though geographically in the north, it is, by the direction of the magnetic field lines, physically the south pole of the Earth's magnetic field.

Wiki.. (yea I know)...

Originally posted by Phage

The word north is related to the Old High German nord, both descending from the Proto-Indo-European unit ner-, meaning "down" (or "under"). (Presumably a natural primitive description of its concept is "to the left of the rising sun".)

en.wikipedia.org...

Good answer!
15th...

Originally posted by QuantumPhysicist

From your own link, it states that north is north and south is south. Just off by a couple hundred miles. I don't get the whole "backwards pole" thing that you are trying to put forward

The geographic north pole is defined as north, and the geographic south pole is defined as south. But, the geomagnetic north and south poles (which are the ones that a "off by a couple hundred miles") are a bit different. In electromagnetism, a north pole is defined as where there vector of the EM field lines points outward (in layman terms, it's where the field exits the object), while the south pole is defined as where the vector of the field points inward (where the field enters the object). In the case of the Earth, and as shown in the image in the OP, the geomagnetic field lines enter in the geographic north and exit in the geographic south. This means the true north geomagnetic pole is actually in the geographic south, and the true south geomagnetic pole is actually in the geographic north.
However, before people were able to map the Earth's EM field lines, the geomagnetic poles were names in relation to the geographic poles - north in the north, south in the south. Consequently, what we call the "north geomagnetic pole" is actually the south geomagnetic pole, and what we call the "south geomagnetic pole" is actually the north geomagnetic pole.

reply to post by Phage
So, when we look at the magnetosphere simulation animation, are the magnetic lines emanating from what we call the "South Pole" ? And does that mean that this area of the Earth is the 'leading edge' as we whoosh around the Sun spinning on our axis? (It would seem so, based on what you and the OP have shared, plus the visual simulation of the impact of Solar winds.) If true, it is a true paradigm shift for me!

,

Originally posted by new_here
reply to post by Phage

 

So, when we look at the magnetosphere simulation animation, are the magnetic lines emanating from what we call the "South Pole" ? And does that mean that this area of the Earth is the 'leading edge' as we whoosh around the Sun spinning on our axis? (It would seem so, based on what you and the OP have shared, plus the visual simulation of the impact of Solar winds.) If true, it is a true paradigm shift for me!

This is probably a better visualization...

reply to post by CLPrime


Yes, but...

Why did magnetic poles get defined opposite geographic poles. It would seem to be arbitrary. Electromagnetic north could have just as well been named south. Instead they just had to go and confuse everyone.

reply to post by rstregooski


That image (and the compasses it shows) reminds me of another interesting bit of information.
Opposites attract, so, in the case of a compass, the north pole of the compass magnet aligns with the southern geomagnetic pole of the Earth...which, due to the mix-up in the naming of the poles, happens to be the north geographic pole. So, north on the compass is, in fact, north on the map.

reply to post by Phage


What I just posted, above, may actually be the cause of that.

reply to post by rstregooski
Thank you, I understood that part. My question is, on the Magnetosphere simulation: link does the blue represent Magnetic North or the red? If blue, then it is Geographic South, and our Earth is situated in space polar opposite (pun intended!) from what I always 'knew' to be true (relative to all other spheres in our Solar System.) That is to say, we are upside down, so to speak.

reply to post by new_here


Yes. That's what this entire thread is about.

reply to post by CLPrime
Ah, well sorry, I won't bother with such silly questions then.

Originally posted by new_here
reply to post by CLPrime

 

Ah, well sorry, I won't bother with such silly questions then.

Don't worry about that, I'm happily slipstreaming your questions in my quest for knowledge

reply to post by new_here


It wasn't a silly question. My answer may have been a bit short. In fact, I can safely say it was.
The south geomagnetic pole is, in fact, physically in the north. So, at least electromagnetically, the Earth is upside-down.

reply to post by CLPrime

Well sure. Now it is. But 750,000 years ago it wasn't.

Originally posted by new_here
reply to post by rstregooski

 

Thank you, I understood that part. My question is, on the Magnetosphere simulation: link does the blue represent Magnetic North or the red? If blue, then it is Geographic South, and our Earth is situated in space polar opposite (pun intended!) from what I always 'knew' to be true (relative to all other spheres in our Solar System.) That is to say, we are upside down, so to speak.

I don't quite know about that simulation link. I tend to check it every once in a while and I've seen that simulation so cross-tied it's not even funny. I know that in general the field points in the direction of the magnetic north, which in this case is south? This business is confusing..