Costa Romantica - Crossing the Equator - Party Time

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Dear Friends,

Costa Romantica, April 12 2011

Another day on sea. Today we are crossing th Equator, so there will be a great party on board with the super animation team of the Romantica, also King Neptune will visit the Costa Romantica and don't forget the Costa Romantica Dancers.
Some more information about Neptune and the Equator you find below. Thanks to Wikipedia.

Enjoy the pictures!!!!. It was great fun!!!!!!

See you next time on our Costa Sailorsblog.

From the Indian Ocean with love

Jacqueline and Adriaan aka Monkey and Bear



The Story of Neptunus = Thanks to Wikipedia.

Etymology

The etymology of Neptunus is unclear and disputed. The ancient grammarian Varro derived the name from nuptus i.e. covering (opertio), with a more or less explicit allusion to the nuptiae, marriage of Heaven and Earth.
Among modern scholars P. Kretschmer proposed a derivation from IE *neptu-, moist substance; but Dumezil remarked words deriving from root *nep are not attested in IE languages other than Vedic and Avestan. He proposed an etymology that brings together Neptunus with Vedic and Avestan theonyms Apam Napat, Apam Napá and Old Irish theonym Nechtan, all meaning descendant of the waters. By using the comparative approach the Indo-Iranian, Avestan and Irish figures would show common features with the Roman historicised legends about Neptune. Dumezil thence proposed to derive the nouns from IE root *nepot or *nept, descendant, siter's son. R. Bloch supposed it might be an adjectival form in -no from *nuptu-, meaning "he who is moist". More recently German scholar H. Petersmann proposed an etymology from IE rootstem *nebh related to clouds and foggs, plus suffix -tu denoting an abstract verbal noun, and adjectival suffix -no which refers to the domain of activity of a person or his prerogatives. IE root *nebh, having the original meaning of damp, wet, has given Sanskrit nábhah, Hittite nepis, Latin nubs, nebula, German nebel, Slavic nebo etc. The concept would be close to that expressed in the name of Greek god Όυράνος, derived from IE root *h2vórso-, to water, irrigate and *h2vorsó, the irrigator. This etymology would be more in accord with Varro's.
A different etymology grounded in the legendary history of Latium and Etruria was proposed by Preller and Müller-Deeke: Etruscan Nethunus, Nethuns would be an adjectival form of toponym Nepe(t), Nepete (presently Nepi), town of the ager Faliscus near Falerii. The district was traditionally connected to the cult of the god: Messapus and Halesus, eponymous hero of Falerii, were believed to be his own sons. Messapus led the Falisci and others to war in the Aeneid. Nepi and Falerii have been famed since antiquity for the excellent quality of the water of their springs, scattered in meadows.

Worship and theology

Mosaic of Neptune (Museo archeologico nazionale, Palermo)
The theology of Neptune may only be reconstructed to some extent as since very early times he was identified with the Greek god Poseidon, as he is present already in the lectisternium of 399 BC. Such an identification may well be grounded in the strict relationship between the Latin and Greek theologies of the two deities. It has been argued that Indo-European people, having no direct knowledge of the sea as they originated from inland areas, reused the theology of a deity originally either chthonic or wielding power over inland freshwaters as the god of the sea. This feature has been preserved particularly well in the case of Neptune who was definitely a god of springs, lakes and rivers before becoming also a god of the sea, as is testified by the numerous findings of inscriptions mentioning him in the proximity of such locations. Servius the grammarian also explicitly states Neptune is in charge of all the rivers, springs and waters.
He may find a parallel in Irish god Nechtan, master of the well from which all the rivers of the world flow out and flow back to.
Poseidon on the other hand underwent the process of becoming the main god of the sea at a much earlier time, as is shown in the Iliad.
In the earlier times it was the god Portunes or Fortunus who was thanked for naval victories, but Neptune supplanted him in this role by at least the first century BC when Sextus Pompeius called himself "son of Neptune." For a time he was paired with Salacia, the goddess of the salt water.
Neptune was also considered the legendary progenitor god of a Latin stock, the Faliscans, who called themselves Neptunia proles. In this respect he was the equivalent of Mars, Janus, Saturn and even Jupiter among Latin tribes. Salacia would represent the virile force of Neptune.

The Neptunalia

Main article: Neptunalia

The Neptunalia was the festival of Neptune on July 23, at the height of summer. The date and the construction of tree-branch shelters suggest a primitive role for Neptune as god of water sources in the summer's drought and heat.
The most ancient Roman calendar set the feriae of Neptunus on July 23, two days after the Lucaria of July 19 and 21 and two days before the Furrinalia of July 25. G. Wissowa had already remarked that festivals falling in a range of three days are related to each other. Dumezil elaborated that these festivals were all in some way related to the importance of the function of water during the period of summer heat (canicula), when river and spring waters are at their lowest. Founding his analysis on the works of Palladius and Columella Dumezil argues that while the Lucaria were devoted to the dressing of woods, clearing the undergrown bushes by cutting on the 19 and then by uprooting on the 21, (and burning them afterwards), the Neptunalia were spent in outings under branch huts (umbrae, casae frondeae), in a wood between the Tiber and the Via Salaria, drinking springwater and wine to escape the heat. It looks as though this festival was a time of general free and urestrained merrymaking during which men and women mixed without the usual Roman traditional social constraints. This character of the festival as well as the fact that Neptune was offered the sacrifice of a bull would point to an agricultural fertility context.
The Furrinalia too, devoted to Furrina, a goddess of springs, were referred to those springs which had to be detected by drilling, i.e. required the work of man thence creating a correspondence with the Lucaria of 21, equally entailing an analogous human action upon the soil. The Furrinalia of July 25 are explained by Dumezil with the hydraulic works again as prescribed by Palladius, i.e. the drilling of wells to detect underground water: patent and hidden waters are thus dealt with on separate though next occasions.

Temples

Neptune had two temples in Rome. The first, built in 25 BC, stood near the Circus Flaminius, the Roman racetrack, and contained a famous sculpture of a marine group by Scopas. The second, the Basilica Neptuni, was built on the Campus Martius and dedicated by Agrippa in honour of the naval victory of Actium.


Chichester Inscription which reads (in English): "To Neptune and Minerva, for the welfare of the Divine House, by the authority of Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, Great King in Britain,¹ the college of artificers and those therein erected this temple from their own resources ens, son of Pudentinus, donated the site."
Sacrifices
Neptune is one of only three Roman gods to whom it was appropriate to offer the sacrifice of bulls, the other two being Apollo and Mars. The wrong offering would require a piaculum if due to inadvertency or necessity. The type of the offering implies a stricter connection between the deity and the worldly realm.
Lake Albanus
The overflowing of Lake Albanus happened on the date of the Neptunalia. This prodigy that foretold the fall of Veii is a historical event that Dumezil ascribed to the Roman habit of projecting legendary heritage onto their own history. Livy relates that a haruspex from Veii who had been taken prisoner inadvertently gave away the prophecy that Veii would fall if the waters of the lake should overflow in the inland direction. On the contrary the fact would go to the disadvantage of Rome if the waters were to overflow towards the sea. The prophecy was confirmed by the oracle of Delphi consulted by the Roman senate.
This legend would show the scope of the powers hidden in waters and the religious importance of their control: Veientans knowing the fact had been digging channels for a long time as recent archeological finds confirm. There is a temporal coincidence between the conjuration of the prodigy and the works of derivation recommended by Palladius and Columella at the time of the canicula, when the waters are at their lowest.
Paredrae
Paredrae are entities who pair or accompany a god. They represent the fundamental aspects or the powers of the god with whom they are associated. In Roman religion they are often female. In later times under Hellenising influence they came to be considered as separate deities and consorts of the god. However this misconception might have been widespread in earlier folk belief. In the view of Dumézil, Neptune's two paredrae Salacia and Venilia represent the overpowering and the tranquil aspects of water, both natural and domesticated: Salacia would impersonate the gushing, overbearing waters and Venilia the still or quietly flowing waters.
Salacia and Venilia have been the object of the attention of scholars both ancient and modern. Varro connects the first to salum, sea, and the second to ventus, wind. Festus writes of Salacia that she is the deity that generates the motion of the sea. While Venilia would cause the waves to come to the shore Salacia would cause their retreating towards the high sea. The issue has been discussed in many passages by Christian doctor Aurelius Augustinus. He devotes one full chapter of his De Civitate Dei to mocking the inconsistencies inherent in the theological definition of the two entitites: since Salacia would denote the nether part of the sea, he wonders how could it be possible that she be also the retreating waves (Venilia being the waves that come to the shore), as waves are obviously a phenomenon of the surface of the sea. Elsewhere he writes that Venilia would be the "hope that comes", one of the aspects or powers of the all encompassing Jupiter understood as the anima mundi.
Servius in his commentary to the Aeneid also writes about Salacia and Venilia in various passages, e.g. V 724: "(Venus) dicitur et Salacia, quae proprie meretricum dea appellata est a veteribus": "(Venus) is also called Salacia, who precisely was named goddess of mercenary women by the ancient". Elsewhere he writes that Salacia and Venilia are indeed the same entity.
Among modern scholars Dumezil with his followers Bloch and Schilling centre their interpretation of Neptune on the more direct, concrete, limited value and functions of water. Accordingly Salacia would represent the forceful and violent aspect of gushing and overflowing water, Venilia the tranquil, gentle aspect of still or slowly flowing water.
Preller, Fowler, Petersmann and Takács attribue to the theology of Neptune broader significance as a god of universal worldly fertility, particularly relevant to agricolture and human reproduction. Thence they interpret Salacia as personifying lust, eagerness for sex and Venilia as related to Venus and venia, the attitude of ingraciating, attraction, connected with love and the reproductive function. L. Preller remarked a significant aspect of Venilia mentioning that she was recorded in the indigitamenta also as a deity of longing, desire. He thinks this fact would allow to explain the theonym in the same way as that of Venus. Other data seem to point in the same direction: Salacia would be the parallel of Thetis as the mother of Achilles, while Venilia would be the mother of Turnus and Iuturna, whom she mothered with Daunus king of the Rutulians. According to another source Venilia would be the wife of Janus with whom she mothered the nymph Canens loved by Picus. These mythical data underline the reproductive function envisaged in the figures of Neptune's paredrae, and particularly that of Venilia in childbirth and motherhood. A legendary king Venulus was remembered at Tibur and Lavinium.

Fertility deity and divine ancestor

Triumph of Neptune, Roman mosaic with the Seasons in each corner and agricultural scenes and flora (La Chebba, Tunisia, late 2nd century, Bardo National Museum)
German scholar H. Petersmann has proposed a rather different interpretation of the theology of Neptune. Developing his understanding of the theonym as rooted in IE *nebh, he argues that the god would be an ancient deity of the cloudy and rainy sky in company with and opposition to Zeus/Jupiter, god of the clear bright sky. Similar to Caelus, he would be the father of all living beings on Earth through the fertilising power of rainwater. This hieros gamos of Neptune and Earth would be reflected in literarature, e.g. in Vergil Aen. V 14 pater Neptunus. The virile potency of Neptune would be represented by Salacia (derived from salax, salio in its original sense of salacious, lustful, desiring sexual intercourse, covering). Salacia would then represent the god's desire for intercourse with Earth, his virile generating potency manifesting itself in rainfall. While Salacia would denote the overcast sky, the other character of the god would be reflected by his other paredra Venilia, representing the clear sky dotted with clouds of good weather. The theonym Venilia would be rooted in a not attested adjective *venilis, from IE root *ven(h) meaning to love, desire, realised in Sanskrit vánati, vanóti, he loves, Old Island. vinr friend, German Wonne, Latin Venus, venia. Reminiscences of this double aspect of Neptune would be found in Catullus 31. 3: "uterque Neptunus".
In Petersmann's conjecture, besides Zeus/Jupiter, (rooted in IE *dei(h) to shine, who originally represented the bright daylight of fine weather sky), the ancient Indo-Europeans venerated a god of heavenly damp or wet as the generator of life. This fact would be testified by Hittite theonyms nepišaš (D)IŠKURaš or nepišaš (D)Tarhunnaš "the lord of sky wet", that was revered as the sovereign of Earth and men. Even though over time this function was transferred to Zeus/Jupiter who became also the sovereign of weather, reminiscences of the old function survived in literature: e.g. in Vergil Aen. V 13-14 reading: "Heu, quianam tanti cinxerunt aethera nimbi?/ quidve, pater Neptune, paras?": "Whow, why so many clouds surrounded the sky? What are you preparing, father Neptune?". The indispensability of water for its fertilizing quality and its strict connexion to reproduction is universal knowledge. Takács too points to the implicit sexual and fertility significance of both Salacia and Venilia on the grounds of the context of the cults of Neptune, of Varro's interpretation of Salacia as eager for sexual intercourse and of the connexion of Venilia with a nymph or Venus.
Müller-Deeke and Deeke had already interpreted the theology of Neptune as that of a divine ancestor of a Latin stock, namely the Faliscans, as the father of their founder heroes Messapus and Halesus. Sharing this same approach Fowler considered Salacia the personification of the virile potency that generated a Latin people, parallel with Mars, Saturn, Janus and even Jupiter among other Latins.
Neptunus equestris
Poseidon was connected to the horse since the earliest times, well before any connection of him with the sea was attested, and may even have originally been conceived under equine form. Such a feature is a reflection of his own chtonic, violent, brutal nature as earth-quaker, as well as of the link of the horse with springs, i.e. underground water, and the psychopompous character inherent in this animal.
There is no such direct connexion in Rome. Neptune does not show any direct equine character or linkage.
It was Roman god Consus who bore a connexion to horses: his underground altar was located in the valley of the Circus Maximus at the foot of the Palatine, the place of horse races. On the day of his summer festival (August 21), the Consualia aestiva, it was customary to bring in procession horses and mules crowned with flowers and then hold equine races in the Circus. It appears these games had a rustic character: they marked the end of the yearly agricultural cycle, when harvest was completed. According to tradition this occasion was chosen to enact the abduction of the Sabine (and Latin) women. The episode might bear a reflection of the traditional sexual licence of such occasions. On that day the flamen Quirinalis and the vestal virgins sacrificed on the underground altar of Consus. The fact the two festivals of Consus were followed after an equal interval of four days by the two festivals of Ops (Opeconsivia on August 25 and Opalia on December 19) testifies to the strict relationship between the two deities as pertaining to agricultural bounty, or in Dumezilian terminology to the third function. This fact shows the radically different symbolic value of the horse in the theology of Poseidon and that of Consus.
Perhaps under the influence of Poseidon Ίππιος Consus was reinterpreted as Neptunus equestris and for his underground altar also identified with Poseidon Ένοσίχθων. The archaic and arcane character of his cult, which required the unearthing of the altar, are signs of the great antiquity of this deity and of his chtonic character. He was certainly a deity of agrarian plenty and of fertility. Dumezil interprets its name as derived from condere hide, store as a verbal noun in -u parallel to Sancus and Janus, meaning god of stored grains.
Martianus Capella places Neptune and Consus together in region X of Heaven: it might be that he followed an already old interpretatio graeca of Consus or he might be reflecting an Etruscan idea of a chthonic Neptune. Etruscans were particularly fond of horse races.
Neptune in Etruria

Nethuns is the Etruscan name of the god. In the past it has been believed that the Roman theonym derived from Etruscan but more recently this view has been rejected.
Nethuns was certainly an important god for the Etruscans. His name is to be found on two cases of the Piacenza Liver, namely case 7 on the outer rim and case 28 on the gall-bladder, (plus once in case 22 along with Tinia). This last location tallies with Pliny the Elder's testimony that the gall-bladder is sacred to Neptune. Theonym Nethuns recurs eight times on columns VIII, IX and XI of the Liber Linteus (flere, flerchva Nethunsl), requiring offerings of wine.
On a mirror from Tuscania (E. S. 1. 76) Nethuns is represented while talking to Uśil (the Sun) and Thesan (the goddess of Dawn). Nethuns is on the left hand side, sitting, holding a double ended trident in his right hand and with his left arm raised in the attitude of giving instructions, Uśil is standing at the centre of the picture, holding in his right hand Aplu's bow, and Thesan is on the right, with her right hand on Uśil's shoulder: both gods look intent in listening Nethuns's words. The identification of Uśil with Aplu (and his association with Nethuns) is further underlined by the anguiped demon holding two dolphins of the exergue below. The scene highlights the identities and association of Nethuns and Aplu (here identified as Uśil) as main deities of the worldly realm and the life cycle. Thesan and Uśil-Aplu, who has been identified with Śuri (Soranus Pater, the underwold Sun god) make clear the transient character of worldly life.
In Martianus Capella's depiction of Heaven Neptune is located in region X along with the Lar Omnium Cunctalis (of everybody), Neverita and Consus. The presence of the Lar Omnium Cunctalis might be connected with the theology of Neptune as a god of fertility, human included, while Neverita is a theonym derived from an archaic form of Nereus and Nereid, before the fall of the digamma. For the relationship of Neptune with Consus see the above paragraph. Martianus's placing of Neptune is fraught with questions: according to the order of the main three gods he should be located in region II, (Jupiter is indeed in region I and Pluto in region III). However in region II are to be found two deities related to Neptune, namely Fons and Lymphae. Stephen Weinstock supposes that while Jupiter is present in each of the first three regions, in each one under different aspects related to the character of the region itself, Neptune should have been originally located in the second, as is testified by the presence of Fons and Lymphae, and Pluto in the third. The reason of the displacement of Neptune to region X remains unclear, but might point to a second appearance of the triads in the third quarter, which is paralleled by the location of Neth in case 7 of the Liver.
Bloch remarks the possible chtonic character and stricter link of Nethuns with Poseidon to which would hint a series of circumstances, particularly the fact that he was among the four gods (Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Tellus in order) the haruspices indicated as needing placation for the prodigy related in Cicero's De haruspicum responso 20, i.e. a cracking sound perceived as coming from the underground in the ager latiniensis.
Neptune and the Etruscan Penates
Among ancient sources Arnobius provides important information about the theology of Neptune: he writes that according to Nigidius Figulus Neptune was considered one of the Penates, together with Apollo, the two deities being credited with endowing Ilium with immortal walls. In another place of his work, book VI, Nigidius wrote that according to the Etrusca Disciplina his were one among the four genera, types of Penates: of Iupiter, of Neptune, of the underworld and of mortal men. According to another tradition related by a Caesius, also based on the same source, the Etruscan Penates would be Fortuna, Ceres, Genius Iovialis and Pales, this last one being the male Etruscan god (ministrum Iovis et vilicum, domestic and peasant of Jupiter).





Information about the Equator = Thanks to Wikipedia.

The latitude of the Equator is 0° (zero degrees). The length of Earth's equator is about 40,008.629 kilometres (24,860.2 mi). To calculate the actual length of the Equator would require taking into consideration that the Equator goes up and down various mountains and hills in South America, in Africa, and on various islands. The Equator is one of the five notable circles of latitude on Earth, with the others being the two Polar Circles and the two 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. The imaginary circle obtained when the Earth's equator is projected onto the sky is called the celestial equator.
The Sun, in its seasonal apparent movement across the sky, passes directly over the Equator twice each year, at the March and September equinoxes. At the Equator, the rays of the sun are perpendicular to the surface of the earth on these dates.


The Equator marked as it crosses Ilhéu das Rolas, in São Tomé and Príncipe
Places on the Equator experience the quickest rates of sunrise and sunset in the world. They are also the only places in the world where the sun can go directly from the zenith to the nadir and from the nadir to the zenith. Such places also have a theoretical constant 12 hours of day and night throughout the year, though in practice there are variations of a few minutes due to the effects of atmospheric refraction and because sunrise and sunset are measured from the time that the edge of the Sun's disk is on the horizon, rather than the center of the disk.
The Earth bulges slightly at the Equator. It has an average diameter of 12,750 kilometres (7,922 mi), but at the Equator the diameter is approximately 43 kilometres (27 mi) greater than the polar diameter.


A monument marking the Equator near the town of Pontianak, Indonesia
Locations near the Equator are theoretically good sites for spaceports, such as the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, as they are already moving faster than any other point on the Earth due to the Earth's rotation, and the added velocity reduces the amount of fuel needed to launch spacecraft. Spacecraft launched in this manner must launch to the east, southeast, or northeast to take advantage of this effect.
For high precision work, the Equator is not quite as fixed as the above discussion implies. The true equatorial plane must always be perpendicular to the Earth's spin axis. Although this axis is relatively stable, its position drifts about 9.0 metres (30 ft) north-south over the course of a year. Thus, the true equator moves slightly, but this effect is only relevant in extremely precise geophysical measurements.
Equatorial seasons and climate



The "Marco Zero" in Macapá, Brazil.
Near the Equator there is little distinction between summer, winter, autumn, or spring. The temperatures there are usually high year-round – with the distinct exception of parts of the Equator that cross high mountains in South America and in Africa. (See Andes Mountains and Mt. Kilimanjaro). The temperature at the Equator can also plummet during the extensive rainstorms in many locations. In many tropical regions people identify two seasons: the wet season and the dry season. However, many places close to the Equator are on the oceans or rainy throughout the year. The seasons can vary depending on a variety of factors including elevation and proximity to an ocean. These oceanic, rainy, and mountainous locations mean that the equatorial climate is not the hottest in the world.
The surface of the Earth at the Equator lies mostly on three of the oceans: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. The highest point on the Equator is at the elevation of 4,690 metres (15,387 ft), at 0°0′0″N 77°59′31″W, found on the southern slopes of Volcán Cayambe in Ecuador. This place is a short distance above the snow line, and this immediate vicinity forms the only section of the Equator where snow lies on the ground year-round.

The Equator traverses the land and/or territorial waters of 14 countries. Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Equator passes through:
Co-ordinates Country, territory or sea Notes
0°N 0°E Atlantic Ocean Gulf of Guinea
0°0′N 6°31′E São Tomé and Príncipe Ilhéu das Rolas
0°0′N 6°31′E Atlantic Ocean Gulf of Guinea
0°0′N 9°21′E Gabon
0°0′N 13°56′E Republic of the Congo
0°0′N 17°46′E Democratic Republic of the Congo
0°0′N 29°43′E Uganda
0°0′N 32°22′E Lake Victoria Passing through some islands of Uganda
0°0′N 34°0′E Kenya
0°0′N 41°0′E Somalia
0°0′N 42°53′E Indian Ocean Passing between Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah of the Maldives
0°0′N 98°12′E Indonesia The Batu Islands, Sumatra and the Lingga Islands
0°0′N 104°34′E Karimata Strait
0°0′N 109°9′E Indonesia Borneo
0°0′N 117°30′E Makassar Strait
0°0′N 119°40′E Indonesia Sulawesi (Celebes)
0°0′N 120°5′E Gulf of Tomini
0°0′N 124°0′E Molucca Sea
0°0′N 127°24′E Indonesia Kayoa and Halmahera islands
0°0′N 127°53′E Halmahera Sea
0°0′N 129°20′E Indonesia Gebe Island
0°0′N 129°21′E Pacific Ocean Passing 570 m north of Waigeo island, Indonesia
Passing 13 km south of Aranuka atoll, Kiribati
Passing 21 km south of Baker Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands
0°0′N 91°35′W Ecuador Isabela Island in the Galápagos Islands
0°0′N 91°13′W Pacific Ocean
0°0′N 80°6′W Ecuador Passing 24 km north of central Quito, near Mitad del Mundo
0°0′N 75°32′W Colombia Passing 4.3 km north of the border with Peru
0°0′N 70°3′W Brazil Amazonas
Roraima
Amazonas
Pará
Amapá
Pará - islands in the mouth of the Amazon River
0°0′N 49°20′W Atlantic Ocean
Despite its name, no part of Equatorial Guinea's territory lies on the Equator. However, its island of Annobón is 155 kilometres (100 mi) south of the Equator, and the rest of the country lies to the north.


Monuments and signs along the line of the GPS-calculated Equator at Museo de Sitio Intiñan, Mitad del Mundo, Ecuador. In the front there is a device for "demonstrating" the bogus notion that water circles in different directions in different hemispheres.
Crossing the Equator

Main article: Line-crossing ceremony
Certain navies, such as the Royal Navy and the US Navy, have a tradition of holding ceremonies on board ship to mark sailors' first crossing of the Equator. These rites of initiation have in the past been notorious for their brutality. Milder line-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, are also held for passengers' entertainment on some civilian ocean liners and cruise ships.
Exact length of the Equator

In two widely-used geodetic standards, the Equator is modeled as a circle whose radius is a whole number of metres. In 1976 the IAU standardized this radius as 6,378,140 metres (20,925,656 ft), subsequently refined by the IUGG to 6,378,137 metres (20,925,646 ft) and adopted in WGS-84, though the yet more recent IAU-2000 has retained the old IAU-1976 value. In either case, the length of the Equator is by definition exactly 2π times the given standard, which to the nearest millimeter is 40,075,016.686 metres (131,479,713.54 ft) in WGS-84 and 40,075,035.535 metres (131,479,775.38 ft) in IAU-1976 and IAU-2000.
The geographical mile is defined as one arc minute of the Equator, and therefore has different values depending on which standard equator is used, namely 1,855.3248 metres (6,087.024 ft) or 1,855.3257 metres (6,087.027 ft) for respectively WGS-84 and IAU-2000, a difference of nearly a millimeter.
The earth is standardly modeled as a sphere flattened 0.336%!a(MISSING)long its axis. This makes the Equator 0.16%!l(MISSING)onger than a meridian (as a great circle passing through the two poles). The IUGG standard meridian is, to the nearest millimeter, 40,007,862.917 metres (131,259,392.77 ft), one arc minute of which is 1,852.216 metres (6,076.82 ft), explaining the SI standardization of the nautical mile as 1,852 metres (6,076 ft), more than 3 metres (10 ft) short of the geographical mile.
Climate

Zone of Equator has a tropical rainforest climate, also known as an equatorial climate. Usually, its average annual temperature is around 30 °C (86 °F) during the day and 23 °C (73 °F) at night. Rainfall is very high, usually from 2,500 to 3,500 mm / year. Average precipitation days is around 200 / year. Average sunshine hours is around 2000 / year.

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Comments

[jan syp]

feestjuuuuuuuuhhhh
Beetje jammer dat jullie 'versiering' een beetje beperkt is.

[Marianne]

Het leven blijft een feest

[Marieke]

Neptune
Toch nog tot zeelieden gedoopt... Heerlijk voor jullie, geniet ervan en heel veeeel plezier