TheBanyanTree: The Equatorial Moon

[Dale M. Parish]

On May 13, 2011, at 2:27 PM, Peter Macinnis wrote:
> No I'm on the edge of the Sahara in the top left of Africa.


Wait a minute.  Here in the northern hemisphere, we say that everything that's loose and flakey tumbles to the "left coast," indicating California because of the rotation of the earth towards the east, and that all the 'local' maps are oriented with the north pole at the top.  But I thought that Aussie world maps were oriented with the south pole at the top and the north pole at the bottom.  So knowing 1) that Peter's an Aussie, but that 2) he's on the "top" edge of Africa, how do I know if he's reading a map he may have brought from home, which would make the "top" edge of the Sahara be the equatorial side, or if he's reading a local map, which I would expect would have the "top" edge be the Mediterranean side of the Sahara.  

Now, I'm as lost as Peter is.  Ordinal versus cardinal.  Help us out, Peter-- how about some UTM?

Dale
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Dale M. Parish
628 Parish RD
Orange TX 77632