We all know the four directions on a compass: North, South, East, and West. However, when delving deeper into Earth’s rotation, we find there are actually two versions of North: magnetic North and true North. True north is a familiar friend we see on maps and longitude lines, but magnetic North, based on the Earth’s magnetism, is what appears on compasses and indicates the apparent north pole.
However, for a short time in September of this year, the two Norths will converge into one, as magnetic North and true North align for the first time in 360 years. If you want to witness the phenomenon in person, you have to make the journey to Greenwich, London where the Eastern and Western hemispheres meet and wait for all compasses to point true North.
