minute of arc

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Related to minute of arc: Arc second

min·ute of arc

(mĭn′ĭt)

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun

minute of arc - a unit of angular distance equal to a 60th of a degree

arcminute, minute

angular unit - a unit of measurement for angles

arcdegree, degree - a measure for arcs and angles; "there are 360 degrees in a circle"

arcsecond, second - a 60th part of a minute of arc; "the treasure is 2 minutes and 45 seconds south of here"

References in periodicals archive ?

* A minute of arc is one sixtieth of a degree; there are 360 degrees in a full rotation.

Diversions

Which unit of length is based on one minute of arc of the circumference of the earth at the equator?

QUIZ OF THE DAY

In humans, 20/20 vision is defined as the ability to resolve a spatial pattern separated by a visual angle of one minute of arc. One arcminute, minute of arc, or MOA is a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/60 of 1 degree.