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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Mecca
From: Richard B. Langley
Date: 2000 Aug 25, 6:07 AM
From: Richard B. Langley
Date: 2000 Aug 25, 6:07 AM
According to "The Correct Qibla" by S. Kamil Abdali (on the controversy as to whether Muslims should pray in the direction of the geodesic connecting them to Mecca or along a line through the Earth), the coordinates of Ka'ba (the sacred mosque in Mecca) are 21-25-24 (degrees, minutes, seconds) N and 39-49-24 E. -- Richard Langley On Thu, 24 Aug 2000, Richard Langley wrote: >I have the coordinates in my office at the university and will send them along >tomorrow. >-- Richard Langley > Professor of Geodesy and Precision Navigation > >On Fri, 25 Aug 2000, R.H. van Gent wrote: > >>Dear all, >> >>I hope that my query will not be too much out of place on this list but >>I would be most grateful if anyone could help me on this matter. >> >>As most list members will know the Kabah of Mecca (Saudi Arabia) >>represents the geographical centre of the Islamic world and its exact >>position with respect to Greenwich would seem to be exactly known. I >>know that up to fairly recent times this was not so due to the fact that >>the city of Mecca was (and still is) forbidden territory for >>non-Muslims, making it virtually impossible for European surveyors to >>determine its position with any exactitude. >> >>Modern encyclopaedias, atlases and internet gazetteers all give its >>position as 21 degree 27 minutes North and 39 degree 49 minutes East of >>Greenwich but do not specify for which part of Mecca this refers to. Can >>anyone on this list quote more precise figures for the geographical >>position of the Kabah of Mecca, preferably with a reference, or direct >>me to sources that can provide me with this information? >> >>Thanks in advance. >> >>======================================================== >>* Robert H. van Gent * Tel/Fax: 00-31-30-2720269 * >>* Zaagmolenkade 50 * * >>* 3515 AE Utrecht * E-mail: r.h.vangent@astro.uu.nl * >>* The Netherlands * * >>******************************************************** >>* Home page: http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/homepage.htm * >>======================================================== >> > > >=============================================================================== > Richard B. Langley E-mail: lang@unb.ca > Geodetic Research Laboratory Web: http://www.unb.ca/GGE/ > Dept. of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Phone: +1 506 453-5142 > University of New Brunswick Fax: +1 506 453-4943 > Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B 5A3 > Fredericton? Where's that? See: http://www.city.fredericton.nb.ca/ >=============================================================================== > =============================================================================== Richard B. Langley E-mail: lang@unb.ca Geodetic Research Laboratory Web: http://www.unb.ca/GGE/ Dept. of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Phone: +1 506 453-5142 University of New Brunswick Fax: +1 506 453-4943 Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B 5A3 Fredericton? Where's that? See: http://www.city.fredericton.nb.ca/ ===============================================================================