Magnetic declination

Magentic declination

On September 8, 1492, Columbus observed that the needle of his compass no longer pointed to the North star.^[25] The needle instead had varied a half point to the Northwest, and continued to vary further as the journey progressed. Columbus at first made no mention of this, knowing his crew to be prone to panic with their destination unknown, but after several days his pilots took notice with much anxiety. Allegedly the crew grew so homesick and fearful that they threatened to sail back to Spain.^{[citation needed]}Columbus reasoned that the needle didn't point to the North star, but to some invisible point on the Earth. His reputation as an astronomer held weight with the crew, and his theory alleviated their alarm.^{[citation needed]} It was once believed that Columbus had discovered magnetic declination, but it was later shown that the phenomenon was already known, both in Europe and in China