Back دقيقة القوس وثانيته Arabic আর্কমিনিট এবং আর্কসেকেন্ড Bengali/Bangla Minuto y segundo de arco Spanish دقیقه و ثانیه قوسی Persian Sous-unités du degré French चाप के मिनट और सैकिंड Hindi Menit dan detik busur ID Bogamínúta og bogasekúnda Icelandic Minit dan saat arka Malay ਚਾਪ ਦੇ ਮਿੰਟ ਅਤੇ ਸਕਿੰਟ Punjabi
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| Arcminute | |
|---|---|
 An illustration of the size of an arcminute (not to scale). A standard association football (soccer) ball (with a diameter of 22 cm or 8.7 in) subtends an angle of 1 arcminute at a distance of approximately 756 m (827 yd). | |
| General information | |
| Unit system | Non-SI units mentioned in the SI |
| Unit of | Angle |
| Symbol | ′, arcmin |
| In units | Dimensionless with an arc length of approx. ≈ 0.2909/1000 of the radius, i.e. 0.2909 mm/m |
| Conversions | |
| 1 ′ in ... | ... is equal to ... |
| degrees | 1/60° = 0.016° |
| arcseconds | 60″ |
| radians | π/10800 ≈ 0.000290888 rad |
| milliradians | π·1000/10800 ≈ 0.2909 mrad |
| gons | 9/600g = 0.015g |
| turns | 1/21600 |
A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol ′, is a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/60 of one degree.[1] Since one degree is 1/360 of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is 1/21600 of a turn. The nautical mile (nmi) was originally defined as the arc length of a minute of latitude on a spherical Earth, so the actual Earth's circumference is very near 21600 nmi. A minute of arc is π/10800 of a radian.
A second of arc, arcsecond (arcsec), or arc second, denoted by the symbol ″,[2] is 1/60 of an arcminute, 1/3600 of a degree,[1] 1/1296000 of a turn, and π/648000 (about 1/206264.8) of a radian.
These units originated in Babylonian astronomy as sexagesimal (base 60) subdivisions of the degree; they are used in fields that involve very small angles, such as astronomy, optometry, ophthalmology, optics, navigation, land surveying, and marksmanship.
To express even smaller angles, standard SI prefixes can be employed; the milliarcsecond (mas) and microarcsecond (μas), for instance, are commonly used in astronomy. For a three-dimensional area such as on a sphere, square arcminutes or seconds may be used.
- ^ a b Weisstein, Eric W. "Arc Second". mathworld.wolfram.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ "Minutes of Arc to Degree Conversion". Inch Calculator. Retrieved 25 July 2021.