Virgil Smith, age 13, of Haggerstown, Md., for his question:
IS THERE MORE THAN ONE NORTH POLE?
North Pole is a term used for five different invisible surface points located in the Arctic region. The best known is the geographic pole.
But in addition to the north geographic pole there is also the instantaneous north pole, the north pole of balance, the north magnetic pole and the geomagnetic pole.
The north geographic pole lies near the center of the Arctic Ocean at a point where all the earth's lines of longitude meet. American explorer Robert E. Peary led the first expedition to reach the north geographic pole. The expedition included Matthew Hanson, who was Peary's assistant, and four Eskimos. The party made the trip by dog team in 1909.
In 1926, Adm. Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett of the United States reached the pole by airplane. In 1958, the U.S.S. Nautilus became the first submarine to pass under the Arctic ice to the north geographic pole.
The instantaneous north pole lies at the point where the earth's axis meets the surface. The axis is an imaginary line through the earth. The earth wobbles slowly as it turns on its axis, causing the instantaneous north pole to move.
This instantaneous north pole takes about 14 months to move clockwise around an irregular path called the Chandler circle. The diameter of this circle varies from less than one foot to about 70 feet.
The north pole of balance lies at the center of the Chandler Circle. Its position locates the north geographic pole. Each year since 1900 „ the north pole of balance has moved about six inches toward North America. This motion has caused the tiny changes in the latitude and longitude of points around the earth.
The north magnetic pole is the point toward which north seeking compass needles points.
The geomagnetic pole lies near Thule, Greenland.
The north magnetic pole can move many miles in a few years. In 1970, the north magnetic pole was located near Bathurst Island is northern Canada.
The geomagnetic north pole, as stated, lies near Thule, Greenland. In the upper atmosphere, the earth's magnetic field points down toward this point.
In addition to the five north pole locations, there is also a north celestial pole. This is the point in the sky above the north pole.
Because the whole earth twists as a unit, the north celestial pole swings in a large circle among the stars in the same period of time. The brightest star within a few degrees of arc of this circle becomes the pole star for thousands of years, while the north celestial pole is in its vicinity. The celestial pole is now approaching the star Polaris, which is now called the pole star or North Star.