Editing North (section)

==Mapping and navigation==
By [[Norm (sociology)|convention]], the ''top or upward-facing'' side of a [[map]] is north.

To go north using a compass for [[navigation]], set a [[Bearing (navigation)|bearing]] or [[azimuth]] of 0° or 360°. Traveling directly north traces a [[Meridian (geography)|meridian]] line upwards.

North is specifically the direction that, in [[Western culture]], is considered ''the'' fundamental direction:
* North is used (explicitly or implicitly) to define all other directions.
* The (visual) top edges of [[map]]s usually correspond to the northern edge of the area represented, unless explicitly stated otherwise or [[landmarks]] are considered more useful for that territory than specific directions.
* On any rotating astronomical object, ''north'' often denotes the side appearing to rotate counterclockwise when viewed from afar along the axis of rotation. However, the [[International Astronomical Union]] (IAU) defines the [[Geographical pole|geographic north pole]] of a [[planet]] or any of its satellites in the [[Solar System]] as the planetary pole that is in the same celestial hemisphere, relative to the [[invariable plane]] of the Solar System, as Earth's north pole.<ref name="report">{{Cite journal
| doi = 10.1007/s10569-010-9320-4
| title = Report of the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements: 2009
| url = http://astropedia.astrogeology.usgs.gov/alfresco/d/d/workspace/SpacesStore/28fd9e81-1964-44d6-a58b-fbbf61e64e15/WGCCRE2009reprint.pdf
| journal = Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy
| volume = 109
| issue = 2
| pages = 101–135
| year = 2010
| last1 = Archinal
| first1 = Brent A.
| last2 = A'Hearn
| first2 = Michael F.
| last3 = Bowell
| first3 = Edward G.
| last4 = Conrad
| first4 = Albert R.
| last5 = Consolmagno
| first5 = Guy J.
| display-authors = 5
| last6 = Courtin
| first6 = Régis
| last7 = Fukushima
| first7 = Toshio
| last8 = Hestroffer
| first8 = Daniel
| last9 = Hilton
| first9 = James L.
| last10 = Krasinsky
| first10 = George A.
| last11 = Neumann
| first11 = Gregory A.
| last12 = Oberst
| first12 = Jürgen
| last13 = Seidelmann
| first13 = P. Kenneth
| last14 = Stooke
| first14 = Philip J.
| last15 = Tholen
| first15 = David J.
| last16 = Thomas
| first16 = Paul C.
| last17 = Williams
| first17 = Iwan P.
| bibcode = 2011CeMDA.109..101A
| s2cid = 189842666
| access-date = 2019-04-07
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065344/http://astropedia.astrogeology.usgs.gov/alfresco/d/d/workspace/SpacesStore/28fd9e81-1964-44d6-a58b-fbbf61e64e15/WGCCRE2009reprint.pdf
| archive-date = 2016-03-04
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> This means some objects, such as [[Uranus]], rotate in the retrograde direction: when seen from the IAU north, the spin is clockwise.