Misplaced Pages

#514485

108-634: Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean . It is about 960 miles (1,540 km) from the coast of Africa and 1,400 miles (2,300 km) from the coast of South America . It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha , of which the main island, Saint Helena , is around 800 miles (1,300 km) to

216-488: A meridian (a great circle passing through the two poles). The IUGG standard meridian is, to the nearest millimetre, 40,007.862917 kilometres (24,859.733480 mi), one arc-minute of which is 1,852.216 metres (6,076.82 ft), explaining the SI standardization of the nautical mile as 1,852 metres (6,076 ft), more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) less than the geographical mile . The sea-level surface of Earth (the geoid )

324-418: A Nature Reserve. The couple then spent several months camped out at the bay making their observations, assisted by a Kru sailor (known at the time as a krooman ) and a marine. All of the effort was ultimately a success, producing a solar distance of 93.08 ± 0.16 million miles, which is a range from 92.92 – 93.24, since shown to be (just) correct by the modern measurement of 92.9558. As a result of his work on

432-471: A huge ship kept in first-rate order." In commenting on this, he noted René Primevère Lesson 's remark "that the English nation alone would have thought of making the island of Ascension a productive spot; any other people would have held it as a mere fortress in the ocean." In 1843, botanist and explorer Joseph Hooker visited the island. Four years later, Hooker, with much encouragement from Darwin, advised

540-409: A letter from King Manuel I of Portugal and Gaspar Corrêa ’s chronicle, made no mention of either Ascension or Conception, instead describing a visit to Brazil . Several references suggest the island was rediscovered and named Ascension by Afonso de Albuquerque , whereas it seems more likely that Albuquerque's ships sighted the island of Trindade . The supposed sighting of Ascension originates from

648-479: A much better fit, being 2,600 miles from Cape Verde. Attention has long been drawn to the confusion between Ascension and Trindade, Ascenção menor [Ascension Minor] being granted to a nobleman, Belchior Camacho in 1539 by King João III of Portugal and British Admiralty maps showing a mythical Ascension Island at a location between Trindade and Brazil as late as 1808. Dry and barren, the island had little appeal for passing ships except for collecting fresh meat, and

756-401: A new location. Having found an area on the southwest of the island seemingly less affected, they then had to determine how to move 20 tons of delicate observational equipment to the new location. Fortunately, a small, clear beach was located nearby which was used for landing the equipment by sea. This was later named Mars Bay, a name which it carries to this day and which has since been designated

864-464: A problem. The largest native land animal is the land crab Johngarthia lagostoma (formerly Gecarcinus lagostoma ). Offshore, there is a variety of open-ocean fish, including sharks , wahoo , tuna , bonito , barracuda , marlin , blackfish and sailfish . The protected green turtle is perhaps the most notable of the endemic fauna, coming ashore to lay their eggs on the beaches from November to May. Turtles were regularly harvested until 1930, when

972-725: A station on Ascension. In 2008, British diplomats at the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UN CLCS), requested sovereignty over 200,000 km (77,220 sq mi) of submarine territory around the island. This would enable exploration into possible new reserves of oil, gas and minerals, though none are thought to exist. In 2009, The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 elevated Ascension Island, and Tristan da Cunha to equal constituent parts of

1080-605: A successful campaign headed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds , the main island was in 2006 declared free of feral cats , and sea birds are now once again nesting on Ascension Island. After cats were introduced to Ascension Island in 1815, large seabird breeding colonies were quickly wiped out everywhere except in small cat-inaccessible areas, such as on the offshore Boatswain Bird Island . Following

1188-467: A temporary observatory being decided upon for Ascension. Although originally based in Georgetown, the pair found the evenings to be too cloudy to make observations of the night sky due to Georgetown being located downwind of orographic cloud emanating from Green Mountain. Isobel quickly endeavoured to find an area less affected by the evening cloud and trekked several miles over lava fields to find

SECTION 10

#1732764881515

1296-452: A two-year campaign, feral cats were eradicated by 2004 and seabirds began to recolonise the main island. Ascension Island, including fourteen inshore stacks and marine habitat extending out for 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) from the coastline, has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International as a breeding site for seabirds . Birds for which the IBA

1404-678: A vast overseas empire. Manuel used the wealth to build a number of royal buildings (in the " Manueline " style) and to attract artists to his court. Commercial treaties and diplomatic alliances were forged with the Ming dynasty of China and the Persian Safavid dynasty . Pope Leo X received a monumental embassy from Portugal during his reign designed to draw attention to Portugal's newly acquired riches to all of Europe. Like Afonso V, Manuel extended his official title to reflect Portugal's expansion. He styled himself King of Portugal and

1512-492: A wide range of alkaline rocks atypical for oceanic islands, ranging from basalt through trachyandesite and trachyte to rhyolite . Ascension has a hot desert climate ( BWh , according to the Köppen climate classification ). The temperatures at the coast average from 22.7 to 27.8 °C (72.9 to 82.0 °F), and about 5 to 6 °C (9.0 to 10.8 °F) cooler at the highest point. Rain showers may occur at any time during

1620-584: A year. Geological samples show that the Equator significantly changed positions between 48 and 12 million years ago, as sediment deposited by ocean thermal currents at the Equator shifted. The deposits by thermal currents are determined by the axis of Earth, which determines solar coverage of Earth's surface . Changes in Earth's axis can also be observed in the geographical layout of volcanic island chains, which are created by shifting hot spots under Earth's crust as

1728-401: Is a standard for use in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS , also has an equatorial radius of 6,378.137 km (3,963.191 mi). For both GRS 80 and WGS 84, this results in a length for the Equator of 40,075.0167 km (24,901.4609 mi). The geographical mile is defined as one arc-minute of the Equator, so it has different values depending on which radius

1836-552: Is also the equatorial radius used for the IERS 2003 ellipsoid. If it were really circular, the length of the equator would then be exactly 2π times the radius, namely 40,075.0142 km (24,901.4594 mi). The GRS 80 (Geodetic Reference System 1980) as approved and adopted by the IUGG at its Canberra, Australia meeting of 1979 has an equatorial radius of 6,378.137 km (3,963.191 mi). The WGS 84 (World Geodetic System 1984) which

1944-406: Is assumed. For example, by WSG-84, the distance is 1,855.3248 metres (6,087.024 ft), while by IAU-2000, it is 1,855.3257 metres (6,087.027 ft). This is a difference of less than one millimetre (0.039 in) over the total distance (approximately 1.86 kilometres or 1.16 miles). Earth is commonly modeled as a sphere flattened 0.336% along its axis. This makes the Equator 0.16% longer than

2052-464: Is irregular, so the actual length of the Equator is not so easy to determine. Aviation Week and Space Technology on 9 October 1961 reported that measurements using the Transit IV-A satellite had shown the equatorial diameter from longitude 11° West to 169° East to be 1,000 feet (305 m) greater than its diameter ninety degrees away. Download coordinates as: The Equator passes through

2160-514: Is named for the king. Manuel was born in Alcochete on 31 May 1469, the ninth child of Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu and Beatriz of Portugal . His father, Ferdinand, was the son of Edward, King of Portugal and the brother of Afonso V of Portugal , while his mother, Beatriz, was granddaughter of King John I of Portugal . In addition, his sister Eleanor of Viseu was the wife of King John II of Portugal . Manuel grew up amidst strife between

2268-415: Is now one of the few large-scale planned forests, and is gradually growing with each year. Its highest point is at 859 metres (2,818 ft). Non-indigenous plants teem there, and the crown of Green Mountain is a lush halo of bamboo . Flanking one side is a large stand of tall Norfolk pine , trees planted by British mariners, which were to have been used as replacement masts for sailing ships . In June 2005

SECTION 20

#1732764881515

2376-476: Is probably wrong, Ascension having been long confused with Trindade . Ascension Island was garrisoned by the British Admiralty from 22 October 1815 to 1922 and was an important refueling stop for ships and commercial airliners in the days of international air travel by flying boats . During World War II , it was an important naval and air station, especially providing antisubmarine warfare bases in

2484-510: Is significant include red-billed tropicbirds , Ascension frigatebirds (an endemic breeder), sooty terns and black noddies . The island was formerly home to the endemic Ascension crake , but the species has been extinct since the early nineteenth century. In January 2016 the UK Government announced that an area around Ascension Island was to become a huge marine reserve , to protect its varied and unique ecosystem, including some of

2592-444: Is the intersection of the spheroid with the plane perpendicular to its axis of rotation and midway between its geographical poles . On and near the Equator (on Earth), noontime sunlight appears almost directly overhead (no more than about 23° from the zenith ) every day, year-round. Consequently, the Equator has a rather stable daytime temperature throughout the year. On the equinoxes (approximately March 20 and September 23)

2700-429: Is tilted towards or away from the sun, resulting in either summer or winter in both hemispheres. This also results in a corresponding movement of the equator away from the subsolar point, which is then situated over or near the relevant tropic circle . Nevertheless, temperatures are high year-round due to the Earth's axial tilt of 23.5° not being enough to create a low minimum midday declination to sufficiently weaken

2808-501: Is typically assumed to arise from a deep mantle thermal plume from the core-mantle boundary. Alternatively it may result from minor deformations of the oceanic crust that cause extension and permit magma to rise passively up from the asthenosphere . Ascension is considered active and could have erupted as recently as 500 years ago, but the exact eruption date is elusive. Due to the low rainfall and geologically recent eruptions, its soil consists mostly of clinker . The island consists of

2916-580: The Air Force Research Laboratory operate a Meter-Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension as part of the deep space surveillance system for tracking orbital debris, which can be a hazard to spacecraft and astronauts. Due to the disrepair, the runway was shut down in 2016 to non-mission related or emergency flights. The airfield was cobbled together over numerous efforts beginning in World War 2, including multiple extensions,

3024-853: The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility (ARM) near the South East Crater, south of the Green Mountain summit. The field campaign requires the mobile facility to be operational for about 17 months until October 2017. The island hosts one of four dedicated ground antennas that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system along with those on Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory), Kwajalein (Marshall Islands), and Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA and

3132-770: The Battle of the Atlantic . The island is the location of RAF Ascension Island , which is a Royal Air Force station , a European Space Agency rocket tracking station, a British-American signals intelligence facility and the BBC World Service Atlantic Relay Station. The island was used extensively as a staging point by the British military during the Falklands War . Ascension Island hosts one of four ground antennas that assist in

3240-640: The Falkland Islands . As of 2004, it was reported that the Composite Signals Organisation , an arm of GCHQ , continued to operate a signals interception facility at Cat Hill on Ascension. As of 2007 NASA continued to list Ascension Island as a "downrange site" used for range safety instrumentation. In particular, the Post-Detect Telemetry System used to acquire launch vehicle telemetry includes

3348-703: The Indian Ocean ), among numerous others. The income from Portuguese trade monopolies and colonized lands made Manuel the wealthiest monarch in Europe, allowing him to be one of the great patrons of the Portuguese Renaissance , which produced many significant artistic and literary achievements. Manuel patronized numerous Portuguese intellectuals, including playwright Gil Vicente (called the father of Portuguese and Spanish theatre ). The Manueline style , considered Portugal's national architecture,

Ascension Island - Misplaced Pages Continue

3456-559: The Lisbon massacre of 1506, people murdered thousands of accused Jews. The leaders of the riot were executed by Manuel. In addition, Manuel also ordered the expulsion of Muslims from Portugal, and he is known to have pressured Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to end the toleration of Islam in their own kingdom. Isabella died in childbirth, thus putting a damper on Portuguese ambitions to rule in Spain, which various rulers had harbored since

3564-582: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge , much of the island is a wasteland of lava flows and cinder cones ; forty-four distinct dormant craters have been identified. Ascension is a geologically young formation, the tip of an undersea volcano which rose above the waves only a million years ago. Although volcanic activity is mainly associated with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge plate boundary 80 km to the west, Ascension also displays some features which are commonly attributed to " hotspot " volcanism. Such volcanism

3672-511: The Monastery of Jerónimos . Manuel also endeavoured to promote another crusade against the Turks. At the outset of his reign, Manuel relaxed conditions that had kept Jews in virtual slavery under John II. However, in 1496, while seeking to marry Infanta Isabella of Aragon , he relented to pressure from her parents, Ferdinand and Isabella, and decreed that Jews who refused baptism must leave

3780-884: The Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, resulting in the creation of the Portuguese India Armadas , which guaranteed Portugal's monopoly on the spice trade . Manuel began the Portuguese colonization of the Americas and Portuguese India , and oversaw the establishment of a vast trade empire across Africa and Asia. Manuel established the Casa da Índia , a royal institution that managed Portugal's monopolies and its imperial expansion. He financed numerous famed Portuguese navigators, including Pedro Álvares Cabral (who discovered Brazil ), Afonso de Albuquerque (who established Portuguese hegemony in

3888-533: The SOFAR channel for broad area coverage have played a significant role in long range acoustic transmission studies and incidents. The island's location makes it a first point of Atlantic reception for acoustics from the other oceans. As an example the Ascension hydrophones received and the site processed signals generated near Heard Island in the Indian Ocean some 9,200 km (5,700 mi; 5,000 nmi) from

3996-468: The subsolar point crosses Earth's equator at a shallow angle, sunlight shines perpendicular to Earth's axis of rotation, and all latitudes have nearly a 12-hour day and 12-hour night. The name is derived from medieval Latin word aequator , in the phrase circulus aequator diei et noctis , meaning 'circle equalizing day and night', from the Latin word aequare 'make equal'. The latitude of

4104-667: The Algarves, on this side and beyond the Sea in Africa, Lord of Guinea and the Lord of Conquest, Navigation and Commerce in Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India . In Manuel's reign, royal absolutism was the method of government. The Portuguese Cortes (the assembly of the kingdom) met only four times during his reign, always in Lisbon , the king's seat. He reformed the courts of justice and

4212-798: The American departure at the end of World War II. With the Space Race and the Cold War , the Americans returned in 1956. Wideawake Airfield expanded in the mid-1960s. The runway was extended, widened, and improved to allow its use by large aircraft, and later to act as an emergency runway for the Space Shuttle , although the Shuttle never had to use it. At the time, it was the world's longest airport runway. The United States Space Force uses

4320-471: The Ascension arrays and passing around Africa. The Ascension array was one of those involved in the Vela incident acoustic signal in which there were correlated acoustic arrivals with the time and estimated location of the double flash detected by the Vela satellite . A joint Government Communications Headquarters and National Security Agency signals intercept station was also established on Ascension during

4428-614: The British task force used Ascension Island as a staging post during the Falklands War . After strengthening and improving the structure, the Royal Air Force deployed a fleet of Avro Vulcan bombers and Handley Page Victor tankers at the airfield. Vulcans launched the opening shots of the British offensive from Ascension in Operation Black Buck . The RAF also used the base to supply the task force. Because of

Ascension Island - Misplaced Pages Continue

4536-846: The Cold War. The island retains a role in space exploration: the European Space Agency now operates an Ariane monitoring facility there. The BBC Atlantic Relay Station was installed in 1966 for short-wave broadcasts to Africa and South America and because of the BBC's considerable resources, eventually BBC External Services began sourcing requirements generally for the Island through BBC Engineering Purchasing Department based in 4 Cavendish Square, London; items were requisitioned and ordered from suppliers, delivered to export packers, Evan Cook and shipped to Ascension on RMS St Helena . In 1982,

4644-610: The Earth's equator is, by definition, 0° (zero degrees ) of arc. The equator is one of the five notable circles of latitude on Earth; the other four are the two polar circles (the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle ) and the two tropical circles (the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn ). The equator is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle —meaning, one whose plane passes through

4752-786: The Eastern Telegraph Company from the Admiralty on 20 October 1922. The island was managed by the head of the Eastern Telegraph Company on the island until 1964 when the British Government appointed an Administrator to represent the Governor of Saint Helena in Ascension. The Island was under direct control of the Board of Admiralty until 1922. During World War II , to supply and augment extensive amphibious aircraft antisubmarine patrol operations ongoing from

4860-565: The Equator. However, its island of Annobón is 155 km (96 mi) south of the Equator, and the rest of the country lies to the north. France , Norway ( Bouvet Island ), and the United Kingdom are the other three Northern Hemisphere -based countries which have territories in the Southern Hemisphere . Seasons result from the tilt of Earth's axis away from a line perpendicular to the plane of its revolution around

4968-591: The Fortunate ( Portuguese : O Venturoso ), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz , Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal , as monarch. Manuel ruled over a period of intensive expansion of the Portuguese Empire owing to the numerous Portuguese discoveries made during his reign. His sponsorship of Vasco da Gama led to

5076-696: The Persian Gulf by Afonso de Albuquerque. The capture of Malacca in modern-day Malaysia in 1511 was the result of a plan by Manuel I to thwart the Muslim trade in the Indian Ocean by capturing Aden , blocking trade through Alexandria , capturing Ormuz to block trade through the Persian Gulf and Beirut , and capturing Malacca to control trade with China . All these events made Portugal wealthy from foreign trade as it formally established

5184-561: The Portuguese noble families and King John II. In 1483, Fernando II, Duke of Braganza , leader of Portugal's most powerful feudal house, was executed for treason. Later, Manuel's older brother, Diogo, Duke of Viseu , was accused of leading a conspiracy against the crown and was stabbed to death in 1484 by the king himself. After the death of his son Prince Afonso and failed attempts to legitimise his illegitimate son, Jorge de Lencastre, Duke of Coimbra , John II named Manuel heir to

5292-586: The Royal Navy that with the help of Kew Gardens , they should institute a long-term plan of shipping trees to Ascension. The planted trees would capture more rain and improve the soil, allowing the barren island to become a garden. So, from 1850 and years thereafter, ships came with an assortment of plants from botanical gardens in Argentina, Europe and South Africa. By the late 1870s Norfolk pines , eucalyptus , bamboo , and banana trees grew in profusion at

5400-690: The Simonstown depot ship. Five ratings died while on a recreational boat trip in 1879. In 1899, as part of the British effort in the Second Boer War , the Eastern Telegraph Company (later Cable & Wireless plc ) installed the first submarine communications cable from the island, connecting the UK with its colonies in South Africa. In 1922, letters patent made Ascension a dependency of Saint Helena, with control being officially handed over to

5508-561: The South Atlantic Ocean which might be caused by the same phenomenon, and by strong vertical wind shear. The endemic flora includes plants like Pteris adscensionis , Asplenium ascensionis , Euphorbia origanoides as well as the extinct species Oldenlandia adscensionis , Sporobolus durus and Dryopteris ascensionis . Anogramma ascensionis (Ascension Island parsley fern) was thought to have become extinct due to habitat loss , until four plants were found on

SECTION 50

#1732764881515

5616-646: The Sun's disk contacts the horizon. Earth bulges slightly at the Equator; its average diameter is 12,742 km (7,918 mi), but the diameter at the equator is about 43 km (27 mi) greater than at the poles. Sites near the Equator, such as the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou , French Guiana , are good locations for spaceports as they have the fastest rotational speed of any latitude, 460 m (1,509 ft)/sec. The added velocity reduces

5724-513: The Sun's rays even during the solstices. High year-round temperatures extend to about 25° north or south of the equator, although the moderate seasonal temperature difference is defined by the opposing solstices (as it is at higher latitudes) near the poleward limits of this range. Near the equator, there is little temperature change throughout the year, though there may be dramatic differences in rainfall and humidity. The terms summer, autumn, winter and spring do not generally apply. Lowlands around

5832-489: The Sun. Throughout the year, the Northern and Southern hemispheres are alternately turned either toward or away from the Sun, depending on Earth's position in its orbit. The hemisphere turned toward the Sun receives more sunlight and is in summer, while the other hemisphere receives less sun and is in winter (see solstice ). At the equinoxes , Earth's axis is perpendicular to the Sun rather than tilted toward or away, meaning that day and night are both about 12 hours long across

5940-404: The US military as a stopping point for American aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the way to theatres of operation in Europe and Africa. American bombers based at Wideawake were engaged in the Laconia incident . The only local military action during World War II occurred on 9 December 1941. At around mid-day, the German submarine  U-124 approached Georgetown on the surface with

6048-433: The account by a passenger of the fifth Portuguese armada, Giovanni da Empoli who stated that when the ships reached Cape Verde it was decided to “ [..] sail out into the open sea to a distance of 750 or 800 leagues. And so it was that, as we sailed in that direction, at the end of 28 days we sighted land – land which had already been discovered by others (according to unconfirmed claims) and called Ascension Island. We spent

6156-441: The addition of turning blisters and fast exit taxi-ways, and mill and overlay repairs. Beginning in 2020, the airfield underwent a complete reconstruction effort which brought it up to modern standards to support both US and UK air force airframes. The runway itself is an engineered base composed of granite which was imported from Nova Scotia, Canada and sand from Georgia, United States, under strict fumigation and inspection control of

6264-426: The afternoon and 23 °C (73 °F) around sunrise. Rainfall is very high away from cold ocean current upwelling zones, from 2,500 to 3,500 mm (100 to 140 in) per year. There are about 200 rainy days per year and average annual sunshine hours are around 2,000. Despite high year-round sea level temperatures, some higher altitudes such as the Andes and Mount Kilimanjaro have glaciers. The highest point on

6372-469: The airfield to Georgetown and the US base. The runway was completed and reopened in 2023. In 2023, the United Kingdom government announced that it was considering a proposal to send migrants arriving in the UK by boat to Ascension Island, should the Supreme Court rule that the Rwanda asylum plan is illegal. The main island has an area of approximately 88 square kilometres (34 sq mi). A volcanic peak rising from 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of

6480-437: The axis and crust move. This is consistent with the Indian tectonic plate colliding with the Eurasian tectonic plate , which is causing the Himalayan uplift. The International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) use an equatorial radius of 6,378.1366 km (3,963.1903 mi) (codified as the IAU 2009 value). This equatorial radius is also in the 2003 and 2010 IERS Conventions. It

6588-413: The center of the globe. The plane of Earth's equator, when projected outwards to the celestial sphere , defines the celestial equator . In the cycle of Earth's seasons , the equatorial plane runs through the Sun twice a year : on the equinoxes in March and September . To a person on Earth, the Sun appears to travel along the equator (or along the celestial equator) at these times. Locations on

SECTION 60

#1732764881515

6696-401: The classification of "Sloop of War of the smaller class". The location of the island made it a useful stopping-point for ships and communications. The Royal Navy used the island as a victualling station for ships, particularly those of the West Africa Squadron working against the slave trade . A garrison of Royal Marines was based at Ascension from 1823 and Colonel Edward Nicolls became

6804-442: The country. Then, before the deadline for their expulsion he converted all Jews to Christianity by royal decree. That period of time technically ended the presence of Jews in Portugal. Afterwards, all converted Jews and their descendants would be referred to as " New Christians " and were given a grace period of thirty years in which no inquiries into their faith would be allowed, which was later extended to end in 1534. During

6912-479: The early days of the war, the United States built an airbase on Ascension Island, known as "Wideawake", after a nearby colony of sooty terns (locally called 'wideawake' birds because of their loud, distinctive constant (day-and-night) cawing chatter). The airbase, which was under construction by the 38th Combat Engineer Battalion of the Army Corps of Engineers , was unexpectedly visited by two British Fairey Swordfish torpedo planes on 15 June 1942. According to one of

7020-550: The edges of beaches threatens those that use this space, such as the green turtle . Its hardy taproots can extend to 30 metres (98 ft) deep. Local authorities are considering means of controlling or eradicating it. A variety of mammals have been introduced: donkeys , sheep, cats and rats among others. Reptiles consist of two species of lizards . Endemic insect species include the minute, wingless Psocopteran Troglotroctes ashmoleorum , that has been found in caves and between lava blocks. In summer, flies are known to be

7128-404: The equator experience the shortest sunrises and sunsets because the Sun's daily path is nearly perpendicular to the horizon for most of the year. The length of daylight (sunrise to sunset) is almost constant throughout the year; it is about 14 minutes longer than nighttime due to atmospheric refraction and the fact that sunrise begins (or sunset ends) as the upper limb, not the center, of

7236-518: The equator generally have a tropical rainforest climate , also known as an equatorial climate, though cold ocean currents cause some regions to have tropical monsoon climates with a dry season in the middle of the year, and the Somali Current generated by the Asian monsoon due to continental heating via the high Tibetan Plateau causes Greater Somalia to have an arid climate despite its equatorial location. Average annual temperatures in equatorial lowlands are around 31 °C (88 °F) during

7344-419: The equator is at the elevation of 4,690 metres (15,387 ft), at 0°0′0″N 77°59′31″W  /  0.00000°N 77.99194°W  / 0.00000; -77.99194  ( highest point on the equator ) , found on the southern slopes of Volcán Cayambe [summit 5,790 metres (18,996 ft)] in Ecuador . This is slightly above the snow line and is the only place on the equator where snow lies on

7452-769: The first feitoria in Brazil by Fernão de Loronha and of a fort in the allied Kingdom of Cochin in India by Afonso de Albuquerque . 1505 – The construction of forts at Kilwa , Sofala , Angediva , and Cannanore by Francisco de Almeida as the first viceroy of India . 1506 – The capture of Essaouira in Morocco by Diogo de Azambuja. 1507 – The capture of Socotra by Tristão da Cunha and Oman by Afonso de Albuquerque. 1508 – The capture of Safi in Morocco by Diogo de Azambuja . 1510 – The capture of Goa in India by Afonso de Albuquerque . 1511 – The capture of Malacca in Malaysia by Afonso de Albuquerque. 1513 – The capture of Azamor in Morocco by Dom Jaime Duke of Braganza . 1515 – The capture of Ormus in

7560-458: The first National Park on Ascension Island, the Green Mountain National Park, was opened. Prosopis juliflora , a type of mesquite known as "Mexican thorn", was introduced by BBC engineers to bind the dry top soil when they arrived in 1966 to construct a shortwave relay station. It has thrived on the barren lava of the island – an estimated 38,000 bushes existed by 2016. Its spread has been destructive to other species, and current encroachment on

7668-414: The first commandant. In 1836 the second Beagle voyage visited Ascension. Charles Darwin described it as an arid, treeless island, with nothing growing near the coast. Sparse vegetation inland supported "about six hundred sheep, many goats, a few cows & horses," large numbers of guineafowl imported from the Cape Verde islands, rats, mice, and land crabs ; he agreed with the saying attributed to

7776-531: The first individual to receive more than one Golden Rose after Emperor Sigismund von Luxembourg . In December 1521, while Lisbon was dealing with an outbreak of the Black Plague , Manuel and his court remained at Ribeira Palace . On 4 December, Manuel began displaying symptoms of an intense fever which incapacitated him by the 11th. He died on 13 December 1521, at the age of 52, and was succeeded by his son, John III of Portugal . The next day, his body

7884-512: The fuel needed to launch spacecraft eastward (in the direction of Earth's rotation) to orbit, while simultaneously avoiding costly maneuvers to flatten inclination during missions such as the Apollo Moon landings . The precise location of the Equator is not truly fixed; the true equatorial plane is perpendicular to the Earth's rotation axis , which drifts about 9 metres (30 ft) during

7992-792: The ground. At the equator, the snow line is around 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) lower than on Mount Everest and as much as 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) lower than the highest snow line in the world, near the Tropic of Capricorn on Llullaillaco . There is a widespread maritime tradition of holding ceremonies to mark a sailor's first crossing of the equator. In the past, these ceremonies have been notorious for their brutality, especially in naval practice. Milder line-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune , are also held for passengers' entertainment on some civilian ocean liners and cruise ships. Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I ( European Portuguese: [mɐnuˈɛl] ; 31 May 1469 – 13 December 1521), known as

8100-487: The highest point of the island, Green Mountain , creating a tropical cloud forest . Beginning in July 1877, the astronomer Sir David Gill and his wife Isobel spent six months on Ascension Island. This was to take advantage of the near approach of Mars occurring that year. Based on Johannes Kepler's laws of planetary motion, Gill conceived that in pioneering the use of a heliometer , he would be able to accurately measure

8208-540: The increase in air traffic during the war, Wideawake, with up to 400 movements of all types each day, was one of the busiest airfields in the world for a short period. The Royal Navy's fleet stopped at Ascension for refuelling on the way. Following the war, the British retained an increased presence on the island, establishing RAF Ascension Island , and providing a refuelling stop for the regular airlink between RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, and RAF Mount Pleasant in

8316-403: The inhabitants of the island), white tern , brown noddy , black noddy and Ascension frigatebird . The Ascension crake became extinct around the beginning of the nineteenth century. Off the east coast of Ascension is the islet of Boatswain Bird Island . It is a haven for sea birds providing refuge from the rats, cats and people that came to Ascension Island from Europe and Africa. Following

8424-536: The intention of sinking any ships at anchor or shelling the cable station. Fort Bedford, a two-gun shore battery at Cross Hill, above Georgetown, fired on the submarine. The guns scored no hits but the U-boat submerged and retreated. The battery remains largely intact, together with its guns, BL 5.5 inch Mark I naval guns removed from HMS  Hood during a refit in Malta in 1938. The airbase fell into disuse following

8532-511: The island as part of its Eastern Range . NASA established a tracking station on the island in 1967, which it operated for more than 20 years before closing it down in 1990. Ascension was the shore terminal for the furthest down range installation of the Atlantic Missile Impact Location System (MILS), an acoustic system for locating splashdown of test nose cones. The MILS hydrophones that were located in

8640-435: The island in 2010. Over 60 specimens were then successfully cultivated. Portuguese explorers released goats in the 1500s, which ate many species to extinction. The later introduction of rabbits, sheep, rats and donkeys, and over 200 imported species further marginalised the original flora. By 1843 the island was barren with few plants. However, due to the introduction of species by the British, Ascension Island's Green Mountain

8748-655: The island was sometimes used as an open prison for criminal mariners, although there is only one documented case of such an exile, a Dutch ship's officer, Leendert Hasenbosch , set ashore at Clarence Bay as a punishment for sodomy in May 1725. British mariners found the Dutchman's tent, belongings and diary in January 1726; the man's remains were not found. His diary was published in translation in London later that same year, under

8856-401: The island. Sixty men survived for two months until they were rescued. Almost certainly, after a few days they found the strong water spring in the high interior of the island, in what is now called Breakneck Valley (there is a much smaller water source, lower on the mountain, which was named Dampier's Drip by people who probably misinterpreted Dampier's story). It is possible, but disputed, that

8964-625: The land of eleven sovereign states . Indonesia is the country straddling the greatest length of the equatorial line across both land and sea. Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Equator passes through: The Equator also passes through the territorial seas of three countries: Maldives (south of Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll ), Kiribati (south of Buariki Island ), and the United States (south of Baker Island ). Despite its name, no part of Equatorial Guinea lies on

9072-480: The largest marlin in the world, large populations of green turtle, and the island's own species of frigate bird. On 22 August 2019, the Ascension Island Government announced the designation of 100% of Ascension's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The EEZ covers an area of over 440,000 square kilometres (170,000 sq mi), making it one of the largest in

9180-509: The municipal charters with the crown, modernizing taxes and the concepts of tributes and rights. During his reign, the laws in force in the kingdom were recodified with the publication of the Manueline Ordinances . Manuel was a very religious man and invested a large amount of Portuguese income to send missionaries to the new colonies, among them Francisco Álvares , and sponsor the construction of religious buildings, such as

9288-442: The on-island conservation group. During the construction effort, all material was required to be purchased new to avoid the introduction of any non-native species which could impact the native flora and fauna. To avoid disruptions to island operations, the runway was completed in two phases, each half at approximately 5,000 linear feet. The construction team also updated the lighting system, drainage, airfield signs, and roads connecting

9396-713: The operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system (the others are on Kwajalein Island, Diego Garcia , and Cape Canaveral ). NASA operates a Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension Island for tracking orbital debris , which is potentially hazardous to operating spacecraft and astronauts, at a facility called the John Africano NASA/AFRL Orbital Debris Observatory. Two Portuguese chronicles suggest that João da Nova leading

9504-403: The people of St Helena that "We know we live on a rock, but the poor people at Ascension live on a cinder." He noted the care taken to sustain "houses, gardens & fields placed near the summit of the central mountain," and cisterns at roadsides to provide drinking water. The springs were carefully managed, "so that a single drop of water may not be lost: indeed the whole island may be compared to

9612-404: The pilots, Peter Jinks, the planes were fired upon before being recognised as allies. The Swordfish had to land on the unfinished airstrip, thus becoming the first aircraft to land on Ascension Island proper, which had long served as an anti-submarine warfare base for Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats . The event was commemorated with a postage stamp 15 June 1982. The airfield was used by

9720-418: The position of Mars while in opposition on his own, rather than in combination with many observers simultaneously recording the position of the planet as had been the technique during the time. This is because a heliometer is a telescope that uses a split image to measure the angular separation of celestial bodies. In observing this from near the equator, a greater observable distance would be visible, hence

9828-556: The practice was banned. By 1970 the turtle population had begun to rebound. From the 1970s, when records began, to 2014, green turtle nesting increased by 500%, resulting in some 24,000 nests being laid on the island's main beaches each year. On land are found such non-native birds as canaries , francolins , mynas , sparrows , and waxbills . Sooty terns or "wideawake birds" nest in great seashore lava "fairs". Other seabirds include some types of boobies , petrels , and tropicbirds (named boatswain , pronounced BO-sun birds , by

9936-562: The reign of King Ferdinand I (1367–1383). Manuel and Isabella's young son, Miguel da Paz , was named Prince of Asturias , Prince of Portugal , and Prince of Girona , making him heir apparent of Castile, Portugal, and Aragon until his death in 1500, at the age of two years, ended the ambitions of the Catholic Monarchs and Manuel. Manuel's next wife, Maria of Aragon , was his first wife's younger sister. Two of their sons later became kings of Portugal. Maria died in 1517 but

10044-521: The solar parallax , David Gill went on to be appointed Royal Astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope. Between 1872 and 1889, the population of the island was listed as HMS Flora (Tender), under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope , estimated to number just 150 in 1888. HMS  Flora had been the guardship at Ascension from 1865 to 1872 before being ordered south to become

10152-410: The southeast. The territory also includes the sparsely populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago, 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to the south, about halfway to the Antarctic Circle . The discovery of Ascension by Joao da Nova in 1501 was described by two Portuguese chroniclers who probably misnamed it as Conception Island. The popular idea that Ascension was rediscovered by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1503

10260-545: The territory alongside Saint Helena , with their own governments and established the position of Governor of Ascension . Per Section 143 of the Constitution Order 2009 the person appointed as Governor of Saint Helena is ex officio Governor of Ascension. In 2016, the United States Department of Energy started operating a mobile climate research facility on the island. It is operated by

10368-475: The third armada returned, shows the newly sighted island marked as ilha achada e chamada Ascenssam [island found and called Ascension], not as Conception. Third, in 1503 a division of the 4th Portuguese India Armada (Gama, 1502) under Vasco da Gama also named the island as Ascension, not as Conception. It is usually presumed that the island was discovered on the movable feast of Ascension Day , which fell on 20 May in 1501, 39 days after Easter . Two sources,

10476-412: The third armada to India discovered Ascension in 1501. Da Nova is variously said to have sailed from Lisbon on 1 March, 5 March, 11 March, 26-27 March or 10 April. João de Barros wrote that passing eight degrees beyond the equator, towards the south, an island was found to which the name Concepcão was given whilst Damião de Góis ’ later chronicle described the sighting of an island south of the line which

10584-659: The throne. Manuel succeeded John as king of Portugal in 1495. Manuel would prove a worthy successor to his cousin John II for his support of Portuguese exploration of the Atlantic Ocean and development of Portuguese commerce. During his reign, the following achievements were realized: 1498 – The discovery of a maritime route to India by Vasco da Gama . 1500 – The discovery of Brazil by Pedro Álvares Cabral . 1501 – The discovery of Labrador by Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real. 1503 – The construction of

10692-453: The title Sodomy Punish'd . Organised settlement of Ascension Island began in 1815, when the British garrisoned it as a precaution after imprisoning Napoleon on Saint Helena to the southeast. On 22 October the Cruizer -class brig-sloops Zenobia and Peruvian claimed the island for King George III . The Royal Navy designated the island as a stone frigate , HMS Ascension , with

10800-597: The two sisters were survived by two other sisters, Joanna of Castile , who was born in 1479 and had married Archduke Philip ( Maximilian I 's son) and had a son, Charles V who would eventually inherit Spain and the Habsburg possessions, and Catherine of Aragon , first wife of Henry VIII . After Maria's death, Manuel married her niece, Eleanor of Austria . Manuel I was awarded the Golden Rose by Pope Julius II in 1506 and by Pope Leo X in 1514. Manuel I became

10908-446: The whole night off shore in very stormy weather, and came near to sinking because the wind was blowing across the island. The place was of no use as far as we could tell, and we left it behind us ”. The quoted distance of 750 or 800 leagues equates to a voyage of about 2,600 - 2,800 miles (assuming a Portuguese league equates to 3.45 English miles), yet the distance from Cape Verde to Ascension is only about 1,800 miles. Trindade seems to be

11016-445: The whole of Earth. Near the equator, this means the variation in the strength of solar radiation is different relative to the time of year than it is at higher latitudes: maximum solar radiation is received during the equinoxes, when a place at the equator is under the subsolar point at high noon, and the intermediate seasons of spring and autumn occur at higher latitudes; and the minimum occurs during both solstices, when either pole

11124-524: The world. Within the MPA it is proposed that commercial fishing and mineral extraction will be prohibited. Legislation is now being brought forward and development of a management plan is underway. These will be put into place subject to confirmation that the ongoing costs of management, monitoring and enforcement have been provided by the UK government. Ascension had formed part of a British overseas territory together with Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha and

11232-498: The year, but tend to be heavier between June and September. Although the island is in the tropical zone , average annual rainfall is very low. The cause of this might be the relatively low temperature of the ocean water, as the Benguela Current and South Equatorial Current flow northward west of Africa. These currents bring cooling effects around the eastern South Atlantic Ocean. Tropical cyclones also occur only rarely in

11340-421: Was governed by St Helena, until it achieved its own constitution. Equator In spatial (3D) geometry , as applied in astronomy , the equator of a rotating spheroid (such as a planet ) is the parallel (circle of latitude) at which latitude is defined to be 0°. It is an imaginary line on the spheroid, equidistant from its poles , dividing it into northern and southern hemispheres. In other words, it

11448-689: Was named Conçeicam. There are at least three reasons why it is thought this name was quoted by de Barros in error, this later being repeated by de Góis. First, the Church of Rome has long celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on the fixed date of 8 December, yet by then the third armada had already reached India. Second, the Portuguese Cantino Planisphere , completed in 1502 after

11556-527: Was not claimed for the Portuguese Crown . Mariners could hunt for the numerous seabirds and the enormous female green turtles that laid their eggs on the sandy beaches. The Portuguese also introduced goats as a potential source of meat for future mariners. In February 1701, HMS Roebuck , commanded by William Dampier , sank in the common anchoring spot in Clarence Bay to the northwest of

11664-566: Was transported to the Belém district of Lisbon, in a black velvet-draped coffin, followed by masses of mourners. He was provisionally buried at Restelo Church, while the royal pantheon of the House of Aviz was furnished inside Jerónimos Monastery . His coffin was buried by four of the most prominent nobles of the kingdom, the Duke of Braganza , the Duke of Coimbra , and the Marquis of Vila Real , in

#514485