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compass rose

The 360° protractor in the center of a plotting sheet, or located throughout nautical charts. The name is somewhat misleading, since even the scales referenced to true north are called "compass" roses. On nautical charts there are both true and magnetic scales, but on plotting sheets there are only true scales. See Protractor.

A circle graduated in degrees, clockwise from 0° at the reference direction to 360°, and sometimes also in compass points.  Compass roses are placed at convenient locations on the Mercator chart or plotting sheet to facilitate measurement of direction.


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