How far is Earth’s magnetic dipole tilted from its rotation axis?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

geomagnetic field The magnetic field of a bar magnet has a simple configuration known as a dipole field. Close to Earth's surface this field is a reasonable approximation of the actual field.

Earth’s magnetic dipole is not perfectly aligned with the planet's rotation axis. The best-centred dipole is tilted at an angle of 11° away from the geographic North Pole toward North America, specifically at a longitude of 71° W of Greenwich.1