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{{Short description|Cardinal direction for steering}}
[[File:Navigational rules types.JPG|thumb|Instruments used to plot a course on a nautical chart.]]

In [[navigation]], the '''course''' of a [[watercraft]] or [[aircraft]] is the [[cardinal direction]] in which the craft is to be [[Steering|steered]]. The course is to be distinguished from the ''[[Heading (navigation)|heading]]'', which is the direction where the watercraft's [[Bow (watercraft)|bow]] or the aircraft's [[Nose cone|nose]] is pointed.<ref name="Bartlett">
{{Citation|last=Bartlett|first=Tim|title=Adlard Coles Book of Navigations|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RWUQAAAAQBAJ&q=pilotage|page=176|publisher=Adlard Coles|isbn=978-0713689396}}</ref><ref name=Chapman>
{{cite book
| last = Husick
| first = Charles B.
| title = Chapman Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling
| publisher = Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
| date = 2009
| page = 927
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=S4FwbS8StvEC&q=definition+nautical+course&pg=PA50 | isbn = 9781588167446 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite PHAK|year=2016}}</ref>{{pn|date=January 2025}}
The path that a vessel follows is called a '''track''' or, in the case of aircraft, '''ground track''' (also known as ''course made good'' or ''course over the ground'').<ref name="Bartlett" /> The intended track is a '''route'''.

== Discussion ==
{{further|Bearing (angle)#Arcs|Rhumb line#Introduction}}

{{multiple image
| width1 = 200
| footer = True heading (left) and magnetic heading (right)
| image1 = MISB ST 0601.8 - Platform Heading Angle.png
| alt1 =
| width2 = 200
| image2 = MISB ST 0601.8 - Platform Magnetic Heading.png
| alt2 =
| caption2 =
}}

For ships and aircraft, routes are typically [[Great-circle distance|straight-line]] segments between [[Waypoint|waypoints]]. A navigator determines the ''bearing'' (the compass direction from the craft's current position) of the next waypoint. Because water currents or wind can cause a craft to drift off course, a navigator sets a ''course to steer'' that compensates for drift. The helmsman or pilot points the craft on a ''heading'' that corresponds to the course to steer. If the predicted drift is correct, then the craft's track will correspond to the planned course to the next waypoint.<ref name="Bartlett" /><ref name=":0" /> Course directions are specified in degrees from north, either true or magnetic. In [[aviation]], north is usually expressed as 360°.<ref name="Nolan2010">{{cite book|author=Michael Nolan|title=Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6yhTiGC3ulcC&pg=PA201|date=2010|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-4354-8272-2|page=201|quote=For example, a runway heading north would have a magnetic heading of 360°.}}</ref> Navigators used [[Cardinal direction|ordinal directions]], instead of compass degrees, e.g. "northeast" instead of 45° until the mid-20th century when the use of degrees became prevalent.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xRqzoX04v5AC&q=cardinal+direction&pg=PA233|title=The Annapolis Book of Seamanship: Third Edition: Completely Revised, Expanded and Updated|last1=Rousmaniere|first1=John|last2=Smith|first2=Mark|date=1999|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780684854205|pages=234|language=en}}</ref>

[[Image:Course (navigation).svg|center|upright=3|Heading and track (A to B) 
1 – True North 
2 – Heading, the direction the vessel is "pointing towards" 
3 – Magnetic north, which differs from true north by the magnetic variation. 
4 – Compass north, including a two-part error; the magnetic variation (6) and the ship's own magnetic field (5) 
5 – Magnetic deviation, caused by vessel's magnetic field. 
6 – Magnetic variation, caused by variations in Earth's magnetic field. 
7 – Compass heading or compass course, before correction for magnetic deviation or magnetic variation. 
8 – Magnetic heading, the compass heading corrected for magnetic deviation but not magnetic variation; thus, the heading reliative to magnetic north. 
9, 10 – Effects of crosswind and tidal current, causing the vessel's track to differ from its heading. 
A, B – Vessel's track.]]

== See also ==
{{Portal|Geography}}
* [[Acronyms and abbreviations in avionics]]
* [[Glossary of navigation terms]]
* [[Bearing (navigation)]]
* [[Breton plotter]]
* [[E6B]]
* [[Great circle]]
* [[Ground track]]
* [[Navigation]]
* [[Navigation room]]
* [[Rhumb line]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/ Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge]
*[https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/media/21_phak_glossary.pdf glossary]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Course (Navigation)}}
[[Category:Aircraft instruments]]
[[Category:Marine navigation]]
[[Category:Tracking]]
[[Category:Air navigation]]

Course (navigation) - Revision history

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