The location of the magnetic north pole was first discovered in 1831 by Arctic explorer James Clark Ross. On an expedition, he mapped and explored Boothia Peninsula in Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic.

Pictured are the magnetic north pole locations from 1590 to 2030. BGS/UKRI/Wessel, P./W. H. F. Smith. Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter.

Compass needles in the Northern Hemisphere point toward the magnetic North Pole, although the exact location of it changes from time to time as the contours of Earth’s magnetic field also change.

Magnetic North Pole locations from 1590 to 2030. Image: BGS, UKRI, and Wessel, P., and W. H. F. Smith (1996) A moving target. The Magnetic North Pole is completely different from the Geographic ...

For centuries, the magnetic north pole steadily tracked along Canada's northern shore. But in recent decades, it has taken a new path, accelerating across the Arctic Ocean toward Russia's Siberia ...

The magnetic North Pole is on a journey toward Russia in a way that has not been seen before. The British Geological Survey (BGS) works with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric ...

However, the North Magnetic Pole has actually been moving gradually since away from the location it was first documented back in the 1830s. Now, scientists say we may finally understand why it’s ...

The sun is on the verge of a significant event: a magnetic field reversal. This phenomenon happens roughly every 11 years and marks an important stage in the solar cycle. The shift in polarity ...

British explorer Sir James Clark Ross discovered the magnetic north pole in 1831 in northern Canada, approximately 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) south of the true North Pole.