Convert the following angle to decimal degrees
\[
\alpha=59^{\circ} 44^{\prime} 15^{\prime \prime}
\]
(Round to 3 decimal places as needed)

Step 1 ：The given angle is in degrees, minutes, and seconds. To convert this to decimal degrees, we need to convert the minutes and seconds to degrees. 1 degree is equal to 60 minutes and 1 minute is equal to 60 seconds. Therefore, 1 degree is equal to 3600 seconds.

Step 2 ：So, to convert minutes to degrees, we divide the number of minutes by 60. To convert seconds to degrees, we divide the number of seconds by 3600.

Step 3 ：Given: degrees = 59, minutes = 44, seconds = 15

Step 4 ：Convert minutes to degrees: \(\frac{44}{60} = 0.7333333333333333\) degrees

Step 5 ：Convert seconds to degrees: \(\frac{15}{3600} = 0.004166666666666667\) degrees

Step 6 ：Add the degrees, minutes in degrees, and seconds in degrees to get the total in decimal degrees: \(59 + 0.7333333333333333 + 0.004166666666666667 = 59.738\) degrees

Step 7 ：Final Answer: The decimal degree representation of the angle \(\alpha=59^\circ 44^\prime 15^\prime \prime\) is \(\boxed{59.738}\) degrees