On Monday, December 3, 2018 at 9:52:33 AM UTC-7, Gerald Kelleher wrote:

It is painful watching the death throes of the meaningless 'solar vs sidereal'
fiction

I am sorry that the concept of the "sidereal day" was initially presented to you
in a confusing manner which has led you to be mistrustful of the astronomical
profession.

I regret that, for some reason, this has rendered you incapable of understanding
the facts in this matter when they are carefully explained: that for certain
astronomical purposes, since, as Copernicus showed us, the Earth orbits the Sun
like any other planet, motions in the Solar System, to be used in calculations,
all have to be taken against a single reference which all the planets share,
that being the fixed stars, and not the line from the Earth to the Sun.

The Equation of Time makes any attempt to work within the system of Tycho Brahe
fall flat on its face in excess complexity when sufficient accuracy is required
that the fact that the Earth's orbit around the Sun is not a perfect circle has
to be taken into account.

John Savard