|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Ring of stars traced by precession Where?
Since the earth precesses in it's rotation, it's poles trace out a circle in
the stars about every 26,000 years. Right now, the north pole points to the part of the circle including Polaris, more or less. 1) Does this circle have a specific technical name for each pole? 2) Can anyone refer me to a source showing the actual predicted circle, complete with dates? I want to be able to say things like "in year 13050 Vega will be the North Star" or whatever. A nice graphic program would be helpful. Thanks. Scott |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Scott Berg wrote:
Since the earth precesses in it's rotation, it's poles trace out a circle in the stars about every 26,000 years. Right now, the north pole points to the part of the circle including Polaris, more or less. 1) Does this circle have a specific technical name for each pole? I'm not sure what you're asking here. The location of the pole at a time other than the present is usually just identified by the epoch: "the pole of 3000 BCE" or some such expression. The centre of the circle is called the (north or south) "pole of the ecliptic". 2) Can anyone refer me to a source showing the actual predicted circle, complete with dates? I want to be able to say things like "in year 13050 Vega will be the North Star" or whatever. A nice graphic program would be helpful. See the recent thread "Cosmological ?s", wherein I posted this link: http://www.opencourse.info/astronomy/introduction/03.motion_earth/, to a page that includes an animation covering about a third of the precession cycle, and from which it isn't too hard to extrapolate. A Google Images search for "precession" will likely turn up plenty more such diagrams. -- Odysseus |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Scott Berg wrote:
Since the earth precesses in it's rotation, it's poles trace out a circle in the stars about every 26,000 years. Right now, the north pole points to the part of the circle including Polaris, more or less. 1) Does this circle have a specific technical name for each pole? I'm not sure what you're asking here. The location of the pole at a time other than the present is usually just identified by the epoch: "the pole of 3000 BCE" or some such expression. The centre of the circle is called the (north or south) "pole of the ecliptic". 2) Can anyone refer me to a source showing the actual predicted circle, complete with dates? I want to be able to say things like "in year 13050 Vega will be the North Star" or whatever. A nice graphic program would be helpful. See the recent thread "Cosmological ?s", wherein I posted this link: http://www.opencourse.info/astronomy/introduction/03.motion_earth/, to a page that includes an animation covering about a third of the precession cycle, and from which it isn't too hard to extrapolate. A Google Images search for "precession" will likely turn up plenty more such diagrams. -- Odysseus |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Incontrovertible Evidence | Cash | Astronomy Misc | 1 | August 24th 03 07:22 PM |
Incontrovertible Evidence | Cash | Amateur Astronomy | 6 | August 24th 03 07:22 PM |
Stars Rich In Heavy Metals Tend To Harbor Planets, Astronomers Report | Ron Baalke | Misc | 5 | August 10th 03 10:58 PM |
Stars rich in heavy metals tend to harbor planets, astronomers report(Forwarded) | Andrew Yee | Astronomy Misc | 0 | July 21st 03 05:45 PM |