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Earth's rotation axis moves with respect to the fixed stars (inertial space); the components of this motion are precession and nutation. It also moves with respect to Earth's crust; this is called polar motion. Precession is a rotation of Earth's rotation axis, caused primarily by external torques from the gravity of the Sun, Moon and other bodies.
The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. If a long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circular area is monitored over an extended period of time, its plane of oscillation appears to change ...
The aim, as it was first proposed by Albert A. Michelson in 1904 and then executed in 1925 by Michelson and Henry G. Gale, was to find out whether the rotation of the Earth has an effect on the propagation of light in the vicinity of the Earth. [1] [2] [3] The Michelson-Gale experiment was a very large ring interferometer, (a perimeter of 1.9 ...
We know Earth’s rotation on a cosmic scale, but seeing it close up requires quantum mechanics. Interferometry is the use of light waves, sound, etc., to identify changes in matter or motion.
Polar motion of the Earth is the motion of the Earth's rotational axis relative to its crust. [2]: 1 This is measured with respect to a reference frame in which the solid Earth is fixed (a so-called Earth-centered, Earth-fixed or ECEF reference frame). This variation is a few meters on the surface of the Earth.
Any motion of mass in or on Earth causes a slowdown or speedup of the rotation speed, or a change of rotation axis. Small motions produce changes too small to be measured, but movements of very large mass, like sea currents , tides , or those resulting from earthquakes , can produce discernible changes in the rotation and can change very ...
The discovery indicates that the Earth’s center regularly pauses and reverses its rotation, researchers in China wrote in a study published Jan. 23 in the journal Nature Geoscience.
In the summer of 1998, Hollywood offered up not one, but two blockbuster films about asteroids hurtling towards Earth. Released on May 8 of that year, Deep Impact, directed by Mimi Leder, told a ...