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The Earth's rotational rate around its own axis is 15 minutes of arc per minute of time (360 degrees / 24 hours in day); the Earth's rotational rate around the Sun (not entirely constant) is roughly 24 minutes of time per minute of arc (from 24 hours in day), which tracks the annual progression of the Zodiac.
Sidereal time is a "time scale that is based on Earth's rate of rotation measured relative to the fixed stars". [ 1 ] Viewed from the same location , a star seen at one position in the sky will be seen at the same position on another night at the same time of day (or night), if the day is defined as a sidereal day (also known as the sidereal ...
At present, the rate of precession corresponds to a period of 25,772 years, so tropical year is shorter than sidereal year by 1,224.5 seconds (20 min 24.5 sec ≈ (365.24219 × 86400) / 25772). The rate itself varies somewhat with time (see Values below), so one cannot say that in exactly 25,772 years the Earth's axis will be back to where it ...
(1) τ E = 1/ν E = A/(C − A) sidereal days ≈ 307 sidereal days ≈ 0.84 sidereal years ν E = 1.19 is the normalized Euler frequency (in units of reciprocal years), C = 8.04 × 10 37 kg m 2 is the polar moment of inertia of the Earth, A is its mean equatorial moment of inertia, and C − A = 2.61 × 10 35 kg m 2 .
The daily arc path of an object on the celestial sphere, including the possible part below the horizon, has a length proportional to the cosine of the declination.Thus, the speed of the diurnal motion of a celestial object equals this cosine times 15° per hour, 15 arcminutes per minute, or 15 arcseconds per second.
The ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus noted the apsidal precession of the Moon's orbit (as the revolution of the Moon's apogee with a period of approximately 8.85 years); [4] it is corrected for in the Antikythera Mechanism (circa 80 BCE) (with the supposed value of 8.88 years per full cycle, correct to within 0.34% of current measurements). [5]
The sidereal year is 20 min 24.5 s longer than the mean tropical year at J2000.0 (365.242 190 402 ephemeris days). [ 1 ] At present, the rate of axial precession corresponds to a period of 25,772 years, [ 3 ] so sidereal year is longer than tropical year by 1,224.5 seconds (20 min 24.5 s, ~365.24219*86400/25772).
axial precession and nutation – slow tilts of Earth's axis with rates of 50 arcseconds and 2 arcseconds respectively, per year; the aberration and parallax – effects of Earth's orbit around the Sun; and; the proper motion of the individual stars.