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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.
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.
The pendulum was introduced in 1851 and was the first experiment to give simple, direct evidence of the Earth's rotation. Foucault followed up in 1852 with a gyroscope experiment to further demonstrate the Earth's rotation. Foucault pendulums today are popular displays in science museums and universities. [1]
The Earth rotation angle (ERA) measures the rotation of the Earth from an origin on the celestial equator, the Celestial Intermediate Origin, also termed the Celestial Ephemeris Origin, [9] that has no instantaneous motion along the equator; it was originally referred to as the non-rotating origin. This point is very close to the equinox of J2000.
Melting ice is slowing Earth's spin and causing changes to its axis, new studies find. The shifts are causing feedback beneath the surface, impacting the planet's molten core.
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.
The Michelson–Gale–Pearson experiment (1925) is a modified version of the Michelson–Morley experiment and the Sagnac-Interferometer.It measured the Sagnac effect due to Earth's rotation, and thus tests the theories of special relativity and luminiferous ether along the rotating frame of Earth.
The Earth's rotation rate is still slowing down, though gradually, by about two thousandths of a second per rotation every 100 years. [1] Estimates of how fast the Earth was rotating in the past vary, because it is not known exactly how the moon was formed. Estimates of the Earth's rotation 500 million years ago are around 20 modern hours per ...