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Old 02-05-2007, 03:33 PM  
jact
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Oakville, Canada
Posts: 9,134
Quote:
Originally Posted by stickyfingerz View Post
Or close it its relative axis.... Spin a top on a table does it occasionally correct itself, or spin perfectly with no change. Im amazed that people dont think the earth can spin just slightly different than normal sometimes.

I enjoy the responses. Like anything any of us post concerning such large issues makes a shit of difference. Its called entertainment.
(This is LadyM) The earth does not spin perfectly all the time. It has a slight wobble on it's axis as it performs it's orbit around the sun, sort of like a top that wobbles when it's not perfectly aligned (which the earth is not). It's a predictable wobble that has been noted and observed by astromoners since ancient times. That cycle is called precession (Known in astronomy as the Precession of the Equinoxes).. it's a roughly 21,000 year cycle that, depending on where the earth is in the precessional cycle, can dramatically affect climate (among other things).
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