NUTATION

in astronomy, a slight wobbling motion of the earth's axis. The causes of nutation are similar to those of the precession of the equinoxes, involving the varying attraction of the moon on the earth's equatorial bulge. However, the period of the motion is only 18.6 years, the same as that of the precession of the moon's nodes, as opposed to the nearly 26,000-year period of the precession of the equinoxes. Nutation was discovered by the English astronomer James Bradley in 1728 but was not explained until 20 years later.

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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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Questia Books and Articles on: Nutation
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books on: Nutation  - 82 results

       More book Results: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >>  
 
1.
A Dictionary of Astronomy
Book by Ian Ridpath; Oxford University Press, 1997
Subjects: Astronomy--Dictionaries
...direction given in a star catalogue due to precession, nutation, aberration, proper motion, annual parallax, and...direction but varies due to general precession and nutation. Nutation is a periodic variation and imposes irregularities...
2.
Astronomical Discovery
Book by Herbert Hall Turner; University of California Press, 1963
Subjects: Astronomy--History
...BRADLEYS DISCOVERIES OF THE ABERRATION OF LIGHT AND OF THE NUTATION OF THE EARTHS AXIS 86 CHAPTER...BRADLEYS DISCOVERIES OF THE ABERRATION OF LIGHT AND OF THE NUTATION OF THE EARTHS AXIS IN examining different types of astronomical...
3.
An Introduction to Celestial Mechanics
Book by Theodore E. Sterne; Interscience Publishers, 1960
Subjects: Celestial Mechanics
...3.6 Precession and Nutation 66...Example: Eulerian Angles, Effects of Nutation on Time 75...and in connection with precession and nutation. The third and higher terms are of consequence...
4.
Astronomy: A Revision of Young's Manual of Astronomy - Vol. 1
Book by Henry Norris Russell, Raymond Smith Dugan, John Quincy Stewart; Ginn, 1926
Subjects: Astronomy, Solar System
...The Apparent Motion of the Sun, and the Orbital Motion of the Earth Aberration of Light Precession and Nutation The Equation of Time The Seasons and the Calendar Exercises References CHAPTER...
5.
Essays in Astronomy
Book by Sir Robert S. Ball, William Harkness, Sir John Herschel, William Huggins, Marquid de Laplace, Ormsby McKnight Mitchel, Richard Proctor, M. Schiaparelli, Edward Singleton Holden; D. Appleton & Company, 1900
Subjects: Astronomy
More book Results: 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >>

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journal articles on: Nutation  - 1 result

 
 
1.
A Mock-Biblical Controversy: Sir Richard Blackmore in the 'Dunciad.'
Journal article by Thomas Jemielity; Philological Quarterly, Vol. 74, 1995
Subjects: Bible and literature--Anecdotes, cartoons, satire, etc., Pope, Alexander--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Satire--Criticism, interpretation, etc.
...the Dunces. With very un-Job-like behavior, they fall inexorably under the weight of this ordeal: So from the mid-most the nutation spreads Round and more round, now Blackmores contribution oer all the sea of heads. 2. 409-10 In Blackmores Job the context...


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magazine articles on: Nutation  - 1 result

 
 
1.
The Complexity of Global Warming
Magazine article; World and I, Vol. 17, January 2002
...atmospheric temperature and climate changes, from the effects due to other sources, such as solar radiation, precession of equinoxes, nutation of the north-south Earth axis, and so forth. The authors correctly point out that there are "discrepancies" among several...


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encyclopedia articles on: Nutation  - 3 results

 
 
1.
Nutation
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2007
NUTATION in astronomy, a slight wobbling motion of the earths axis. The causes of nutation are similar to those of the precession of the equinoxes...26,000-year period of the precession of the equinoxes. Nutation was discovered by the English astronomer James Bradley...
2.
Bradley, James
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2007
...new instruments; with some of these he cataloged the positions of more than 3,000 stars. His second important discovery, the nutation, or "nodding," of the earths axis, was only made known in 1748, after it had stood the test of careful observations over a...
3.
Precession of the Equinoxes
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2007
...effects of the sun and moon are not always the same, there is some wobble in the motion of the earths axis; this wobble, called nutation , causes the celestial poles to move, not in perfect circles, but in a series of S-shaped curves with a period of 18.6 years...


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