True polar wander
wikipedia:True polar wander[править]
- If the body is not in this steady state, true polar wander will occur: the planet or moon will rotate as a rigid body to realign the largest moment of inertia axis with the spin axis...
- If the body is near the steady state but with the angular momentum not exactly lined up with the largest moment of inertia axis, the pole position will oscillate... These subjects are covered in the article Polar motion.
Cases of true polar wander have occurred several times in the course of the Earth's history. The speed of rotation (around the axis of lowest inertia) is thought to have been less than about 1° per million years.
Polar wander should not be confused with precession, which is where the axis of rotation moves, in other words the North Pole points toward a different star. There are also smaller and faster variations in the axis of rotation going under the term nutation. Precession is caused by the gravitational attraction of the Moon and Sun, and occurs all the time and at a much faster rate than polar wander. It does not result in changes of latitude.
критика
'It does not result in changes of latitude' означает, что прецессия не влияет на широту, измеренную относительно Солнца; относительно неподвижных звезд прецессия влияет на широту.