Re: "Fundamental Year"

Additional Comments:

It is said that the equinoxes and solstices 'precess' by 0.00912 seconds per day relative to inertial space. Yet astronomers seem to claim that rotation time difference of the Earth is 3.34 seconds per day due to precession.

Again, the rate of precession is said to be 50.26" per tropical year. This is of course equivalent to 3.34 seconds of time per year and not 3.34 s per day! But keep in mind that the vernal equinox cannot be observed directly by transit measurements. Around 1950, Dr. William Markowitz (former Director of the US Naval Observatory, Time Service Dept.) was responsible for the determination of the length of the sidereal year for 1900.0. He once wrote in an article on 'Time' that, " the vernal equinox is nearly fixed with respect to the system of stars (it moves very slowly), ...".

Besides Simon Newcomb, William Markowitz was certainly an exceptional astronomer who recognized the fact that the vernal equinox does NOT 'precess' by 3.34 seconds per day!

Suppose we stop the Earth in its revolution around the sun exactly at the orbital position of the vernal equinox; i.e. the vernal equinox is now fixed with respect to the sun's position. What must occur so that the absolute rotation period of the Earth of 86164.09054 seconds increases by 0.009 seconds (as measured relative to inertial space), while the sun remains aligned to the orbital position of the vernal equinox?

Of course, sun and Earth have to slowly revolve in space as one unit.*

* That is to say, our entire solar system is in orbit with Sirius whose mean transit period is equal to the absolute rotation period of the Earth on its axis, as repeateable experiments can prove.

But our luni-solar-astronomers believe that the sun remains fixed in space, while the Earth itself is 'precessing'. In order to keep the sun aligned with the position of the vernal equinox, they wrongly assume that it must revolve backwards around the sun. This fantastic notion creates the ultimate illusion: The vernal equinox is 'precessing' by 50.26 arc seconds or 3.34 time seconds per day relative to sun and inertial space!

.....but coming to think of it, these same astronomers also believe that the precise time interval of the tropical year, our calendar and earth's true 360-degree orbit period around the sun (their so-called sidereal year) depend upon the actions of our "wicked moon". Some of them even go so far as to assume that without this moon our Earth's axis would helplessly start to topple around. Apparently, it never occurred to them that the inclination and orientation of the axis of Mars, Saturn and Neptune is nearly identical to that of Earth, and that this fact is totally independent of the quantity and masses of those planet's moons!

UPDATE:

We received a note from a reader saying that the claim about the moon doesn't follow the conventional rotational dynamics arguments for the origins of luni-solar precession. We were asked to provide a reference to this matter from a reputable member of the scientific community.

Here are references and some excerpts:

The Discovery Channel, "IF WE HAD NO MOON"

http://www.yorkfilms.com/production/nomoon.html

..."Earth would wobble wildly on its axis."...

As for the science editor of York Films, it says on their website:

"Dr. John Mason, Astronomy Producer. The scientific brains of York Films and associate producer of The Complete Cosmos, Mason is a consumate communicator - a broadcaster, science editor and former lecturer in astronomy at Imperial College, London. His encyclopedic knowledge of space and astronomy has ensured the accuracy of the four series he has overseen for York Films."

The following statement on this matter was once found at www.spaceref.com/bookreviews.html:

..." In the case of the Earth and its rather large moon, a rather peculiar relationship developed early on. Due to the physics of its orbit about the Earth, the Moon served to dampen the otherwise wildly chaotic wandering of the Earth's axis - and the way it points towards the sun. By stabilizing the Earth's axial orientation, our world enjoys long periods of steady climate - something that favors the continued presence of life."

... A similar argument was alos echoed in a German Science Magazine, called "Bild der Wissenschaft" (June 2001),'Kosmische Ingenieurskunst', Rüdiger Vaas, Editor Astronomy & Physics:

..." Eine weitere Herausforderung ist der Mond. Bei häufigen erdnahen Vorbeiflügen von Kuiper-Objekten entfernt er sich allmählich von der Erde. Das könnte fatal sein, denn seine Gravitation stabilisiert die Neigung der Erdachse und somit langfristig das irdische Klima."

As for the mysterious forces attributed to Earth's moon, these should also apply to the moons of Mars. It does require an explanation though, how the two tiny "rocks" manage to stabilize the axial orientation of Mars?!