"Precession of the Equinox" is an observed celestial phenomenon. It is the slow backward or retrograde movement of the equinoctial points through the constellations of the Zodiac. Although more commonly referred to as precession, the term is actually a misnomer because precession is an assumed physical cause for the observed gradual changes in the orientation of the Earth's axis in space. The gravitational influences of the Sun and the Moon on the oblate Earth are said to cause precession (hence, the term 'lunisolar precession'). Astronomers believe that the length of the tropical year depends upon the adopted value of the precession (currently the rate is about 50.26" per tropical year). Our civil calendar is based on the length of the tropical year.

Because astronomers are convinced that the Moon* of the Earth determines our calendar, they fool us to think that a non-relevant and unproven time interval of 365.2564 mean solar days is the truest measure for Earth's 360° revolution around the Sun. It is supposed to be the basis for calculating and predicting the exact occurrence of celestial phenomena in our solar system, like solar eclipses, Venus transits, Perseid meteor shower etc. However, it has been determined, that solar eclipse cycles occur precisely according to tropical time (i.e. Earth's 360° orbital period around the Sun of 365.242198 mean solar days) - a fact admitted by astronomers. Hence, the tropical year is regarded as a 360° orbit of the Earth around the Sun.

* (Some astronomers even believe that without our Moon the axis of the Earth would loose its stability, causing the Earth to tumble chaotically in space (Would the same principle apply to Mars and its two tiny moons?). The periodic appearance of the Perseid meteor shower around the 11th of August and the transits of Venus, for example, would no longer be predictable. In other words, without the influence of our "important" Moon there would be no order and harmony in the solar system.)

But since the so-called sidereal year of 365.2564 mean solar days is also viewed as a 360° orbit, a problem exists: There cannot be two different 360° orbits in the same orbital path of the Earth around the sun. Astronomers seem to have a simple solution; they assert that Earth completes such 360° sidereal orbits with approx. 20 minutes shorter tropical years.

The following example may help to further clarify this problem:

Suppose we let the big hand of our clock run in counterclockwise direction starting from the number 12 back to the same number; i.e. a complete 360° revolution. The next revolution ends by the number 1; i.e. not a complete 360° revolution. The third revolution starts by the number 1 and ends by the number 2. Then counting from 2 it ends by 3, etc. This repeating period is defined as the 'fundamental time'. The trick is that astronomers rotate the dial of the clock in a clockwise direction, thus completing the "shorter" revolution always by the number 12 - does this imply a 360° revolution?

This means that either the sidereal year is also NOT a 360° orbit and constantly follows the tropical year at a 20-minute "distance", or it is a 360° orbit and the difference between the two years accumulates by 20 minutes each year. (First orbit 20 minutes, second 40 minutes, third 60 minutes, etc.) In both cases, the tropical year would be less than a 360° orbit.

But as we have seen, solar eclipses are based on a 360° tropical orbit period. Do astronomers really want to suggest that they choose for convenience a 360° tropical year when plotting eclipses and the like but revert to a less than 360° tropical year when trying to determine star positions?

It is already incomprehensible how solar eclipse cycles can be squeezed into an Earth orbit of less than 360° without overturning the laws of geometry. But trying to fit in transits of Venus or the occurrence of the Perseid meteor shower, which have no connection at all with the Earth and its Moon seems indeed mind-boggling.

As a matter of fact, a "1223 s longer" sidereal year has NEVER been used as basis for the definition of time. Since ancient times only the tropical year was regarded as a reference frame, crucial for the calculation of celestial phenomena, including the movement of the Sun through the constellations of the Zodiac. For modern astronomy the "Great Year" (the cycle of the Zodiac) has no significance anymore.
 
When in 1955 the period of revolution of the Earth around the Sun was used as the basis for the definition of the 'second', some astronomers understood this to be the roughly 20 minutes longer sidereal year, which length depends on the adopted value of the precession. When it was realized, however, that the sidereal year for 1900.0 * is actually time equivalent to the tropical year for 1900.0, the tropical year was substituted for this true sidereal year - a "minor correction" as it was called!

* (Given a precession rate of about 50.26 " per tropical year the maximum time difference is only 3.35 seconds, not 1223 seconds. Observations show that the mean transit time of Sirius is identical to the mean sidereal day [astrodynamical constant]. Hence, Sirius and Sun are connected with the imaginary line, which the Earth crosses in its 360° orbit around the Sun. That fact alone allows for the substitution of the tropical year for the sidereal year)

After the introduction of atomic time, the tropical year became meaningless. Vernal equinox, Sun and stars now have to make room for terrestrial atomic clocks, mainly so that military GPS can utilize a stable and uniform time signal free of leap seconds. But since no known element exists that oscillates synchronous to tropical time, leap seconds cannot be eliminated. They ensure that, on average, the Sun continues to be overhead on the (e.g.) Greenwich meridian at 12 o'clock noon to within one second. Without leap seconds atomic time will continue to deviate from mean solar time (Greenwich Mean Sidereal Time).

In 1582 the Church was forced to reform the calendar. Does science intend to let centuries pass, before correcting our terrestrial clocks to tropical time again?

Nowadays, Quasars are regarded as a reference to determine Earth's daily rotation and orientation in space, through which Earth apparently moves meaningless with constantly varying rotation speed. Astronomers believe that such fluctuations in Earth's period of rotation are due to a presumed inner core movement of the Earth, increasing distance of the Moon, as well as tidal and atmospheric influences. In other words, Earth performs some sort of pirouette dance, turning sometimes faster or slower on its axis.
The physical fact, however, that these detected changes in the rotation period can be explained by small, but non-predictable oscillations of the spin axis, thus causing a displacement of the observer's location on Earth with respect to inertial space, has probably never entered their mind.
 
The new lunisolar precession theory - solution or dilemma?

In the past, textbooks taught that the Greenwich meridian precesses and that a sidereal day of about 86164.09966 s (latest observations suggest 86164.0989 s) is about 9.12 ms (8.36 ms) longer than the absolute 360-degree rotation of the Earth on its axis of 86164.0905382 seconds. The latter is the time interval of the mean sidereal day, which is a primary astrodynamical constant.

Dr. Tom Van Flandern is an eminent astronomer and a former expert at the US Naval Observatory. In a correspondence he indicated, however, that the mean solar day and the sidereal day - i.e. the rotation of the Earth, as measured relative to the fixed stars or quasars - are NOT affected by precession, only the mean sidereal day (equinox to equinox) is affected by precession. In his opinion the sidereal year no longer depends on the value of the precession, but the tropical year does.

To briefly summarize the modifications to the standard lunisolar precession model:

1. The absolute rotation of the Earth on its axis is now about 9 ms longer. That means Earth's rotation relative to the stars is no longer 360° 50.26", but 360°

2. The Greenwich meridian does NOT precess; i.e. it is fixed relative to inertial space

3. The primary astrodynamical constant of the mean sidereal day is now based on an Earth rotation period of LESS than 360°
 
If precession does not affect the rotation and revolution period of the Earth, as measured relative to the Sun and relative to the stars, how can precession cause a rotation and revolution time difference of more than 3 seconds per day?
 
Astronomers claim that it takes the Sun about 31,558,149 s or 365.2564 mean solar of 86400 s days to travel 360° 50.26" around the ecliptic of the Earth.

IF the equator of the Earth does NOT wobble relative to the Sun, astronomers believe that it also takes the same amount of mean solar days for the Sun to travel exactly 360° around the ecliptic of the Earth.
Again, we need to ponder the problem of the mysterious distance of 50 arc-seconds. It was said that the Earth cannot travel through an additional spatial distance of 50 arc-seconds in its orbit around the Sun without extra rotation, implying extra time. Since a rotation time difference of more than 3 s per day does NOT exist, yet the Sun travels through the Zodiac at a rate of about 50" per year, there is only one solution: The Earth along with the Sun and the rest of the solarsystem moves roughly 50" each tropical year in a still undetermined orbit. Regardless of how fast the solarsystem travles through space in an orbit of its own, a 360° revolution period of the Earth around the Sun of 31,558,149 s does NOT exist.

Observations and measurements prove that it takes the Sun about 31,556,926 s or 365.2422 mean solar days to travel exactly 360° around the ecliptic of the Earth.

Mathematically, the mean solar day of 86400 s is based on a circle of exactly 360°.

In practice, the constant of the mean solar day of 86400 s is based on the mean time interval measured from the Greenwich meridian between two successive transits of the vernal equinox, which remains fixed with respect to the Sun and the orientation of Earth's rotation axis in space.

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