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An example of precession and nutation is the variation over time of the orientation of the axis of rotation of the Earth. This is important because the most commonly used frame of reference for measurement of the positions of astronomical objects is the Earth's equator — the so-called equatorial coordinate system .
A pure nutation is a movement of a rotational axis such that the first Euler angle is constant. [citation needed] Therefore it can be seen that the circular red arrow in the diagram indicates the combined effects of precession and nutation, while nutation in the absence of precession would only change the tilt from vertical (second Euler angle).
The precession of Earth's axis was later explained by Newtonian physics. Being an oblate spheroid , Earth has a non-spherical shape, bulging outward at the equator. The gravitational tidal forces of the Moon and Sun apply torque to the equator, attempting to pull the equatorial bulge into the plane of the ecliptic , but instead causing it to ...
The term "precession" typically refers only to this largest part of the motion; other changes in the alignment of Earth's axis—nutation and polar motion—are much smaller in magnitude. Earth's precession was historically called the precession of the equinoxes , because the equinoxes moved westward along the ecliptic relative to the fixed ...
Earth's rotation axis moves with respect to the fixed stars (inertial space); the components of this motion are precession and nutation. It also moves with respect to Earth's crust; this is called polar motion. Precession is a rotation of Earth's rotation axis, caused primarily by external torques from the gravity of the Sun, Moon and other bodies.
It amounts to change of about 9 metres (30 ft) in the point at which the axis intersects the Earth's surface and has a period of 433 days. [2] [3] This wobble, which is an astronomical nutation, combines with another wobble with a period of six years, so that the total polar motion varies with a period of about 7 years.
This motion is called Euler's free nutation. For a rigid Earth which is an oblate spheroid to a good approximation, the figure axis F would be its geometric axis defined by the geographic north and south pole, and identical with the axis of its polar moment of inertia. The Euler period of free nutation is
The gravitational attraction of the Sun and Moon on the Earth's equatorial bulge cause the rotational axis of the Earth to precess in space similar to the action of a top. This is called precession. Nutation is the smaller amplitude shorter-period (< 18.6 years) wobble that is superposed on the precessional motion of the Celestial pole. It is ...