Dear Mr. Robbins,
I owe you a belated but
still sincere thank you for posting my paper 'The Precession -Time
Paradox' on your website.
Only a few days ago
I noticed my article to be on the web by using the Infoseek search
engine. As you can tell I am not a good
"Internet-browser".
By the way,
thanks to Mr. Greene of COSMOLOGYREVIEW my paper has also been posted
on his website at
www.cosmolgyreview.com ,
along with some other letters and articles written by my son (see
Reader's Forum Section).
In case you are
interested in this issue, I have also enclosed the latest information
on the subject Precession.
Thanks for
your time.
With best
regards,
Karl-Heinz
Homann
The Precession Paradigm
Experts at the International
Astronomical Union (IAU) are
in an uproar. Worldwide, thousands of
students and teachers have been confronted with the most
controversial astronomical problem in the history of science. In 1955
the IAU substituted the tropical year of 31,556,925.97474 seconds for
the sidereal year as the fundamental unit of time. But in
authoritative textbooks it is asserted that the time interval of the
sidereal year or Earth's complete period of revolution measured with
respect to inertial space is about 31,558,149.5 seconds. The IAU
refuses to confirm this assertion. Experts have recognized the fact
that such a sidereal year does NOT exist in reality. The IAU is
accused of willfully misleading the scientific community.
www.cosmologyreview.com/uhomann_letter.html
Introduction:
The following paper examines the simple mathematical
and physical relationship between earth's complete rotation period,
its complete revolution period and precession. It questions the
assumption that the sidereal year is supposedly about 1223 seconds
longer than the tropical year. This time difference is the most
crucial scientific argument in order to prove whether earth's
precession is a physical fact or NOT. The solution to this unique
problem must be based on the laws of logic and mathematics, as well
as on the results of practical observations.
Definitions:
Tropical-sidereal year: 31,556,925.97474 seconds
Mean sidereal day: 86164.0905382 seconds
Mean solar day: 86400 seconds
Sidereal day: 86164.09966 seconds
Assertions:
1. No
matter what the motion of the earth in its orbit or the orientation
of its axis in space is, the complete 360° rotation period of
the earth on its axis is 86164.0905382 seconds.
2. The orientation of
the earth's polar axis in space (e.g. with respect to the sun) has no
influence on earth's period of revolution.
3. The axis of the earth
slowly changes its orientation in space - either (a) directly due to
a precession of earth's polar axis or (b) indirectly as a result of
our entire solar system moving around a point x in space. Please
note, that if the axis of the earth remains aligned to point x, then
earth's period of rotation measured with respect to point x has to be
about 86164.0905382 seconds.
4. The time interval
of a complete rotation of the earth measured with respect to inertial
space is about 9.12 ms more; i.e. an actual time difference of about
9.12 ms exists between a sidereal day and the mean sidereal
day.
5. The civil
calendar is aligned to the time interval of the tropical-sidereal
year, which is determined by measuring earth's daily rotation
period with respect to inertial space.
6. A time span of about
31,558,150 seconds relates to an orbit period of 360° plus
50.26". Such a time interval has no relevance to astronomy.
7. The equation
365.24219878 × 86400s = 31,556,925.97s = 366.24219878 × 86164.09054s
describes a 360° revolution period of the earth.
8. The equation
365.256361 × 86400s = 31,558,149.59s = 366.256361 × 86164.09966s
describes a different 360° revolution period, whereby the solar
day has also 86400 s but the sidereal day has 86164.09966 s.
9. The precise time
interval of a sidereal year - i.e. a complete 360° revolution
around an inner fixed point of reference (sun) with respect to an
outer fixed point of reference (inertial space) - can ONLY be
determined by:
a.
Measuring the daily rotations of the earth with respect to
the outer point of reference (e.g. fixed stars), in order to
determine earth's mean sidereal rotation period.
b.
Applying the physical relationship that the earth describes
after a complete 360° period of revolution EXACTLY ONE rotation
more relative to the outer point of reference than relative to the
sun.
c.
Considering the physical fact that only the actual 360°
rotation period of the earth on its axis can be used for the
determination of earth's complete 360° period of
revolution.
Experts claim that:
A precession of the earth's polar axis must occur and
the rate of precession is about 50.26" or 3.35 seconds per tropical
year.
Due to a precession of the earth a time difference of about 1223
seconds occurs between a sidereal year and a tropical year (i.e. a
difference of about 3.35 seconds per day), since the vernal point of
reference retrogrades around the sun.
The time interval of a tropical year relates to an orbit period of
360° minus 50.26".
The time interval of about 31,558,150 seconds is earth's true
360° orbit period, measured with respect to inertial space.
The sidereal year of about 31,558,150 s is no longer a fundamental
time in astronomy.
Conclusion:
Conforming to mathematical and physical laws
precession relates to periods of rotation and NOT to periods of
revolution. Assuming that the precession period (the period of time
for the earth's polar axis to describe a complete circle in
space) is approx. 8.142 × 1011 seconds, then the total number of earth's
rotations that could in fact be measured during such a period of time
is:
8.142 × 1011 s ÷ 86164.09054 s
= 9,449,412 rotations (w.r.t. the moving equinox or point x)
8.142 × 1011 s ÷ 86164.09966 s
= 9,449,411 rotations (w.r.t. the inertial space)
In order to simplify the problem let us assume that the
earth does NOT revolve around the sun. There are two
possibilities:
1. Precession occurs
This means, 0 revolution periods or 0 sidereal years.
However, due to precession a time interval of exactly one tropical
year or about 365 days w.r.t the sun is seemingly created
(shifting of earth's seasons w.r.t the sun). But in reality only a
time difference of exactly one rotation (day) can be measured w.r.t.
the moving point of reference, which has a retrograde angular
velocity of about 0.1368" per day. The assumption that a measurable
time difference equal to a period of one year or more than
365 days occurs, supposedly due to the moving point of
reference retrograding around the sun, is therefore
false.
Note: Since this time-discrepancy does not exist in
reality, a so-called sidereal year of about 31,558,150 s was declared
to be earth's true orbit time, which is about 1223 seconds longer
than the actual tropical-sidereal year of 31,556,925.97474
seconds.
2. Precession does not occur and our entire
solar system revolves around a point x
This means, 0 revolutions, 0 sidereal years and also 0
tropical years. However, due to the revolution period of our solar
system around point x, a time difference of exactly one rotation
(day) can be measured w.r.t. to inertial space. Consequently, the
vernal point (and point x) moves with respect to the fixed stars by
about 9.12 ms per day, and NOT by about 3.35 seconds per day or 1223
seconds per year around the sun.
If precession were to occur as claimed, not a single fixed
star can be measured that has a mean meridian transition time of
about 86164.09054 s (equal to the vernal-equinox transition period).
But the transit periods of Sirius, as described in the paper
www.cosmologyreview.com/beel_dog.html,
prove otherwise.
"… I believe that your timings (of the
transits of Sirius) are accurate, but I think that you are
misinterpreting what they are measuring. Again, they are being taken
from a precessing earth and are, therefore, subject to
precession."
If the measurement of Sirius is taken from a
precessing earth, can anyone explain why the mean transit time of
Sirius is identical to the mean transit time of the vernal equinox,
considering the indisputable fact that Sirius does not retrograde
around our sun by about 1223 seconds per year?
As you will undoubtedly agree, physical relationships
are established or disproved by whether they work in practice and not
by a vote of majority. The assumptions regarding the theory of
earth's precession are inconsistent with practical observations and
mathematical results.
Thanks for your time,
Uwe Homann