Moon's inclination (was Re: Solar eclipse Question)

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Article #109

#109

From: Marc A. Murison
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 13:17

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In article <1993Jan24.184850.7369@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> eparvier@rintintin.Colorado.EDU (EPARVIER FRANCIS G) writes:
>
>[...]  The inclination of the Moon's orbit stays constant...
>
Very Minor Nit:  For purposes of the eclipse discussion, this statement is 
fine.  However, FYI the Moon's inclination isn't truly constant (hah, 
nothing ever is).  The component of the gravitational force due to the Sun 
perpendicular to the Moon's orbital plane causes the Moon's inclination to 
vary.  The largest term has a period of half an anomalistic year (perihelion 
to perihelion) and an amplitude of 8.7 arc minutes.  
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| Marc A. Murison          |  Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory |
| murison@cfa.harvard.edu  |  60 Garden Street,  MS 63              |
| (617) 495-7079           |  Cambridge, MA 02138                   |
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!think.com!paperboy.osf.org!hsdndev!cfa203!cfa.harvard.edu!murison
From: murison@cfa.harvard.edu (Marc A. Murison)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.planetary
Subject: Moon's inclination (was Re: Solar eclipse Question)
Summary: Moon's inclination isn't *really* constant
Message-ID: <murison.61.0@cfa.harvard.edu>
Date: 26 Jan 93 13:17:22 GMT
References: <1993Jan21.230333.46626@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <1993Jan24.184850.7369@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>
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