COSEE Ocean Systems: News
Ancient eclipses show Earth's rotation is slowing
Description: Astronomers can easily predict eclipses, and they can foretell to a fraction of a second when the moon passes in front of a distant star. They can also find out when and where these events happened in the past. A new historical survey of hundreds of eclipses, some dating back to the 8th century B.C.E., finds that they aren't as predictable as scientists thought. That's because Earth's spin is slowing down slightly. Not only that, the study also identifies short-term hiccups in the spin rate that have been missed by cruder models. [Source: Science / AAAS]
URL: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/12/ancient-eclipses-show-earth-s-rotation-slowing
Availability: Full Text
Source: Science / AAAS
Publish Date: 12/6/2016
Reading Level: Basic
Page Length:  

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