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Predicting Changes in Earth Orientation - Dynamic Versus Static Solar System Model
Long term predictions of changes in the earth’s orientation to VLBI sources have been historically unreliable. The IAU has found that current methods are “not consistent with dynamical theory”. Part of the problem appears to be that measurements of the precession observable are made to points outside the moving frame of the solar system yet do not account for motion of the solar system relative to those reference points. We have found that by separating the motions of the earth within the local frame (of the solar system), from the motion of the frame relative to external reference points (outside the moving frame), long term measurements of the earth’s changing orientation may be simplified and predicted with a higher degree of accuracy. Click here to download full length paper.
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Response to The Precession Dialogues - BAUT Forum post
By Walter Cruttenden, July 16, 2009
Several posters on the Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum (BAUT) have expressed doubts about the non-conventional “binary model” of precession. The main critic is a poster that goes by the name of “Celestial Mechanic” (CM) who has called the binary model “rubbish, pure and simple”. While this is not the most constructive way to frame a scientific discussion it does express the current attitude of most astronomers when it comes to non-conventional theories of precession. It also hints at why several seemingly unrelated solar system problems (such as the sun’s lack of angular momentum relative to the planets) have gone unresolved. [More...]
NASA Baffled by Unexplained Force Acting on Space Probes
Mysteriously, four spacecraft that flew past the Earth have each displayed unexpected anomalies in their motions. These newfound enigmas join the so-called "Pioneer anomaly" as hints that unexplained forces may appear to act on spacecraft. A decade ago, after rigorous analyses, anomalies were seen with the identical Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they hurtled out of the solar system. Both seemed to experience a tiny but unexplained constant acceleration toward the sun. [More...] via Space.com
MIT Instrument Finds Surprises at Solar System's Edge
The Voyager 2 spacecraft's Plasma Science instrument, developed at MIT in the 1970s, has turned up surprising revelations about the boundary zone that marks the edge of the sun's influence in space. The unexpected findings emerged in the last few weeks as the spacecraft traversed the termination shockwave formed when the flow of particles constantly streaming out from the sun--the solar wind--slams into the surrounding thin gas that fills the space between stars. [More...] via MIT
Asymmetrical Shape of Heliosphere Raises Questions
By Walter Cruttenden, July 7, 2008
Ever since the Voyager 2 data confirmed the nonsymmetrical shape of the solar system scientists have pondered its cause (i). In summary, the edge of the heliosphere (the place where the solar wind slows to sub sonic speeds) appears to be 1.2 billion kilometers shorter on the south side of the solar system (and in the general direction of the winter solstice, the direction of Voyager 2), than it is on the edge of the planetary plane (where Voyager 1 exited approximately a year earlier). This indicates the heliosphere is not a sphere at all but a bullet shape. More data is required to determine the exact shape in all directions. [More...]
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