Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 February 1884 — Precession of the Equinoxes. [ARTICLE]

Precession of the Equinoxes.

As the plane of the earth’s orbit crosses the equator at an angle of about 234 degrees, the attractive force of the sun, moon, and planets, constantly exerted npon the earth, has a tendency to tilt the pole away from the sun and to 1 draw the equator toward it. As a con-

sequence, the sun crosses the equator each time a little farther west than the point where it crossed the last time preceding, and where it would have crossed on its return if there were no disturbing force. Originally it was said that the equinoctial point, or place of crossing, went ior ward to meet the sun, and hence this phenomenon was called the precession of the equinoxes. But, from the fact that the equinoctial point really falls backwards on the celestial equator, toward the west, each time about 50 seconds of a degree, it is now very frequently termed the recession of the equinoxes. In consequence of this recession the seasons begin a little earlier each year, and it is estimated that in 12,800 years they will be reversed, onr summer occurring when the sun is in the constellation that he now traverses in winter time. It requires about 25,000 years for the sun to complete one circuit of precession of the equinoxes.