Precession of the earth

This movie was created with Blender and is used in the Spitz Fulldome Curriculum for the SciDome planetariums around the world.

Precession is the wobble of the Earth which makes the poles shift position over ~26,000 years as well as the position of the Vernal and Autumnal equinoxes in the sky. This movie illustrates the movement.

Hopefully this movie gives a little more meaning to the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Music: Carbon Based LIfeforms - Station Blue.

[mothman]

I lack the spacial reasoning and visualization skills necessary to see this without the help of excellent computer graphics. Thank you for this. Now I understand what precession is.

[IASkl]

I was struggling to explain the precession of axis to many people. This couldn’t be more than better. Thanks a lot

[Nemso_likethis]

For an object to exhibit precession motion, its angular momentum and the torque vectors created by the net force applied on it must exactly intersect by 90 degrees. These perpendicular vectors do not dampen each other in the diagram and cause the object to wobble. It's really amazing that the world also makes a precession movement like a top that we throw on the ground! Your simulation is terrific for explaining this, thanks.

[ronyspace]

This video explain everything without a single word

[renoguy]

The Y-like symbol signifiies the first point of Aries and marks the location of the vernal equinox and the intersection of the ecliptic and celestial equator. It is a reference point in celestial coordinate systems that defines the ecliptic coordinate of (0°, 0°). It currently points toward Pisces.

[act]

This video really helped me understand the definition of precession. Came across this term after following the works of Graham Hancock. Thank you sir

[DstarAstrology]

So u can see the tropic of Aries going thru the stars/constellations. The stars are abstract in size and the Zodiac signs are supposed to be 30 degrees long even. This is a great illustration of the precessional movement. U can see the Vernal equinox (0 Degrees Aries) doesnt have a permanent relationship with the stars.

[Dottyeyes]

Thank you! Tech smarts, geometry, and graphics for the win!

[hunterroy]

I wondered how the hell can the Sun be in Leo in the month of March....you condensed 100 pages of my textbook jargon and dozens of articles on the web into an elegant simulation. THANK YOU!

[sonukaushik]

Fantastic fantastic fantastic...
Absolutely divine work..!
Hats off

[Saigorrepati]

Thank you so much for the wonderful visual treat of a hard concept with very nice music.

[simonroberts]

This is a very difficult concept to understand, computer animations, together with some understanding of astronomy and maths help quite a lot. How did the ancients understand this is beyond belief.

[ssgyates]

Finally, been looking for something like this for two years.

[adampartridge]

Simply amazing, thank you for your hard work on this!

[moulimackenzie]

great graphics, for visual learners totally stunning, along with calming music to help us understand. Thank you

[Tycoon_]

Interesting how ancient cultures understood this process which can only be studied if experienced without modern technology. This shows civilisation is MUCH more older and was far more advanced than currently accepted. Also this shows that from earths view, that our ansestors calculated this cycle from the north/south America point of reference. I believe the New World is actually the Old World that was whipped out by the last cataclysmic event, The Younger Dryas.

[Jagannathajyotir]

Great video. The only thing to consider is also the movement of the stars, they don't stay in one position all the time. Some may move slightly, some not, some will change a lot over 1-2-3 cycles of precession.

[ffggddss]

A really excellent depiction of precession of the Earth's rotation axis and equatorial plane in space!

But there's a minor technical error near the end:

The full circuit of the NCP around the NEP, starts at 2000 BC and shows 14 bi-millennial-labeled (2000-yr) "ticks" in a full circuit, where there should be 13 such marks to the full circuit (13·2000 yr = 26, 000 yr).
Consequently, the next-to-last (14th) tick is shown at AD 24, 000, but should be the 13th tick, and at AD 22, 000.

In other words, the AD 24, 000 tick should land on top of the 2000 BC tick, not fall one tick short of it.

And then, as an astronomer, I would kind of like to have seen the astronomical names of the two constellations that are shown with their astrological names:
"Capricornus" rather than "Capricorn" and
"Scorpius" rather than "Scorpio"
-- but that's really just a nit, I suppose. Especially if your aim is to reach out to non-astronomers, who will be more familiar with the astrological names.

[RomkeSchievink]

Thx a lot! This animation wil be used in our Oldest optical planetarium (Zeiss Modell 1) where the Prescession is mechanical build in.

[MisterReginald]

Thank god for this video, trying to wrap my brain around this concept with just words on a page is difficult :/