Polaris Askew
Jul 15, 2005

Uh-Oh! It appears that not all wobbles are created equal! After several months of predictable consistency, the ongoing Earth wobble suddenly took a noticeable turn for the worse this evening. There were no prior indications that a change was eminent. Last night's routine reading's were normally abnormal and the usual routine of normal abnormality was becoming predictably normal. (For being so routinely abnormal!) Then, with no warning whatsoever, it was "wake up" time! Not only did the evident movement of Polaris exceed the usual amount of arc points that it had been covering in the last two months, but it did so much earlier in the night than ever before! At the midnight reading it was plain to see that something different was in the works. The North star had already moved the full amount of its expected distance some three hours ahead of the night before! Additionally, there has been a small change in the direction of the overall movement within the time frame used for measuring. Instead of (here in the Northern Hemisphere) the earth to wobbling west, northwest @ 300 degrees and by 3.2 arc points, it now seems that the tilt is taking a slightly more northerly direction to the tune of approx. 2 degrees! Juan Loco, how's the Southern Cross looking down in Roo land?

-CliffMickelson

 

This morning in the southern hemisphere about 6:15AM the South Celestial Pole is noticeably 'moved'. Scorpius, diving through the horizon, was my first clue Earth was on the move again. My land target was directly under The Pointer Sisters (my moniker for alpha-beta Centaurus) and The Crux, low on the horizon and to the left of The Pointers, revealed its long axis in the 6 o'clock position. The SCP this morning, utilizing the naked-eye and arm extended method, apeared to be 10+ degrees to the left of my terrestrial target and circa 5 degrees higher off the horizon. In other words, looking south, Earth has 'moved' to my right and down.

 

Earth wobble is here to stay
Heretics deny with words of 'Naye'
Honest folk will save the day
Factually observing Earth Sway

 

Su Amigo, Juan Loco