Rotation of the Earth

The rotation of the Earth around its axis and the Sun is continuous. Many phenomena depend on this movement. So, the day follows night, one season another, in different areas a different climate is established.

The Earth's daily rotation, according to scientists, is 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.09 seconds. Thus, one complete revolution occurs. At a speed of approximately 1,670 km / h, the planet moves around the axis. To the poles, the velocity decreases to zero.

Man does not notice the rotation of the Earth. This is due to the fact that all the objects located next to it move simultaneously and in parallel with the same speed.

The Earth rotates around the Sun in orbit. It is located on an imaginary surface that passes through the center of our planet and the brightest star. This surface is called the orbital plane.

Through the center of the Earth is an imaginary line between the poles - the axis. This line and the plane of the orbit are not perpendicular. The inclination of the axis is approximately 23.5 degrees. The value of the angle of inclination is always the same. The line around which the Earth moves is always inclined in one direction.

Movement in orbit takes the planet a year. In this case, the Earth rotates counterclockwise. It should be noted that the orbit is not perfectly round. The average distance to the Sun is about one hundred and fifty million kilometers. It (the distance) varies on average by three million kilometers, thus forming an insignificant orbital oval.

The Earth's orbit is 957 million km. This distance the planet overcomes in three hundred and sixty-five days, six hours, nine minutes and nine and a half seconds. According to calculations, the Earth's rotation in orbit occurs at a speed of 29 kilometers per second.

Scientists have found that the motion of the planet slows down. This is mainly due to tidal braking. On the surface of the Earth, under the influence of the attraction of the Moon (to a greater extent) and the Sun, tidal shafts are formed. They move from east to west (after these celestial bodies), in the direction opposite to the movement of our planet.

Less importance is attached to the tides in the Earth's lithosphere. In this case, a deformation of a solid in the form of a somewhat retarded tidal wave occurs. It provokes the appearance of a braking moment, which contributes to the fact that the Earth's rotation slows down.

It should be noted that tides in the lithosphere affect the process of braking the planet by only 3%, the remaining 97% account for the share of sea tides. These data were obtained as a result of creating maps of the waves of the lunar and solar tides.

The speed of the Earth is affected by atmospheric circulation. It is considered the main cause of seasonal uneven movement of the planet. The movement of the atmosphere occurs from east to west at low latitudes, and from west to east - in high and moderate latitudes. In the western winds, the moment of the pulse is positive, and in the eastern winds it is negative and, according to calculations, several times less than in the first winds. This difference is redistributed between the Earth and the atmosphere. With the strengthening of the western wind or the weakening of the east by the atmosphere, the angular momentum increases, and the Earth decreases. Thus, the motion of the planet slows down. With the intensification of the eastern winds and the weakening of the western winds, respectively, the momentum decreases in the atmosphere. Thus, the movement of the Earth becomes faster. The total angular momentum of the atmosphere and the planet is unchanged.

Scientists managed to find out that the lengthening of the day before 1620 occurred on average by 2.4 milliseconds per hundred years. After this year, the value decreased by almost half and became 1.4 milliseconds per hundred years. At the same time, according to some recent calculations and observations, Earth's deceleration takes place on average by 2.25 milliseconds per hundred years.