Stellarium

calibration drift in time

Asked by jakob

Hello - and what a fantastic program you've created!!

While looking for historical events, I note that Polaris drifts to about 10 degrees in declination from the true pole in the year 300 ad. It is (obviously) in the correct position in 2010 ad. I am not concerned with Polaris per se, but this indicates the precision of the program changes significantly over the centuries, limiting its usefulness. Can this drift in position be corrected?

Thank you, jakob

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gzotti (georg-zotti) said : 		#1

Please read any introductory astronomy text under the keyword "Precession of the equinoxes" to find that this is quite correct. Some issues remain open indeed, but mostly concerning even longer time spans. (see blueprints)

Regards,
Georg

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Carlos Fernández (carlos-fernandez) said : 		#2

Earth rotation axis precesses slowly (one revolution in 26000 years, aprox.) around the ecliptic pole. This is the cause of the change of the Polaris (and also of all stars) coordinates along the centuries. See

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precesi%C3%B3n_de_los_equinoccios#Precesi.C3.B3n_de_los_equinoccios

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