2006-10-31 11:01:42 · 11 answers · asked by drtchandrasekar 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The earth wobbles in space. Geoff Blewitt and his colleagues theory states that: it's likely to be caused by the surface matter being redistributed," To make the Earth wobble, large amounts of mass need to be moved from one place to another so that the Earth is "off balance". Large amounts of water are displaced seasonally when glaciers and ice sheets melt in spring, for example. The mass shifts back when they refreeze in winter.♥
2006-10-31 11:14:10 · answer #1 · answered by ♥ lani s 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The wobble is called the precession of the equinoxes, where the Earth has a very slow wobble that causes the axis to mark out an imaginary tight little circle in the sky - I think it takes about 26000 years to do one wobble - do a search on wikipedia for "precession".
If you have ever spun a top (not really a fun toy for kids in these days of computer games), you would notice that when it starts to lose speed, it develops a wobble. The earth's wobble is like that, only I think that nobody really knows why. The wobble means that in a few millennia, the pole star will not be near the pole, and thus will not be a reliable pointer to the north.
The rather long name for it merely means that also over time, the dates of the equinoxes (march 21 & Sept 21) will change. These are the days when the Earth's axial tilt is perpendicular to the line between Earth and sun, and thus the days and nights all over the world are 12 hours each.
I am pretty sure nobody knows the reason for this wobble. I do know that it is believed that the Earth has suffered massive trauma in the past, when the moon was ripped from its body. Perhaps that started the wobble.
see what wikipedia says.
2006-10-31 19:28:55 · answer #2 · answered by nick s 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The earth wobbles due to the pull of the sun and other objects/forces in space; the Earth isn't a perfect sphere... How ever if we didn't have a moon the Earth would wobble to a greater degree... so be thank-full for the Moon it helps to stabilise the wobble..
2006-11-03 04:59:40 · answer #3 · answered by shaaza 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
as the moon orbits the earth it pulls on the earth as well. this causes the earth to wobble as it orbits around the sun. The sun wobbles as well. One way they first discovered planets around other stars is by observing their wobble as well.
2006-10-31 19:13:14 · answer #4 · answered by llloki00001 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some scientist have atributed the wobble to a massive comet strike to the earth long ago in additon to the fact that it is not a perfect sphere.
2006-10-31 19:11:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wobbling you mean Earthquake. Anytime the layer of lithosphere underneath the crust breaks creats an Earthquake..but thats just one of the reasons. Other reason would be drifting of earth's plates, which is the phenomenon of plate tectonics.
2006-10-31 19:14:48 · answer #6 · answered by billu_bhai 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it behaves as a gyroscope which rotates and its axis oscillates.
Each tip of the axis (pole) travels in a small circle.
2006-10-31 20:57:28 · answer #7 · answered by PragmaticAlien 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because he is fat. No serious. it is being pulled by the sun and the other planets.
2006-10-31 19:03:58 · answer #8 · answered by Opensesame 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually it a slow drift.
2006-10-31 19:09:20 · answer #9 · answered by minootoo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's like a Weebles...
2006-10-31 19:11:58 · answer #10 · answered by rockEsquirrel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋