Earth's Variable Rotation from 750BC to present
Abstract
Ancient Babylonian clay tablets buried for centuries beneath the sands of the desert are part of an extensive historical archive that contains vital information about the Earth's rotation from 750BC to the present. These historical observations of solar and lunar eclipses and occultations of stars are re-analysed to determine the error of the Earth's rotational clock, usually designated by ΔT. The diagrams display the individual results for ΔT, together with the best-fitting curve through these data.
- Publication:
-
IAU General Assembly
- Pub Date:
- August 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015IAUGA..2256689M