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To: plangent; Puckster; TXBubba; tet68; Nowhere Man
The Vernal Equinox is a Solar constant.

Nope.

The total angular momentum of the earth moon system, which is spin angular momentum plus orbital angular momentum, is constant. (The Sun plays a small part as well, which will be ignored for this discussion.) Friction of the oceans caused by tides is causing the Earth to slow down a tiny bit each year. This is approximately two milliseconds per century, and amazingly this causes the moon to recede by about 4 centimeters per year. As the Earth slows down, the Moon must recede (this is an increase in orbital momentum) to keep the total angular momentum a constant. In other words as the spin angular momentum of the earth decreases, the lunar orbital angular momentum must increase. Here is an interesting side note: the velocity of the moon will slow down as the orbit increases.

12 posted on 03/19/2005 8:05:32 PM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: RadioAstronomer
I stand corrected.....I see what you're saying.

"(The Sun plays a small part as well, which will be ignored for this discussion.)"

What say yea concerning the sunspot activity in the last 40 years. This, plus the afore mentioned article, imply that there are forces larger than mankind's total affect upon the earth.

Yes, keep the air and water clean, that's a no-brainer, however, this implies that the earth isn't quite so delicate.
13 posted on 03/19/2005 8:14:39 PM PST by Puckster
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