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Eclipses and the Earth’s Rotation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2020

F. R. Stephenson ,
L. V. Morrison  and
C. Y. Hohenkerk
F. R. Stephenson
Affiliation:
University of Durham, DH1 3LE, UK email: f.r.stephenson@durham.ac.uk
L. V. Morrison
Affiliation:
Formerly Royal Greenwich Observatory 28 Pevensey Park Road, Westham, BN24 5HW, UK
C. Y. Hohenkerk
Affiliation:
Formerly HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK
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Abstract

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Analysis of historical records of eclipses of the Sun and Moon between 720 BC and AD 1600 gives a measure of the time difference, TT − UT = ΔT. The first derivative in time along a smooth curve fitted to the values of Δ T measures the changes in the length of the day (lod). The average rate of change of the lod is found to be significantly less than that expected on the basis of tidal friction. Fluctuations on a time-scale of centuries to millennia are mainly attributed to the effects of post-glacial uplift and core-mantle coupling.

Keywords

Eclipselength of day
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 14 , Symposium A30: Astronomy in Focus XXX , August 2018 , pp. 160 - 162
Copyright
© International Astronomical Union 2020

References

Stephenson, F. R. 1997, Historical Eclipses and Earth’s Rotation, (CUP), ISBN 0-521-46194-4Google Scholar
Stephenson, F. R., Morrison, L. V., & Hohenkerk, C. Y. 2016, Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 472, 2016.0404CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, L. V., Stephenson, F. R., & Hohenkerk, C. Y. 2019, Proc. Journées 2017, Sysèmes de Référence et de la Rotation Terrestre, (in press), See http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/nao/lvm/ for the data and spline fit from this paper and Stephenson et al. (2016)Google Scholar
Stephenson, F. R., Morrison, L. V., & Hohenkerk, C. Y. 2018, J. Hist. Astr., 49, 425–471 Google Scholar