Whether sidereal year be different from tropical year if Earth did not precess.

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Chapter S1, Problem 39EAP

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To Explain: Whether sidereal year be different from tropical year if Earth did not precess.

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Why is a sidereal day shorter than a solar day? O A. precession of Earth's axis B. the non-circular orbit of Earth around the Sun C. the tilt of Earth's axis D. the combined effect of the rotation of Earth and its orbit about the Sun E. Earth year being a non-integer number of Earth days

BACKGROUND An ingenious solution to the Earth's circumference occured in 230 BC. Eratosthenes, a Greek geographer, mathematician, music theorist, poet, astronomer, and philosopher, was reading in the Library of Alexandria when he noticed an account for a deep well near Syene (now Aswan), some distance to the south (800 km) in which at high noon on the longest day of the year the bottom of the well was fully illuminated by the Sun. Eratosthenes exclaimed "Ah-ah!" (or something like that), "I can solve for the circumference of the Earth!". In his mind's eye, Eratosthenes could see that at Syene, at the moment when the bottom of the well was fully lit, the Sun must have been at the Zenith (directly overhead). Yet he knew that at the same moment in Alexandria vertical objects (like a tower, pole) cast shadows. Here is the experiment perfomed by Eratosthenes (see the picture below). • He erected a vertical pole at Alexandria (A) and measured the angle of its shadow at the moment when the…

7. Suppose you are on a strange planet and observe, at night, that the stars do not rise and set, but circle parallel to the horizon. Next, you walk in a constant direction for 8000 miles, and at your new location on the planet, you find that all stars rise straight up in the east and set straight down in the west, perpendicular to the horizon. How could you determine the circumference of the planet without any further observations? What is the circumference, in miles, of the planet? [OER Chapter 2, Figuring for Yourself #43]