Sidereal Time - Precession Effects

Precession Effects

The Earth's rotation is not a simple rotation around an axis that would always remain parallel to itself. The Earth's rotational axis itself rotates about a second axis, orthogonal to the Earth's orbit, taking about 25,800 years to perform a complete rotation. This phenomenon is called the precession of the equinoxes. Because of this precession, the stars appear to move around the Earth in a manner more complicated than a simple constant rotation.

For this reason, to simplify the description of Earth's orientation in astronomy and geodesy, it is conventional to chart the positions of the stars in the sky according to right ascension and declination, which are based on a frame that follows the Earth's precession, and to keep track of Earth's rotation, through sidereal time, relative to this frame as well. In this reference frame, Earth's rotation is close to constant, but the stars appear to rotate slowly with a period of about 25,800 years. It is also in this reference frame that the tropical year, the year related to the Earth's seasons, represents one orbit of the Earth around the sun. The precise definition of a sidereal day is the time taken for one rotation of the Earth in this precessing reference frame.