Abstract
The Earth is taken as a triaxial rigid body, which rotates freely in the Euclidian space. The starting equations are the Euler dynamic equations, with A smaller than B and B smaller than C. The Euler equations are solved, and the numerical results are provided. In the calculations, the following parameters are used: (C-B)/A=0.003 273 53; (B-A)/C=0.000 021 96; (C-A)/B=0.003 295 49, and the mean angular velocity of the Earth’s rotation, ω=0.000 072 921 15 rad/s. Calculations show that, besides the self-rotation of the Earth and the free Euler procession of its rotation, there exists the free nutation: the nutation angle, or the angle between the Earth’s momentary rotation axis and the mean axis that periodically change with time. The free nutation is investigated.
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Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40574004).
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Shen, W., Chen, W., Wang, W. et al. Rotation of the Earth as a triaxial rigid body. Geo-spat. Inf. Sc. 10, 85–90 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11806-007-0020-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11806-007-0020-5