Name: Jamie
Status: other
Grade: other
Location: NV
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Why do the planets wobble?
Replies:
Dear Jamie,
Planets have odd motions. We do know that the Earth has a very
slow wobble of about 22,300 years caused probably by a gravitational
tug from the Moon. This is what causes precession. Other planets
might have wobbles as well, through not as mensurable as ours, because
our Moon is so large compared to Earth.
NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.