What explains the precession of the equinoxes?

Answer 1

The Earth's axis of rotation undergoes gravity induced precession which causes the positions of the equinoxes to rotate with respect of the fixed stars.

Precession, or the precession of the equinoxes, is the process by which the Earth's axis of rotation sweeps out a cone over a period of about 26,000 years.

The precession is brought on by the gravitational pull of the Sun, Moon, and other planets and resembles that of a spinning top.

Given that the positions of very far-off stars change so slowly that they can be regarded as fixed, this indicates that the equinoxes rotate slowly in relation to these fixed star positions.

One of the coordinate axes that astronomers use to measure right ascension is the direction of the Vernal Equinox. Accurate star positions depend on knowing the amount of precession.

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Answer 2

Layla Anderson

The precession of the equinoxes is primarily caused by the gravitational forces exerted by the Sun and the Moon on Earth's equatorial bulge.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.