Tim Cullen: Planetary Axial Tilt Demystified

The concept of Axial Tilt [aka Obliquity] is very straightforward.

In astronomy, axial tilt, also known as obliquity, is the angle between an object’s rotational axis and its orbital axis, or, equivalently, the angle between its equatorial plane and orbital plane.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt

However, the concept has gone pear-shaped thanks to some Eccentric Astronomers.

gone pear-shaped
British slang for events taking an unexpected turn for the worse.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gone%20pear-shaped

Firstly, there are two “standard methods” for specifying Axial Tilt.

Secondly, neither of these “standard methods” conform to the definition of Axial Tilt.

This is because the two “standard methods” [for whatever reasons] confuse the simple concept of Axial Tilt by:
a) Introducing conflicting concepts of a North Pole.
b) Conflating the concept of Axial Tilt with Rotation.
c) Applying arbitrary adjustments to the concept.

The IAU looks for inspiration from a wobbly invention called the Invariable Plane.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines the north pole as that which lies on the north side of the invariable plane of the Solar System; under this system Venus’ tilt is 3°, it rotates retrograde, and the right hand rule does not apply.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt

The invariable plane of a planetary system, also called Laplace’s invariable plane, is the plane passing through its barycenter (center of mass) perpendicular to its angular momentum vector.

In the Solar System, about 98% of this effect is contributed by the orbital angular momenta of the four jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).

The invariable plane is within 0.5° of the orbital plane of Jupiter, and may be regarded as the weighted average of all planetary orbital and rotational planes.
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All planetary orbital planes wobble around the invariable plane, meaning that they orbit their primary while their inclinations with respect to the invariable plane vary, both of which are caused by the gravitational perturbation of the other planets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invariable_plane

NASA, on the other hand, applies the “right hand rule” when it grapples with Axial Tilt.

NASA defines the north pole with the right hand rule, as above; under this system, Venus is tilted 177° (“upside down”) and rotates direct.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt

Wikipedia thinks the “results are equivalent and neither system is more correct”.

Perhaps, when they state that “neither system is more correct” what they really mean is that both systems are wrong and misleading.

In their Geocentric Wisdom the Sun is awarded [under both systems] an Axial Tilt relative to the Geocentric Ecliptic as if the Sun orbited the Earth.

NASA excels in Geocentric Wisdom by randomly awarding the Moon an Axial Tilt relative to the Geocentric Ecliptic instead of its orbital axis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt

Considering Axial Tilt data is in short supply its very surprising the usual suspects are so casual with their data.

This impression is reinforced when it comes to the Axial Tilt of Ceres because the Eccentric Astronomers just quote nice round numbers like three or four or five.

Axial tilt ≈ 3°
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_%28dwarf_planet%29

Ceres has a very small axial tilt of 4±5 degrees.
http://solarviews.com/eng/ceres.htm

This means that Ceres’ axial tilt is very small—about 3°.
http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/link-suggestion/wpcd_2008-09_augmented/wp/c/Ceres_%2528dwarf_planet%2529.htm

But throughout Ceres’s year (4.6 Earth years), you wouldn’t see much seasonal temperature changes because of the object’s low axial tilt (3 percent).
http://www.space.com/28640-living-on-ceres-asteroid-belt.html

Ceres is a celestial body that is by far the largest and most massive asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter.
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It revolves around the sun every 1679.819 days with a very small axial tilt.
http://www.universetoday.com/48671/celestial-body/

Unpicking and correcting the NASA data results in the following table based upon the [original] simple concept of Axial Tilt.

Upon first inspection, the planetary Axial Tilt data appears to be just random data.

There is no obvious relationship between Axial Tilt and Heliocentric Inclinations.

But when the data is sorted by Axial Tilt the terrestrial planets conspicuously fall into two sequenced groups – where only [the Velikovskian] Venus is very modestly out of kilter.

However, it is not unreasonable to assume that the Axial Tilt of Venus will be fully assimilated into the Jupiter Group sequence when her slowing retrograde rotation finally becomes a fully spun up prograde rotation.

Spinning Venus is slowing down
Over its four-year mission, NASA’s Magellan orbiter was able to watch surface features rotate beneath it, allowing scientists to determine that the length of a day on Venus was 243.0185 Earth days.

However, the landforms seen by Venus Express some 16 years later could only be lined up with those observed by Magellan if the length of the Venus day is on average 6.5 minutes longer.

ESA – Major Discoveries by Venus Express: 2006-2014
http://sci.esa.int/venus-express/54064-3-spinning-venus-is-slowing-down/

All the planets of the Solar System orbit the Sun in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed from above Earth’s north pole.

Most planets also rotate on their axes in an anti-clockwise direction, but Venus rotates clockwise (called “retrograde” rotation) once every 243 Earth days – the slowest rotation period of any planet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus

Periodic close contacts with a “cometary Venus” (which had been ejected from Jupiter) had caused the Exodus events (c. 1500 BCE) and Joshua’s subsequent “sun standing still” (Joshua 10:12 and 13) incident.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Velikovsky

The clear implication is that [both] Jupiter and Saturn are ejecting Moons [and Cometary Blobs] into the inner Solar System where they finally settle to become terrestrial planets.

There are 173 known natural satellites orbiting planets in the Solar System, as well as eight known to orbit IAU-listed dwarf planets.
…
Of the inner planets, Mercury and Venus have no natural satellites; Earth has one large natural satellite, known as the Moon; and Mars has two tiny natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos.

The giant planets have extensive systems of natural satellites, including half a dozen comparable in size to Earth’s Moon: the four Galilean moons, Saturn’s Titan, and Neptune’s Triton.

Saturn has an additional six mid-sized natural satellites massive enough to have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, and Uranus has five.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_satellite

This is hardly surprising given the large collection of Moons accumulated by Jupiter and Saturn.

In the 1992 John Gray realised that Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus and in 2015 it is evident that The Earth is from Saturn – The Moon is from Jupiter.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus is a book written by an American author and relationship counselor John Gray.

It has sold more than 50 million copies and according to CNN it was the “highest ranked work of non-fiction” of the 1990s and spent 121 weeks on the bestseller list.
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The book states that most of common relationship problems between men and women are a result of fundamental psychological differences between the genders, which the author exemplifies by means of its eponymous metaphor: that men and women are from distinct planets – men from Mars and women from Venus – and that each gender is acclimated to its own planet’s society and customs, but not to those of the other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Are_from_Mars,_Women_Are_from_Venus

As Above So Below – Georgi Gladyshev
https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2014/05/05/as-above-so-below-georgi-gladyshev/