[at-l] Question about WOW pic

[bullard@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Jim Bullard)]

Actually the Earth's axis 'wobbles' a bit like a top does when it is
spinning so Polaris is not exactly in line with the Earth's axis at all
times. The following is from
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/07/07182000/wobble_14847.asp "The
wobble, which has been under observation for more than a century, has a
period of about 433 days. In other words, it takes 1.2 years to complete
one wobble. The amplitude of the wobble amounts to about 20 feet at the
North Pole."  I don't know that a difference of 20 feet would make much
difference though.

At 01:04 PM 3/8/2003 -0500, J Bryan Kramer wrote:
>The distance you can see to the horizon is calculated based on a simple
>formula:
>
>Distance formula: d * d = 12.75 * h
>where d = distance to the horizon ( in kilometers)
>and h = height above sea level ( in meters)
>
>so 16,000 feet = about 4900 meters and the distance then would be:
>
>d= sqrt(12.75 * 4900) = 249 km
>
>one degree at the equator = 60 miles = 102 km so you gain 2.5 degrees by
>being on top of the mountain
>
>The reference I found gives the latidtude of Kilimanjaro as 3 deg south and
>Polaris is actualy about a degree off the actual pole so you should just be
>able to make out Polaris which would be right on the horizon. It would be
>darn hard to see and you'd only be able to see it at the right time of the
>year.
>
>Bryan
>
>
>"Si vis pacem para bellum"
>
> > "Inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere can't see Polaris, even
> > if they just
> > live one degree south of the Equator, and they don't have a pole star they
> > can call their own. There's nothing even close to the South Pole. A couple
> > of faint stars are about 10 degrees from the South Pole, but the nearest
> > star of equivalent brightness to Polaris is nearly 15 degrees from the
> > pole."
> >
> > Mt. Kilimanjaro, where the photo was taken, is in  Tanzania, in
> > the southern
> > Hemisphere about 5 degrees south of the equator (130 miles south
> > of Nairobi)
> > and as the photographer's story goes, Polaris can be seen on the
> > left of the
> > photo. Could this be because of the 16,000 ft. altitude of
> > Kilimanjaro gives
> > a view above the curvature of the earth? Inquiring minds want to know.
> > Whazup?
> >
> > SLIM aka Nancy
> >
> >
> >
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