In a recent astronomical work it is defined as "that westward march of the intersection of the planes of the equator and the ecliptic, caused by the attraction of the sun, moon and planets on the protuberant mass at the earth's equator." In doubting the correctness of this explanation, offered blandly by astronomers as an accepted fact, I maintain that this precession is due to causes similar to those which produce the precession of Moon's node - where there is no equatorial protuberation to which to attribute the phenomenon. More likely it is the result of an oscillatory or undulating motion of the entire plane of the orbit, the rate of oscillation determinable by ratios between such factors as the rate of motion of the body and of the center around which it revolves, and the relative diameters of the intersecting orbits. Although our Sun is presumed to be a member of the Milky Way Galaxy, the theory has been advanced that the Sun is a member of a sub-galaxy that is itself a part of the Milky Way Galaxy. This would mean a revolution of the Sun around the center of the sub-galaxy in a much shorter period than that of the entire Milky Way galaxy.
ASTROLABE ENCYCLOPEDIA
