From the plot it is evident that all I am plotting is the motion of the sun along the analemma. The plot gets a bit jagged as it reaches the western elongation (west of 175°) but I think this is probably due to the precision with which Catres du Ciel (my data source) displays the Sun’s location. The Sun covers more distance (178.6° to 177°) during lunation 1077 than it does during lunation 1078 (177° to 178.3°) but this is due to the fact that during lunation 1077 it is trying to get to western elongation and during lunation 1078 it is spending time there then trying to get away.
I am confident that if the data were plotted for the rest of the year the line would curve right to eastern elongation then bend back to the west.
Any variation in the Earth’s orbit due to its revolution around the Earth/Moon barycenter is too subtle for me to illustrate with the tools at my disposal. This must be due to the closeness or the relative barycenter to the Earth’s center.
While I was gathering my data in Cartes du Ciel I found that on 14Feb10 the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter will be in a tight cluster (within a ~6° circle) just east of the Sun (~7°), Neptune will be in conjunction with the Sun, and Mercury will not be too far off to the west (~20°). Uranus is also on that side of the sky ~29° east of the Sun. So all of those bodies will be within ~49° of each other.
Then on 10Mar10 Venus and Uranus will be to the east of the Sun (14° and ~6° respectively), Mercury and Jupiter will be closer out to the west (~4° and ~8° respectively), and Neptune ~23° west making all of these bodies within ~37° of each other.
Assuming a Ptolemaic view of the Solar System,
| 14Feb10 | 10Mar10 | |
|---|---|---|
 |
| |
| Gathered | ||
| Mass x1012 kg | Mass x1012 kg | |
| Sun | 1,988,420,101,200,000,000 | 1,988,420,101,200,000,000 |
| Mercury | 330,107,382,800 | 330,107,382,800 |
| Venus | 4,867,372,861,000 | 4,867,372,861,000 |
| Moon | 73,458,060,000 | |
| Jupiter | 1,898,162,242,600,000 | 1,898,162,242,600,000 |
| Uranus | 86,811,899,200,000 | 86,811,899,200,000 |
| Neptune | 102,417,257,800,000 | 102,417,257,800,000 |
| Total Mass | 102,417,257,800,000 99.97% | 1,990,512,690,079,840,000 99.97% |
| Dispersed | ||
| Moon | 73,458,060,000 | |
| Mars | 641,694,973,400 | 641,694,973,400 |
| Saturn | 568,417,257,800,000 | 568,417,257,800,000 |
| Total Mass | 568,974,163,573,400 0.03% | 569,047,621,633,400 0.03% |
With all that mass on one side of the solar system might something happen?
- Might the plane of the solar system tilt and the stars not appear in their normal places?
- Might we have higher than normal tides?
- Might we not be here to see if the world ends on 21Dec12?
And at noon on 16Feb10 Venus and Jupiter will be conjuncted (the actual time of conjunction in R.A. is ~1630 EDT when the two planets will be separated by 34’ 18”, a little more than a Moon diameter) and ~9° east of the Sun so the conjunction might be visible all day with optics if one was to be careful. Venus and Jupiter rise that morning after sunrise and set within five minutes of sunset so there will be no opportunity to see the conjunction in a dark sky.
