The history of astronautics, like any other industry, contains examples of ingenious solutions when the desired goal was achieved in a beautiful and unexpected way. The USSR/Russia was unlucky with the availability of geostationary orbit. But instead of reaching it with heavier rockets or trying to reduce the mass of the payload, the developers came up with the idea of using a special orbit. Our story today is about this orbit and the satellites that still use it.
Physics
Speaking about geostationary and highly elliptical orbits, it is necessary to remember such a concept as orbital inclination. In this case, the orbital inclination is the angle between the Earth's equatorial plane and the satellite's orbital plane:
If we launch from the cosmodrome and begin to accelerate due east, the resulting orbit will have an inclination equal to the latitude of the cosmodrome. If we begin to accelerate, deviating to the north, then the resulting inclination will be greater. If we, thinking that this should reduce the inclination, begin to accelerate to the southeast, the resulting orbit will also have a greater inclination than our latitude. Why? Look at the picture: when accelerating due east, the northernmost point of the orbit projection (blue line) will be our cosmodrome. And if we accelerate to the southeast, then the northernmost point of the projection of the resulting orbit will be north of our cosmodrome, and the inclination of the orbit will be greater than the latitude of the cosmodrome:
Conclusion: when launching a spacecraft, the initial inclination of its orbit cannot be less than the latitude of the cosmodrome.
In order to enter geostationary orbit (0° inclination), you need to reset the inclination to zero, but this requires additional fuel (the physics of this process - ). The Baikonur Cosmodrome has a latitude of 45°, and, given that spent rocket stages should not fall into China, rockets are launched to the northeast on routes with an inclination of 65° and 51.6°. As a result, the four-stage 8K78 launch vehicle, which launched one and a half tons to the Moon, and almost a ton to Mars, could only launch ~100 kg into geostationary orbit. In the early 60s, no country could fit a full-fledged geostationary communications satellite into such a mass. We had to come up with something else. Orbital mechanics came to the rescue. The higher the satellite's altitude, the slower it moves relative to the Earth. At an altitude of 36,000 km above the equator, the satellite will constantly hover over one point on the Earth (this is the idea that geostationary orbit works on). And if we put a satellite into an orbit that is an elongated ellipse, then its speed will change greatly. In the periapsis (the point of the orbit closest to the Earth) it will fly very quickly, but in the area of the apoapsis (the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth) it will practically hover in place for several hours. If you mark the satellite’s path with dots at one-hour intervals, you get the following picture:
In addition to being almost motionless, at high altitude the satellite will see a vast area of our planet and will be able to provide communications between distant points. The high inclination of the orbit will mean that even in the Arctic there will be no problems with signal reception. And if you choose an inclination close to 63.4°, then gravitational interference from the Earth will be minimal, and you can be in orbit with virtually no correction. This is how the Molniya orbit was born with the following parameters:
- Pericenter: 500 km
- Apocentre: 40,000 km
- Inclination: 62.8°
- Circulation period: 12 hours
Embodiment in iron
The 8K78 rocket could launch as much as 1,600 kg into a highly elliptical orbit. For the developers, this was happiness - it was possible to make a powerful satellite with great capabilities and at the same time “wipe the nose” of the Americans, whose communications satellites did not exceed 300 kg in mass. The resulting device was impressive with its characteristics:
The satellite equipment included three repeaters with a power of 40 W and two backup ones with a power of 20 W, and electricity for them was generated by solar panels with a total power of one and a half kilowatts. Two controlled parabolic antennas with a diameter of 1.4 meters were used to receive and transmit data. The device was controlled by a transistor program-time device, the ancestor of modern computers, and the orientation was supported by a unique three-power power gyro. The control system implemented complex algorithms for flight modes with three-axis orientation. At the working site, the device maintained a constant orientation with solar panels towards the Sun, accompanying the Earth with controlled main antennas. Having completed the working section, the device rotated according to the infrared vertical data until it occupied a position parallel to the orbital velocity vector at the pericenter. In the area of the periapsis, according to commands stored in memory, he could correct the orbit.
Top view, the cone of the propulsion system and the ball-cylinders of compressed nitrogen for the attitude control system are clearly visible
Bottom view, visible solar panels, sensor unit at the end and antennas
It was assumed that the active life of the device would exceed one year, a fantastic figure at that time. The device was named "Molniya", and, looking ahead, let's say that it turned out to be so epoch-making that both the orbit and the 8K78 launch vehicle were named in its honor.
Exploitation
Launch vehicle "Molniya-M", descendant of the LV "Molniya"
At that time, getting started could not have been easy. On June 4, 1964, the first Molniya did not reach orbit due to a launch vehicle failure. On August 22, 1964, the second vehicle was successfully launched into an orbit close to the design one. But here's the problem - both main antennas, which were supposed to duplicate each other, did not open. The investigation established that during testing, damage to the cable insulation was discovered on one of the antennas, and the antenna rods, according to the designer’s decision, were additionally wrapped with vinyl chloride tape. In space, in the shadow of solar panels, the tape froze, and the springs, which were already difficult to open the antennas, could not overcome the frozen plastic. The second Molniya was lost. For the future, the problem was easy to fix; the springs on the antenna rods were replaced with electric motors, which were guaranteed to fully open the antennas. Finally, on April 23, 1965, the third Molniya was successfully launched and turned out to be fully operational. There was a nervous moment when the main relay did not want to turn on the first time, but after several tedious minutes of continuous sending commands from Earth to turn on the repeater, it finally turned on. Communication was established between Moscow and Vladivostok through the first Soviet relay satellite:
The first television footage transmitted using Molniya
The high power of the signal meant that large antennas were not needed to receive it; relatively small Orbit pavilions began to be built around the country:
The network of satellite broadcasting stations quickly covered the northern and eastern parts of the USSR:
And satellite television, from a technical miracle, quickly became commonplace; the chairman of the regional committee in the Far East immediately announced that in case of problems with broadcasting programs he would complain personally to Brezhnev. By 1984, the number of Orbita stations exceeded a hundred, making Soviet satellite TV available even in small cities. The stations relayed the Moscow signal to the local television center, which, in turn, served a large area.
The first Molniya satellites failed to exceed the lifespan of one year. Due to the fact that the satellite flew through the radiation belts four times every day, the solar panels began to quickly degrade. The first "Lightning" was able to survive from April to November. Backup solar panels were added to the satellite design, which were deployed if necessary after the degradation of the main ones. Already "Molniya" No. 7 was able to actively exist from October 1966 to January 1968. For Soviet satellites this was a very long time.
"Lightning" was developed at the S.P. Design Bureau. Korolev, and already in 1965, production began to be transferred to Krasnoyarsk “branch No. 2” under the leadership of Mikhail Reshetnev. This began the glorious history of the enterprise, now known as JSC ISS named after. Academician Reshetnev. The Molniya devices were actively developed. The parabolic antenna was replaced with a four-helix one:
Interesting test footage and a story about a four-helix antenna:
Additional solar panels
The devices switched to the centimeter wavelength range, learned to broadcast not to the whole country, but to individual time zones, the number of communication channels and their capacity constantly increased. Over time, Molniyas ceased to be used for civilian television broadcasting and became mainly military communications satellites. The last device of the Molniya family, Molniya-3K, was launched in 2001.
Today and tomorrow
Civilian TV broadcasting in the USSR/Russia eventually moved to geostationary orbit. A more lifting Proton launch vehicle appeared, which began launching satellites to the geostationary station in 1975. The Orbit pavilion required a twelve-meter movable antenna and was inferior to satellite “dishes”, which are now found everywhere. The Molniya satellites ended their lives. But the Molniya orbit did not die. It is in demand for our high latitudes, and now the Meridian communication satellites fly on it, and since 2012 the development of the Arctic meteorological system has been underway. The unique properties of the orbit are also used overseas - the American military satellite NROL-35, presumably related to the satellites of the missile attack warning system and launched in December 2014, was launched into the Molniya orbit. Who knows, maybe the lightning bolt in the girl’s hands on the mission emblem is a hint at the name of the orbit?
A variant of the Molniya orbit, the Tundra orbit with an apocenter of 46-52 thousand kilometers and an orbital period of one day, is used by three Sirius XM radio satellites and the Japanese QZSS navigation system.
In the future, the Molniya orbit will not be forgotten. Geostationary orbit is overloaded; alternatively, satellites may begin to move into highly elliptical orbits. And even beyond the Earth, the invention of Soviet ballistics may find application: in the project of a manned mission to Mars HERRO, it is proposed to use an analogue of the Molniya orbit to control robots on the surface in real time.
There are 3 options for deorbiting - move to a new orbit (which in turn may be closer or further from the sun, or even be very elongated), fall into the Sun and leave the solar system. Let's consider only the third option, which, in my opinion, is the most interesting.
As we move further away from the sun, there will be less ultraviolet light available for photosynthesis and the average temperature on the planet will decrease year after year. Plants will be the first to suffer, leading to major disruptions in food chains and ecosystems. And the ice age will come quite quickly. The only oases with more or less conditions will be near geothermal springs and geysers. But not for long.
After a certain number of years (by the way, there will be no more seasons), at a certain distance from the sun, unusual rains will begin on the surface of our planet. It will be rains of oxygen. If you're lucky, maybe it will snow from the oxygen. I cannot say for sure whether people on the surface will be able to adapt to this - there will be no food either, steel in such conditions will be too fragile, so it is unclear how to obtain fuel. the surface of the ocean will freeze to a considerable depth, the ice cap due to the expansion of ice will cover the entire surface of the planet except the mountains - our planet will become white.
But the temperature of the planet’s core and mantle will not change, so under the ice cap at a depth of several kilometers the temperature will remain quite tolerable. (if you dig such a mine and provide it with constant food and oxygen, you can even live there)
The funniest thing is in the depths of the sea. Where even now a ray of light does not penetrate. There, at a depth of several kilometers below the surface of the ocean, there are entire ecosystems that absolutely do not depend on the sun, on photosynthesis, on solar heat. It has its own cycles of substances, chemosynthesis instead of photosynthesis, and the required temperature is maintained due to the heat of our planet (volcanic activity, underwater hot springs, and so on). Since the temperature inside our planet is ensured by its gravity, mass, even without the sun, it is also outside the solar systems, stable conditions and the required temperature will be maintained there. And the life that boils in the depths of the sea, at the bottom of the ocean, will not even notice that the sun has disappeared. That life will not even know that our planet once revolved around the sun. Perhaps it will evolve.
It is also unlikely, but also possible, that a snow ball - the Earth - will someday, billions of years later, fly to one of the stars of our galaxy and fall into its orbit. It is also possible that in that orbit of another star our planet will “thaw” and conditions favorable for life will appear on the surface. Perhaps life in the depths of the sea, having overcome this entire path, will again come to the surface, as it already happened once. Perhaps, as a result of evolution, intelligent life will appear again on our planet after this. And finally, maybe they will find surviving media with questions and answers from the site in the remains of one of the data centers
Known three cyclic processes, leading to slow, so-called secular fluctuations in the values of the solar constant. Corresponding secular climate changes are usually associated with these fluctuations in the solar constant, which was reflected in the works of M.V. Lomonosov, A.I. Voeykova and others. Later, when developing this issue, arose astronomical hypothesis of M. Milankovitch, explaining changes in the Earth's climate in the geological past. Secular fluctuations of the solar constant are associated with slow changes in the shape and position of the earth's orbit, as well as the orientation of the earth's axis in world space, caused by the mutual attraction of the earth and other planets. Since the masses of the other planets of the Solar System are significantly less than the mass of the Sun, their influence is felt in the form of small perturbations of the elements of the Earth’s orbit. As a result of the complex interaction of gravitational forces, the path of the Earth around the Sun is not a constant ellipse, but a rather complex closed curve. The irradiation of the Earth following this curve is continuously changing.
The first cyclic process is change in orbital shape from elliptical to almost circular with a period of about 100,000 years; it is called eccentricity oscillation. Eccentricity characterizes the elongation of the ellipse (small eccentricity – round orbit, large eccentricity – orbit – elongated ellipse). Estimates show that the characteristic time of change in eccentricity is 10 5 years (100,000 years).
Rice. 3.1 − Change in Earth's orbital eccentricity (not to scale) (from J. Silver, 2009)
Changes in eccentricity are non-periodic. They fluctuate around the value of 0.028, ranging from 0.0163 to 0.0658. Currently, the orbital eccentricity of 0.0167 continues to decrease, and its minimum value will be reached in 25 thousand years. Longer periods of decrease in eccentricity are also expected - up to 400 thousand years. A change in the eccentricity of the earth's orbit leads to a change in the distance between the Earth and the Sun, and, consequently, in the amount of energy supplied per unit time to a unit area perpendicular to the sun's rays at the upper boundary of the atmosphere. It was found that when the eccentricity changes from 0.0007 to 0.0658, the difference between the solar energy fluxes from the eccentricity for cases when the Earth passes the perihelion and aphelion of the orbit changes from 7 to 20−26% of the solar constant. Currently, the Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical and the difference in solar energy flux is about 7%. During the greatest ellipticity, this difference can reach 20−26%. It follows from this that at small eccentricities the amount of solar energy arriving at the Earth, located at perihelion (147 million km) or aphelion (152 million km) of the orbit, differs slightly. At the greatest eccentricity, more energy comes to perihelion than to aphelion by an amount equal to a quarter of the solar constant. The following characteristic periods are identified in eccentricity fluctuations: about 0.1; 0.425 and 1.2 million years.
The second cyclic process is a change in the inclination of the earth's axis to the ecliptic plane, which has a period of about 41,000 years. During this time, the slope changes from 22.5° (21.1) to 24.5° (Fig. 3.2). Currently it is 23°26"30". An increase in the angle leads to an increase in the height of the Sun in summer and a decrease in winter. At the same time, insolation will increase in high latitudes, and at the equator it will decrease slightly. The smaller this inclination, the smaller the difference between winter and in the summer. Warmer winters tend to be snowier, and colder summers keep all the snow from melting. Snow accumulates on the Earth, encouraging the growth of glaciers. As the slope increases, the seasons become more pronounced, winters are colder and there is less snow, and summers are warmer and there is more snow and ice melts. This promotes the retreat of glaciers to the polar regions. Thus, increasing the angle increases seasonal, but reduces latitudinal differences in the amount of solar radiation on Earth.
Rice. 3.2 – Change in the inclination of the Earth's rotation axis over time (from J. Silver, 2009)
The third cyclic process is the oscillation of the axis of rotation of the globe, called precession. Precession of the earth's axis- This is the slow movement of the Earth's rotation axis along a circular cone. The change in the orientation of the earth's axis in world space is due to the discrepancy between the center of the earth, due to its oblateness, and the gravitational axis of the earth–moon–sun. As a result, the Earth's axis describes a certain conical surface (Fig. 3.3). The period of this oscillation is about 26,000 years.
Rice. 3.3 – Precession of the Earth’s orbit
Currently, the Earth is closer to the Sun in January than in June. But due to precession, after 13,000 years it will be closer to the Sun in June than in January. This will lead to increased seasonal temperature variations in the Northern Hemisphere. The precession of the earth's axis leads to a mutual change in the position of the winter and summer solstice points relative to the perihelion of the orbit. The period with which the mutual position of the orbital perihelion and the winter solstice point repeats is 21 thousand years. More recently, in 1250, the perihelion of the orbit coincided with the winter solstice. The Earth now passes perihelion on January 4th, and the winter solstice occurs on December 22nd. The difference between them is 13 days, or 12º65". The next coincidence of perihelion with the winter solstice point will occur after 20 thousand years, and the previous one was 22 thousand years ago. However, between these events the summer solstice point coincided with the perihelion.
At small eccentricities, the position of the summer and winter solstices relative to the orbital perihelion does not lead to a significant change in the amount of heat entering the earth during the winter and summer seasons. The picture changes dramatically if the orbital eccentricity turns out to be large, for example 0.06. This is how the eccentricity was 230 thousand years ago and will be in 620 thousand years. At large eccentricities of the Earth, the part of the orbit adjacent to the perihelion, where the amount of solar energy is greatest, passes quickly, and the remaining part of the elongated orbit through the vernal equinox to the aphelion passes slowly, for a long time being at a great distance from the Sun. If at this time the perihelion and the winter solstice point coincide, the Northern Hemisphere will experience a short, warm winter and a long, cool summer, while the Southern Hemisphere will experience a short, warm summer and a long, cold winter. If the summer solstice point coincides with the perihelion of the orbit, then hot summers and long cold winters will be observed in the Northern Hemisphere, and vice versa in the Southern Hemisphere. Long, cool, wet summers are favorable for the growth of glaciers in the hemisphere where most of the land is concentrated.
Thus, all of the listed different-sized fluctuations in solar radiation are superimposed on each other and give a complex secular course of changes in the solar constant, and, consequently, a significant impact on the conditions for climate formation through changes in the amount of solar radiation received. Fluctuations in solar heat are most pronounced when all three of these cyclic processes are in phase. Then great glaciations or complete melting of glaciers on Earth are possible.
A detailed theoretical description of the mechanisms of influence of astronomical cycles on the earth's climate was proposed in the first half of the 20th century. the outstanding Serbian astronomer and geophysicist Milutin Milankovic, who developed the theory of the periodicity of ice ages. Milankovitch hypothesized that cyclic changes in the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit (its ellipticity), fluctuations in the angle of inclination of the planet's rotation axis and the precession of this axis can cause significant changes in the climate on Earth. For example, about 23 million years ago, the periods of the minimum value of the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit and the minimum change in the inclination of the Earth's rotation axis coincided (it is this inclination that is responsible for the change of seasons). For 200 thousand years, seasonal climate changes on Earth were minimal, since the Earth's orbit was almost circular, and the tilt of the Earth's axis remained almost unchanged. As a result, the difference in summer and winter temperatures at the poles was only a few degrees, the ice did not have time to melt over the summer, and there was a noticeable increase in its area.
Milankovitch's theory has been repeatedly criticized, since variations in radiation for these reasons relatively small, and doubts were expressed whether such small changes in high-latitude radiation could cause significant climate fluctuations and lead to glaciations. In the second half of the 20th century. A significant amount of new evidence has been obtained about global climate fluctuations in the Pleistocene. A significant proportion of them are columns of oceanic sediments, which have an important advantage over terrestrial sediments in that they have a much greater integrity of the sequence of sediments than on land, where sediments have often been displaced in space and repeatedly redeposited. Spectral analysis of such oceanic sequences dating back to the last approximately 500 thousand years was then carried out. Two cores from the central Indian Ocean between the subtropical convergence and the Antarctic oceanic polar front (43–46°S) were selected for analysis. This area is equally far from the continents and therefore is little affected by fluctuations in erosion processes on them. At the same time, the area is characterized by a fairly high rate of sedimentation (more than 3 cm/1000 years), so that climatic fluctuations with a period of much less than 20 thousand years can be distinguished. As indicators of climate fluctuations, we selected the relative content of the heavy oxygen isotope δO 18 in planktonic foraminifera, the species composition of radiolarian communities, as well as the relative content (in percentage) of one of the radiolarian species Cycladophora davisiana. The first indicator reflects changes in the isotopic composition of ocean water associated with the emergence and melting of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. The second indicator shows past fluctuations in surface water temperature (T s) . The third indicator is insensitive to temperature, but sensitive to salinity. The vibration spectra of each of the three indicators show the presence of three peaks (Fig. 3.4). The largest peak occurs at approximately 100 thousand years, the second largest at 42 thousand years, and the third at 23 thousand years. The first of these periods is very close to the period of change in the orbital eccentricity, and the phases of the changes coincide. The second period of fluctuations in climate indicators coincides with the period of changes in the angle of inclination of the earth's axis. In this case, a constant phase relationship is maintained. Finally, the third period corresponds to quasiperiodic changes in precession.
Rice. 3.4. Oscillation spectra of some astronomical parameters:
1 - axis tilt, 2 - precession ( A); insolation at 55° south. w. in winter ( b) and 60° N. w. in summer ( V), as well as the spectra of changes in three selected climate indicators over the last 468 thousand years (Hays J.D., Imbrie J., Shackleton N.J., 1976)
All this makes us consider changes in the parameters of the earth’s orbit and the tilt of the earth’s axis to be important factors in climate change and indicates the triumph of Milankovitch’s astronomical theory. Ultimately, global climate fluctuations in the Pleistocene can be explained precisely by these changes (Monin A.S., Shishkov Yu.A., 1979).
Scientists drilling into ancient rocks in the Arizona desert say they have detected a gradual shift in Earth's orbit that repeats every 405,000 years, playing a role in natural climate variations.
Astrophysicists have long hypothesized that the cycle exists based on calculations of celestial mechanics, but the authors of a new study have found the first verifiable physical evidence.
They showed that the cycle was stable for hundreds of millions of years, starting with the advent of dinosaurs and still operating today. The research could have implications not only for climate research, but also for our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth and the evolution of the solar system.
Scientists have believed for decades that the Earth's orbit around the sun changes from nearly circular to about 5 percent elliptical and back again every 405,000 years. The shift is thought to be due to a complex interaction with the gravitational influences of Venus and Jupiter, along with other solar system bodies, as they all orbit the Sun.
Astrophysicists believe the math behind the cycle is reliable for up to 50 million years, but after that the problem becomes too complex because there are too many factors to consider.
"There are other, shorter, orbital cycles, but when you look back in time, it's very difficult to know what you're dealing with at any given time because everything is constantly changing," said lead author Dennis Kent, an expert in paleomagnetism. at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University and Rutgers University.
The new evidence lies within 500 meters of rock that Kent and his co-authors drilled into a national park in Arizona in 2013, as well as earlier deep cores from suburban New York and New Jersey. The Arizona rocks were formed during the Late Triassic, between 209 million and 215 million years ago, when the area was covered by meandering rivers that deposited sediment. Early dinosaurs began to evolve around this time.
Scientists studied Arizona rocks by analyzing embedded layers of volcanic ash containing radioisotopes that decay at predictable rates. Within the sediments, they also detected repeated reversals in the polarity of the planet's magnetic field. The team then compared this data with the New York and New Jersey cores, which penetrated old lakes and soils that retained evidence of alternating wet and dry periods in Earth's history.
Kent and Olsen have long argued that climate changes evident in the rocks of New York and New Jersey were controlled by the 405,000-year cycle. However, there are no layers of volcanic ash to establish exact dates. But these cores do contain polarity reversals like those found in Arizona.
By combining the two data sets, the team showed that both locations were changing at the same time, and that the 405,000-year interval is indeed something of a master controller over climate fluctuations. Paleontologist Paul Olsen, co-author of the study, said the cycle does not directly change climate; rather, it enhances or weakens the effects of shorter cycles that operate more directly.
The planetary movements that drive climate variations are known as Milankovitch cycles, named after the Serbian mathematician who developed them in the 1920s. They consist of a 100,000-year cycle at the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit, similar to the great 405,000-year wobble; 41,000-year cycle in the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to its orbit around the Sun; and a 21,000-year cycle caused by the wobble of the planet's axis. Together, these changes change the proportion of solar energy reaching the Northern Hemisphere, and this in turn affects the climate.
In the 1970s, scientists showed that Milankovitch cycles were responsible for repeated warming and cooling of the planet and thus the onset and cessation of ice ages over the last few million years.
But they still argue about inconsistencies in the data over this period, as well as the relationship between the cycles, with rising and falling carbon dioxide levels on the one hand, and apparent underlying climate controls on the other. Understanding how all this worked in the more distant past is even more difficult. First, the frequencies of the shorter cycles have almost certainly changed over time, but no one can say for sure by how much.
On the other hand, cycles constantly influence each other. Sometimes some do not coincide in effect with others, and they tend to cancel each other out; or several cycles may line up one after another to initiate sudden, radical changes. Doing the math on how they might all fit together becomes even more difficult if we want to look further back in time.
Kent and Olsen say that every 405,000 years, when orbital eccentricity is at its peak, seasonal differences caused by shorter cycles become more intense; summer is hotter and winter is colder; The dry period is even drier, the rainy period is even more humid.
The opposite will be 202,500 years later, when the Earth's orbit will be at its most circular. During the Late Triassic, for unknown reasons, it was much warmer than now, after many cycles, and there was practically no glaciation. The 405,000 year cycle then manifested itself in alternating wet and dry periods. Rainfall peaked when the orbit was most eccentric, creating deep expanses of water that left layers of black shale in eastern North America. When the orbit was closest to the circle, they dried up, leaving lighter layers of soil.
Because of all the competing factors, Kent and Olsen say there is still much to learn. “This is really difficult material,” Olsen said. “We use basically the same kinds of mathematics that we use to send spacecraft to and, of course, it works. But once you start extending interplanetary motions back in time to figure out the effects on climate, you can't claim to understand exactly how it all works." According to him, the metronomic rhythm of the 405 thousandth cycle can help researchers understand this difficult matter.
In case you were wondering, the Earth is currently in a nearly circular part of the 405,000 year period. What does this mean for us? “Probably nothing too noticeable,” says Kent. “These are all pretty far down the list of many other factors that can influence climate over time that matter to us.” Dennis Kent points out that, according to Milankovitch's theory, we should be at the peak of the warming trend in the 20,000-year cycle that ended with the last ice age; The Earth may eventually begin to cool again within thousands of years, and perhaps then another ice age will occur.
More information: Dennis V. Kent el al., “Empirical evidence for stability of the 405-kiloyear Jupiter–Venus eccentricity cycle over hundreds of millions of years,” PNAS (2018). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1800891115
"...I'm starting a series of works about what the Universe really looks like.
Are you ready reader? Well, then hang in there and take care of your sanity. Now it will be true. But first, answer me one question:
How is astronomy different from astrology?
In astrology there are 12 signs of the Zodiac, and in astronomy there are 13 constellations. Zmeelov is also added to those known to everyone. In astrology, all signs are divided into months, numbering 12 with an approximately equal number of days - a tribute to the metric system. In astronomy, everything is different: a circle has 360 degrees and each constellation has its own angular dimensions. The constellations are different and their angular magnitudes are different. If we convert them into radians, and radians into days, it becomes quite clear that the constellations have different durations in days. That is, the Sun, moving in different constellations, passes through them in a different number of days.
Taurus – 14.05 – 23.06
Gemini 23.06 – 20.07
Cancer 20.07 – 11.08
Leo 11.08 – 17.09
Virgo 17.09 – 21.10
Libra 21.10 – 22.11
Scorpio 22.11 – 30.11
Snake catcher 30.11 – 18.12
Sagittarius 12.18 – 19.01
Capricorn 19.01 – 16.02
Aquarius 16.02 – 12.03
Pisces 12.03 – 18.04
Aries 18.04 – 14.05
As you can see, according to astronomical observations, the real constellations of the Sun are located in completely different intervals and the astronomical months are all different: from 8 days to 42.
Not only does the Earth rotate around the Sun, but the Sun also rotates around a certain center in the ecliptic plane. If you imagine a geometric figure of a torus, similar to a donut, then in the middle of the torus itself there are zodiacs, which we can observe from the places where humanity lives on the planet. At the poles there is a different picture of the stellar world. So the solar system moves along the inside of the donut, and in the donut itself are the stars visible to us.
When the Sun is in one of the constellations of the Zodiac, we cannot see which one it is in, since it is white daylight and the star blinds us, and the stars are not visible in the sky. What do astrologers do? Exactly at 12 at night, they look at the sky and see which constellation is the highest, and then take the exact opposite in the SIGN Zodiac drawn in a circle, where all the months are almost equal. This determines which constellation the Sun is in now. But that's a lie. I showed that the constellations have different sizes in the sky, which means that the Sign Zodiac accepted in the world is simply a convention. That is, the Signs of the Zodiac actually represent fictitious months that are not related to the annual cycle.
Looking ahead, I want to say that this entire system with a torus is not motionless, but moves along a certain axis, while the planets of the solar system move in a small spiral around the Sun, and the Sun moves in a large spiral inside the torus. ..."
