OCR Text |
Show Science Notet Change in Position of Pole Although the inhabitants of the earth are not perceptibly affected by the wandering motion of the North pole, yet it is a phenomenon of in creasing interest to scientists, particularly particu-larly astronomers. This motion, which Is suggestive of the "wabbling" of a top, is extremely slight when the vast size of the earth Is taken in account For about 80 years the North pole has never, It Is claimed, been more, than S3 feet away from the place It should occupy If the earth's axis of revolution never varied In direction. The amount of variation has been learned by the International Geodetic association through observe- 1 tlons and four observing stations, all close to the thirty-ninth degree of North latitude, and all within SOU feet of the same parallel. These are at' Mldzusawa, Japan J Caroloforte, Sardinia; Sar-dinia; Galthersburg, Md., and Uklah, Calif. Precisely similar observations with exactly the same kind of zenith telescopes are made at each station on carefully selected stars. In this way, any change In the direction of the pole reveals Itself by a shift of the stars. |