Is Epicyclic an Accurate Term for the Moon's Orbit Around the Sun?

[Minki]

Hi, A quick clarification question. Is epicyclic a correct description for our moons path around the sun. I can only find references to epicycles in a historical context.

Thanks.

 

[tiny-tim]

Hi Minki!

I can only find references to epicycles in a historical context.

Epicycles are an approximation … the number of cycles gives you the order of the approximation.

The only actual epicylces I know of are what are usually called planetary gears, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicyclic_gearing

 

[Simon Bridge]

Focus on what it means for an orbit to be epicyclic and you can answer the question yourself.

example of a modern use.

But perhaps you are thinking that, maybe, the Moon's orbit (in, say, the reference frame of the Earth-Moon center-of-mass) traces out some sort of complicated scribble rather than a simple ellipse?

 

[Minki]

Ok, thanks for that guys.

 

[Nickie]

Hello,

Thank you for your question. The term "epicyclic" is not typically used to describe the moon's path around the sun. Epicycles were a theory proposed by ancient astronomers to explain the apparent retrograde motion of planets in the night sky. This theory has since been disproven and is no longer used in modern astronomy.

The moon's path around the sun is actually an orbit, which is a result of the moon's gravitational attraction to the Earth. This orbit is not circular, but rather elliptical, meaning that the moon's distance from the sun varies slightly throughout its orbit. This is due to the gravitational pull of other celestial bodies in our solar system.

I hope this clarifies things for you. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,