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Chandler Wobble

Earth science
Also known as: Chandler’s Wobble

Quick Summary

The Chandler Wobble is a movement in Earth's axis of rotation, causing latitude to vary. This phenomenon, predicted by Leonhard Euler in 1765, was detected by American astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler in the 1880s.1

The wobble is an elliptical oscillation with a period of approximately 14 months, though it's sometimes cited as 433 days. It's part of a larger phenomenon called polar motion, where the Earth's spin axis rotates around a mean axis, similar to a spinning top. The North Pole of Earth's rotation axis moves in an irregular, quasi-circular path with a radius of about 8-10 meters. The exact cause of the Chandler Wobble has not been definitively determined.213

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