Earth Motion Observation3 

February 5, 2024 started, February 24, and July 23 revised.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Takanori Senoh

1. Introduction

When observing the Earth motion by fixing the laser beam direction on the Earth and changing the beam direction by the Earth rotation, the motion along the Earth axis cannot be  detected, because the spot offset is always same.

As shown below, by comparing the spot positions with changing the beam direction 180 degrees, the Earth motion along the Axis can be detected, because the spot position moves to the opposite side according to the beam direction. The position must be measured on a linear scale from the left to right against the beam coming direction. North or South cannot be used, because they give the same offset, no matter which the beam direction is (East or West). Because the spot moves to the opposite side according to the beam direction, 1/2 of the measured difference shows the Earth speed. This Earth motion will provide a constant difference of the spot positions, because this difference is not affected by the Earth rotation.

As stated so-far, the Earth speed is slow, about 1/10,000 of the light speed (3x105km/s), the spot displacement is also small, about 1/10,000 of the light path length. The observation system must be light weight and rigid against the deformation. 

2. Portable Observation System

If the system base is made of woods, the board thickness must be increased to get the rigidity. Such pillar-shape base is heavy and difficult to handle. Moreover, the weight bricks are indispensable to suppress the deformation caused by the temperature or humidity changes. Iron is stable and rigid but heavy. The system must be light weight and small, enabling the handling of the beam direction.  Making the base hollow, the system becomes light keeping the rigidity. Also, easy machining is important. Plastic pipes are on-the-shelf, easy to get, rigid, and easy machining. Consequently, the new system is made of a 2mm thick, 75mm diameter, and 2m long PVC pipe. On the one side, a 5mm groove was curved to fit the laser pointer there, which is fixed to the pipe by two sets of iron brackets and screws at its head and tail, as shown below. The laser SW was set always ON state by binding an iron plate on it. The laser ON/OFF is done by rotating the back ridge of the battery case part of the pointer. A part of the other side of the pipe was cut out and a compressed board was pasted on it. On the board, a plastic semi-transparent screen with a transparent scale are pasted. Also, a guided camera are placed on the board. The pipe is leveled by pasting four 15mm diameter and 110mm long wood pins on its head and tail sides. During the pre-test, the spot position largely moved up and down, when changing the beam direction. The Earth motion cannot generate such displacement. By checking the grounding surface of the pipe, it was found the floor slightly undulates (about 1mm). Because it changes the laser pointer angle slightly and affects the spot position, depending on the place where the pipe is put, the pipe was placed where its head and tail ends touch the floor together. The measurement was done by exchanging the head and tail positions. Because the pipe center part is also touching the floor, the pipe is supported on 3-points. Because the Earth motion along the Axis moves the spot position to North or South, the laser beam was placed along Est-to-West or West-to-East.

3. Observation Result

The following pictures show typical beam spot positions taken on February 2, 18:13 to February 3, 18:09, 2024, at every 3 hours. The laser power was reduced by a variable dimmer filter, by setting it to ND=about 300, which reduces the spot size to about 1mm and enable the spot center location easy. In the measured data, some extent of the spot position variation of about 0.5mm in the same beam direction (E2W or W2E) was observed. Even though, a constant displacement of the spot position was observed between the beam directions (E2W and W2E). Because this displacement is time-independent (free from the Earth rotation) and cannot be explained by the floor undulation, it must be caused by the Earth motion along the Earth Axis. The average displacement is horizontally ΔX=0.56mm (South or North) and vertically ΔY=0.22mm (Height). Because the Earth motion along the Axis doesn't change the spot height, the vertical displacement ΔY must be caused by the remaining floor undulation. From the horizontal displacement ΔX and the angle of 35 degrees between the Japanese South-to-North line and the Earth Axis, the Earth speed along the Axis becomes,

  E=light-speed(C)/light-path-length(L)×ΔX/2/cos35°=59.5km/s

Because the spot displacement X increased (to South) when the beam was set from East to West (E2W), and it reduced (to South) when the beam was set from West to East (W2E), the Earth motion direction must be from South to North, to the north polar star direction.

3. What Results tell

This result cannot be explained by the current Galaxy motion model (Galaxy is rotating on the same plane as the Solar System) estimated from the observations so-far. This new result can be explained by another rotation, which is perpendicular to the current Galaxy motion model. 

One evidence of such rotation is in the Milkyway. It is a cluster of stars and can be seen long from South to North on Summer and Winter night. The Galaxy shape is said to be a thin disk as same as the other galaxies. As same as the Saturn ring is said to be formed along the Saturn's rotation, it is natural to think the thin-disk shape of Galaxy was formed along its rotation. If so, the Milkyway must be seen as a horizontally long star cluster from East to West at night, but not from South to North. However, because the Milkyway is from South to North, it is natural to think it was created by some perpendicular rotation to the Galaxy plane. Because its rotation center seems to exist in the perpendicular direction to the Earth Axis from the observed result, it might be in the direction 23.4 degrees above from the Galaxy center direction (Sagittarius). 

Such example is seen in the Andromeda Galaxy group, IC1559 (left above small galaxy) and NGC169 (underneath large galaxy) as shown below. Although these galaxies are not collided yet, our Milkyway Galaxy seems made of two colliding galaxies (Milkyway galaxy and our Solar galaxy). The Sun and the Earth seems originally belonged to the Solar galaxy and had its rotation moment in it. After that, the Milkyway galaxy, which has a perpendicular rotation plane, seems had come to cross our Solar galaxy and added the Earth another motion along its Axis. 

Another evidence is in the Solar system. The ring of Uranus is about 90 degrees different from the other planet rings, which is same as the rotation angle of Milkyway galaxy. This fact seems indicating the Uranus was bone in the Milkyway galaxy and got its rotation axis there. After that, when the Milkyway galaxy collided with the Solar galaxy, the Uranus was caught by the Sun's gravity and started to orbit around the Sun, keeping its original rotation axis unchanged.

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