Dynamic flattening
With celestial bodies - especially the earth - dynamic flattening is understood to mean that flattening of a homogeneous ellipsoid of revolution which would show the same period of precession under the influence of the known tidal forces of other celestial bodies . Because the denser core is subject to lower centrifugal acceleration, the dynamic flattening is usually less than the geometric flattening:
at the earth:
- .
Immanuel Kant was credited with being the first to calculate its dynamic flattening from the earth's precession period.
Individual evidence
- ^ Hermann Wagner: Textbook of Geography . Volume 1, Hahn, Hanover 1900, limited preview in the Google book search.