Earth's Rotation

Experiments suggest an unusual magnetic material could help harness energy from Earth's rotation. But not everyone is convinced

Learn how forces deep underground generate a protective bubble between us and space.

Learn why the magnetic north pole has been moving away from Canada and toward Siberia over the past century, accelerating in recent decades.

The longest days accompany the winter solstice. In December, a day - a whole cycle of day and night - is about half a minute longer than the average 24 hours. The post Longest days accompany the December solstice first appeared on EarthSky.

The Earth's magnetic North Pole is moving toward Russia.

New techniques are helping forecasters spot storms that could develop into dangerous hurricanes earlier than ever

Sometimes, they 'foretold' love. Sometimes, death.

So much ice is melting at the Earth's poles that it's affecting the rotation of the planet, scientists say. Its spin is slowing down slightly, causing days to get longer.

Melting ice is slowing Earth's spin and causing changes to its axis, new studies find. The shifts are causing feedback beneath the surface, impacting the...

New studies, which utilized AI to monitor the effects of climate change on Earth's spin, have shown that our days are getting increasingly longer and that our planet will get more wobbly in the future. These changes could have major implications for humanity's future.

Who knew Earth's upper atmosphere was like alphabet soup? NASA's Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission has revealed unexpected C- and X-shaped formations in an electrified layer of gas high above our heads called the ionosphere.

Solar storms that create auroras affect Earth's magnetic field and may cause migratory species, such as many whales and birds, to lose their way

Kochab and Pherkad are the two outer stars in the bowl of the Little Dipper. They were the pole stars from 1500 BC to 500 BC. The post Kochab and Pherkad: Outer bowl stars of the Little Dipper first appeared on EarthSky.

The earth shook. The moon temporarily blotted out the sun. The world didn't end.

Time as we know it faces a profound threat.

We're nearing a year when a negative leap second could be needed to shave time — an unprecedented step that would have unpredictable effects, a new study says.

Earth's rotation is speeding up due to melting ice at the poles and shifts in the planet's core. This change might lead to the subtraction of a second from clocks.

Humanity's activities and climate change are impacting the polar ice sheets, causing excessive melting, and this is slowing Earth's rotation, challenging...

For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks in a few years because the planet is rotating a tad faster. Wednesday's study in a scientific journal says that clocks may have to skip in a second — called a "negative leap second" — around 2029. Ice melting at both of Earth's poles has been counteracting the planet's burst of speed and is likely to have…

For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks in a few years because the planet is rotating a tad faster