Why Is There a 4-Minute Difference Between the Solar Day

question 32

Multiple Choice

Why is there a 4-minute difference between the solar day and the sidereal day?

• A) because the Earth's rotation is variable, due to the pull of the Moon
• B) because the stars slowly change their orientations in the Galaxy
• C) because the Earth is going around the Sun in the course of a year
• D) because the Earth's axis is tilted by about 23 degrees
• E) no one knows the reason; we just have to accept the difference as an unsolved mystery

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