libration in latitude halâzân-e varunâ-yi Fr.: libration en latitude A tiny oscillating motion of the Moon arising from the fact that the Moon's axis is slightly inclined relative to the Earth's. More specifically, the Moon's polar axis is tilted nearly 7° with respect to the plane of its orbit around Earth. Hence for half of each orbit we see slightly more of the north pole when its tipped toward us, and for the other half we see slightly more of its south pole. Libration in latitude displaces the mean center of the Moon north-south by between 6°.5 and 6°.9. |