obliquity
Noun
Meaning
The condition of being oblique; deviation from a right line; deviation from parallelism or perpendicularity; the amount of such deviation; divergence; as, the obliquity of the ecliptic to the equator.
Deviation from ordinary rules; irregularity; deviation from moral rectitude.
Source: Webster's dictionarySynonyms
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Astronomers produce new fundamental ephemerides as the accuracy of observation improves and as the understanding of the dynamics increases, and from these ephemerides various astronomical values, including the obliquity, are derived.
Axial tilt and seasons main Earth's axial tilt (or obliquity ) and its relation to the rotation axis and plane of orbit The axial tilt of the Earth is approximately 23.439281°.
Earth's orbit and obliquity change with time (over thousands of years), sometimes forming a nearly perfect circle, and at other times stretching out to an orbital eccentricity of 5% (currently 1.67%).
In late 2008, it was suggested Jupiter may keep Europa's oceans warm by generating large planetary tidal waves on Europa because of its small but non-zero obliquity.
Currently the tilt of the Earth 's axis to its orbital plane ( obliquity of the ecliptic ) is 23.44 degrees, but this angle changes slowly (over thousands of years).
Note that the obliquity varies only from 24.2° to 22.5° during this time.