Talk:Supposed Dance of Stars Problem/@comment-67.189.83.6-20150915111224

(1 in discussion)

For references, see the Wikipedia article on Chandler wobble.

The variation, as interpretated as a motion of the stars, is coordinated by stars in different directions from the Earth, for example stars near the North Pole and those near the South Pole change their dances simultaneously. The northern stars are at great distances from the southern stars, even if all stars are at the same distance from Earth. We have space probes which are known to be, by the time it takes radio transmission to reach Earth at significant fraction of a light-day, and thus we know that the stars must be quite a bit farther than that. Thus northern stars are significant distances from southern stars, and the coordination of their "dances" is something requiring explanation.

Aside from that, to expect that all the stars are at about the same distance from Earth requires that we totally misunderstand their nature. Sirius, for example, being about the same distance as stars which are so dim that they cannot be seen without powerful telescopes is to demand that they are totally different things, producing light by who knows what different mechanisms.