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displacement of the axis of rotation around the barycenter of mass of a double planetIn the previous question I was told that in order for the double planet system not to have eclipses every day, their rotation axis tilt around the barycenter of mass must not be 90 degrees.

Both planets are tidally locked and have an axis tilt of about 25 degrees.

I tried to understand with the help of the drawing what the change should look like.

I cannot understand how the tilt of the rotation axis around the barycenter will affect the visibility of the planets from each other's surfaces. With a rotation axis of 90 degrees, it seems to me that on one planet it will be possible to observe the other from the eastern hemisphere, and on the other - from the western. Will the tilt of the rotation axis of not 90 degrees lead to the fact that the zones where the planets can be observed will be shifted? For example, to the southeastern and northwestern hemispheres.

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  • $\begingroup$ Are the two planets tidally locked or are they not tidally locked? If they are not tidally locked, then they will be visible from any point on the surface, just like the Moon can be seen from anywhere on Earth. (Of course, at different times and not necessarily on all days.) If they are tidally locked, then each of them can only be seen from about half of the surface of the other, just like Earth can only be seen from about half of the surface of the Moon. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Oct 5 at 21:21
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP yes, they are tidally locked. And I'm trying to figure out if the tilt axis of the rotation around the barycenter of mass has an effect on where exactly they will be visible or not. When I trying to imagine with a picture it seemed to me that the tilt would have an effect, but I may be wrong. $\endgroup$
    – Tanya
    Commented Oct 5 at 21:54
  • $\begingroup$ OK. Second question: when you say that the axes of rotation of the planets are tilted 25°, that tilt is with respect to what? For example the axis of rotation of our own dear Moon is tilted 6° 41′ with respect to its orbital plane around Earth (the orbital plane of the Moon around the Earth-Moon barycenter) but 1° 33′ with respect to the ecliptic (the orbital plane of the Earth-Moon system around the Sun). $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Oct 5 at 22:22
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP I meant the tilt of the axis that we mean when we talk about the 23.44 degrees tilt of the Earth's axis, as I believe, to the plane of the ecliptic. For simplicity, I made both approximately the same, otherwise I would go crazy. I updated the drawing to clarify my assumption and question. $\endgroup$
    – Tanya
    Commented Oct 5 at 22:46
  • $\begingroup$ On a complete side note (and this question would be better asked on Astronomy), is it even possible for a binary planet to have such a tilt that isn't 0° or 90°? If I remember my college physics, such a tilt must be unstable, eventually leading to either a parallel (0°) or perpendicular (90°) tilt or to the planets spinning apart, leading to at least one leaving the solar system. Could be wrong..., but I wonder. $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Oct 6 at 3:12

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The tilt of the axis of rotation of the entire double planet system has no effect on the visibility of one planet from the other; what it does have an effect on is the course of the sun across the sky. What does affect the visibility of one planet from the other is the fact that their axes of rotation are not perpendicular to the orbital plane of their revolution around the common barycenter.

Here is a drawing, made with the assumption that the axes of rotation of the two planets are parallel (which they don't have to be), both are tilted 25° with respect to the ecliptic, and that the plane of rotation of the two planets is inclined 8° with respect to the ecliptic. (Click to embiggen.)

Two tidally locked planets shown at two opposite points on their revolution around the common barycenter

On the diagram I have marked the axes of rotation and the equators of the two planets. I have placed a purple observer on the orange planet, and a green fixed target on the blue planet. The diagram shows the planets at two opposite points in their revolution around the common barycenter.

Note that in such a double planet configuration there is natural prime meridian on both planets, right on the line between their centers.

The hatched part of the blue planet is the part which is visible to the purple observer on the orange planet; note that the observable part varies during the cycle: in the top configuration, the purple observer can observe the north pole of the blue planet, while in the bottom configuration the purple observer can observe the south pole of the blue planet.

Alternatively, you can think of the hatched part of the blue planet as being the part from where the orange planet is visible.

Note that between the two opposite positions the blue planet moves from 17° south from the point of view of the purple observer to 17° north, a total 34 degrees.

The two planets move from the top configuration to the bottom configuration and back during each revolution around the common barycenter, that is once every solar day.

The difference between the 25° axial tilt and the 8° inclination of the orbital plane is 17°. This means that the purple observer, who is placed on the equator of the orange planet directly in line with the blue planet can move wherever they want between 73° latitude south and 73° latitude north and the blue planet will remain visible at all times. But above 73° latitude the blue planet will dip below the horizon for part of the day.

As the observer moves east or west, the blue planet will be lower and lower in the sky, and its motion instead of being up and down will be more and more horizontal; when the observer is 90° offset from the direct line between the planets, the other planet will appear exactly on the horizon, moving in a horizontal arc of 34°. Beyond that, the blue planet is always below the horizon.

Ah, but real life orbits are almost never perfectly circular. They are almost always eliptical, so that in adition to the libration in latitude and the north-south movement of the other planet in the sky there will also be a libration in longitude and an east-west movement...

For further delight:

  • How does the Earth move in the sky as seen from the Moon? on Astronomy SE. This is a good reference to understand how the blue planet moves in the sky from the point of view of the purple observer on the orange planet.

  • The Wikipedia article on libration. This is a general introduction to the geometry of why tidally locked does not mean that the view is unchanging.

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    $\begingroup$ I came here to say this, probably without diagrams, perfect answer. +1 $\endgroup$
    – Ash
    Commented Oct 6 at 1:58
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP Thank you very much! That's great! Can I ask a couple of questions, so I'm not sure if I understood everything correctly? When you say, "what does affect the visibility of one planet from the other is the fact that their axes of rotation are not perpendicular to the orbital plane of their revolution around the common barycenter", does this mean that the individual axes of rotation are tilted relative to the plane along which they rotate around a their barycenter of mass? And did I understand you correctly that at the poles the other planet will rise and set during the day? $\endgroup$
    – Tanya
    Commented Oct 6 at 18:25
  • $\begingroup$ @Tanya: Because the axis of rotation of the observer's (orange) planet is tilted with respect of the plane of their orbital plane around the barycenter, the target (blue) planet appears to move in the sky north and south. Because the axis of rotation of the target (blue) planet is tilted with respect of the plane of their orbital plane around the barycenter, the north and south poles come in and out of view during the day. They don't rise and set, they move into and out of the visible part. There is a beautiful animation in the Wikipedia article of libration showing this effect for our Moon. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Oct 6 at 18:32
  • $\begingroup$ @Tanya: This animation. In this animation, the Moon plays the role of the target planet. (Note that the axis of the Moon is only tilted about 6° with respect of its orbital plane around Earth, so that its libration in latitude is only about 13°, instead of 34° as in the case considered in the answer.) $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Oct 6 at 18:35
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP I think I understood that the line of black dots denotes their planes around the barycenter and what angle we are talking about. And that above 73 latitude the planets will either rise slightly or disappear behind the horizon. I also took libration into account. Thank you! Sorry, I don't fully understand all the terminology, so sometimes I'm dumb. $\endgroup$
    – Tanya
    Commented Oct 6 at 18:44

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