Secular variation

The secular variation of a time series is its long-term non-periodic variation (see Decomposition of time series). Whether something is perceived as a secular variation or not depends on the available timescale: a secular variation over a time scale of centuries may be part of a periodic variation over a time scale of millions of years. Natural quantities often have both periodic and secular variations. Secular variation is sometimes called secular trend or secular drift when the emphasis is on a linear long-term trend. The secular variation of a time series is its long-term non-periodic variation (see Decomposition of time series). Whether something is perceived as a secular variation or not depends on the available timescale: a secular variation over a time scale of centuries may be part of a periodic variation over a time scale of millions of years. Natural quantities often have both periodic and secular variations. Secular variation is sometimes called secular trend or secular drift when the emphasis is on a linear long-term trend. The term secular variation is used wherever time series are applicable in economics, operations research, biological anthropology, astronomy (particularly celestial mechanics) such as VSOP (planets) etc. The word secular, from the Latin root saecularis ('of an age, occurring once in an age'), has two basic meanings: I. Of or pertaining to the world (from which secularity is derived), and II. Of or belonging to an age or long period. The latter use appeared in the 18th century in the sense of 'living or lasting for an age or ages'. In the 19th century terms like secular acceleration and secular variation appeared in astronomy, and similar language was used in economics by 1895. In astronomy, secular variations are contrasted with periodic phenomena. In particular, astronomical ephemerides use secular to label the longest-lasting or non-oscillatory perturbations in the motion of planets, as opposed to periodic perturbations which exhibit repetition over the course of a time frame of interest. In this context it is referred to as secular motion. Solar System ephemerides are essential for the navigation of spacecraft and for all kinds of space observations of the planets, their natural satellites, stars and galaxies. Most of the known perturbations to motion in stable, regular, and well-determined dynamical systems tend to be periodic at some level, but in many-body systems, chaotic dynamics result in some effects which are one-way (for example, planetary migration). Secular phenomena create variations in the orbits of the Moon and the planets. The solar emission spectrum and the solar wind are undergoing secular trends due to migration through the galactic plane, leading to effects that may impact on climate and cause extinction events. The secular acceleration of the Moon depends on tidal forces. It was discovered early but it was some time before it was correctly explained. Depending on what time frames are considered, perturbations can appear secular even if they are actually periodic. An example of this is the precession of the Earth's axis considered over the time frame of a few hundred or thousand years. When viewed in this time frame the so-called 'precession of the equinoxes' can appear to mimic a secular phenomenon since the axial precession takes 25,771.5 years and monitoring it over a much smaller timeframe appears to simply result in a 'drift' of the position of the equinox in the plane of the ecliptic of approximately one degree every 71.6 years, influencing the Milankovitch cycles. Secular variation also refers to long-term trends in the orbits of the planets Mercury to Neptune. Several attempts have from time to time been undertaken to analyze and predict such gravitational deviations from ordinary satellite orbits. Others are often referred to as post keplerian effects.