Theories of the Medicean Planets Deduced from Physical Causes

...requires a new anomaly, and so it is in all other places. Since, therefore, this kind of synodic anomaly Synodic: relating to the alignment of the Moon with the Sun as seen from Earth does not remain stable, but is altered at different times of the year, so that it is sometimes at its maximum, sometimes nothing, and sometimes moderate, it was called the temporary synodic anomaly. Let these things suffice regarding the temporary synodic anomaly of the movement of the Moon's longitude.

There is also another synodic inequality of latitude Latitude: the angular distance of a celestial body north or south of the Ecliptic, which happens in this way: in that month where the line of the Synod Synod: here used for the alignment of New Moon or Full Moon falls within the limits A and P, specifically in those places where the lunar orbit is most distant from the plane of the Ecliptic Ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun, which serves as the reference plane for the solar system, then throughout that entire month the latitudes vary in no way. Instead, they remain in that state which suits the proper course of the lunar orbit, whose maximum latitude does not exceed five degrees.

When, however, the solar line, that is the full moons and new moons, falls upon the Nodes B and D Nodes: the two points where the Moon's orbit crosses the plane of the Ecliptic, then during that whole month the latitudes receive a greater increase than usual. Namely, the inclination of the eccentric orbit over the plane of the Ecliptic is widened and raised further. While it previously occupied a space of only five degrees, it now reaches five degrees and 18 minutes.

When the aforementioned line falls in the middle of these spaces, specifically between the Nodes and the limits, it then partakes of both conditions, and thus the lunar latitudes vary. This does not happen in the Copulae Copulae: the conjunctions or oppositions of the Sun and Moon, that is in the full moons and new moons. Rather, it is observed through the rest of the circuit, especially in the Quadratures Quadrature: the points where the Moon is 90 degrees away from the Sun, such as the first or third quarter and the Octants Octant: the points in the orbit 45 degrees between a quadrature and a syzygy. From this it is concluded that because of this temporary synodic anomaly, not only must the plane of the lunar orbit rock back and forth as it moves closer and further away, but it is also necessary that its Nodes B and D wobble and are carried by an irregular motion.

Now let us proceed to the last lunar anomaly, of which Tycho Brahe was the author. This is called by some the perpetual synodic anomaly. This proceeds in the following order: at any time in the semicircle of the lunar orbit...