But this makes us upset!  We like having Polaris as the North Star.  We don't want Vega to be our North Star!

Don't worry, Dick and Jane!  Polaris will eventually become the North Star once again if you can live to the year 28,000AD.

Goody!  We'll see Polaris become the North Star again!

Whatever.  Okay, you should have a fairly good grasp of precession.  Now to answer the initial question "How does the Vernal Equinox move with respect to the stars?"

If you take a picture from above the earth on its Vernal Equinox, the stimulating graphic below shows what its orientation looks like.

Rather Stimulating Graphic Number 6

That graphic stimulates us.

It's meant to.  When you study seasons you will learn why this orientation is the Vernal Equinox, but for now take my word on it.  Now lets say that you can keep the camera in that same position for 6,500 years.  6,500 years later we take a picture of the earth and this is what we get:

Another Stimulating Graphic Number 7

We see when we compare the two graphics that the earth has precessed, or wobbled, 90 degrees – or one quarter of the full precession circle.  Take another look at Graphic #7.  Again, you will learn more about seasons later on in the course, but take our word for it that the earth in Graphic #7 is at its Summer Solstice for the Northern Hemisphere – meaning it's summer time.

 

So what does this mean?  Since the picture was taken in the same spot 6,500 years later and at this location the earth is no longer at its Vernal Equinox, this means that the earth will be at a different angle around the sun when the earth reaches its Vernal Equinox for that time.

Let's try another picture to see if that helps.

In this picture the earth of today is at the position of its Vernal Equinox.  Right Ascension starts at the sun's position on that day as indicated.  Now 6,500 years later, the earth has a different location of its vernal equinox because the earth has wobbled.

Since our sky is mapped by the position of the sun on the Vernal Equinox, there will be a very large discrepancy over a long period of time.

Thanks, Mr. Brisban.  That helped us a lot.

You two are beyond help.  Well, that's it for this edition of No Frills Help!