Solar angular velocity vs time for Mercury
The pitch of Mercury, according to Kepler's scheme for the music of the spheres, is proportional to nu-prime, the solar angular velocity in minutes per day. As we have seen above, the mean value of nu-prime for Mercury is about 245.5 m/d. During the 88 days of Mercury's cycle, nu-prime varies from a minimum value at ahelion (top, day 0 or 88) to a maximum value at periphelion (bottom, day 44). Here is a graph of nu-prime vs time, created by Berkeley Madonna.
Revised 06 jan 2002 by ralph abraham