"Sonderegger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> I think in the northern hemisphere summer is always in July, because the
> beginning of spring is here always when then sun crosses declination of 0
> degree from south to north (= crossing the ecliptic). The places of the
> stars on then sky will change in this 13000 years.

Right.  The question is not whether summer will be in July, but
whether July will be in summer.  That only depends on how you choose
your calendar system.  The Gregorian calendar reform was an effort to
keep July in the summer.  The precession is a physical process, which
does not depend on our calendars.  What it does is change the
constellations that are visible at night in July.  Since we don't use
the stars for sundials, it won't make any difference.  What will
matter is the Equation of Time, as mentioned by Luke Coletti.  I think
the processes which change the eccentricity and obliquity of the
Earth's orbit work on a much slower time scale than the precession of
the equinoxes, so that we can still use the same Equation of Time
13,000 years from now.  Does anybody know for sure about this?

Art Carlson

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