geostatic

Adjective

geostatic (not comparable)

1. Relating to the pressure exerted by earth or similar substance.
   • geostatic load
   • geostatic burden
2. Based on a model in which the Earth does not move and all other motion is described relative to the Earth's fixed position.
   • In contrast, the moon, since it shares the earth's heliocentric motion, does not have a component of its geostatic motion that mirrors the earth's orbit and thereby yields retrogression, as does the epicycle of a superior planet.1983, John Earman, Testing Scientific Theories, page 257
   • If heliostatic astronomy has no technical advantages, if thoroughly modern astronomy is not heliostatic, and if the arguments adduced by Copernicus were unconvincing, why were the early geostatic astronomies, Ptolemy's in particular, superseded?1993, Hugh Thurston, Early Astronomy, Spriner-Verlag Ch 10, page 207