What is the cause of apparent wander of a gyroscope?

The phenomenon of apparent wander in a gyroscope is primarily attributed to the natural effects of Earth's rotation, known as the Coriolis effect. As the Earth spins, a gyroscope maintaining a fixed orientation relative to space will appear to shift or wander when viewed from a rotating reference frame, such as the surface of the Earth. This is because the gyroscope's inertial reference frame does not coincide with that of the Earth, leading to discrepancies in orientation as the reference frame rotates.

This wandering effect is a critical factor in navigating systems and is particularly noticeable in applications where precision is required, such as aviation. Understanding the influence of Earth's rotation is essential for accurately interpreting the behavior of gyroscopic instruments in a real-world context.

Other factors like mechanical failure, static pressure fluctuations, or calibration errors do not fundamentally cause the apparent wandering of a gyroscope, although they may affect its performance or accuracy in different ways.