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Cultures of Astronomy

Cultures of Astronomy. Marc K Stengel. Paradise Lost (really?). Some say, he bid his angels turn askance The poles of earth, twice ten degrees and more From the sun’s axle, they with labour pushed Oblique the centric globe: some say, the sun

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Cultures of Astronomy

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  1. Cultures of Astronomy Marc K Stengel

  2. Paradise Lost (really?) Some say, he bid his angels turn askance The poles of earth, twice ten degrees and more From the sun’s axle, they with labour pushed Oblique the centric globe: some say, the sun Was bid turn reins from the equinoctial road… [Milton, Book 10]

  3. Daring to know all …But for every myth told, there is another, Unnameable, that is not told, another Which beckons from the shadows, Surfacing only through allusions, Fragments, coincidences, with nobody ever Daring to tell all in a single story. The Marriage of Cadmus & Harmony, Roberto Calasso

  4. What’s in sight? • Sun – solar sights • Moon – lunar sights • Stars – sidereal sights • Planets – flaunting, wandering sights • Poles – revolving, precessing sights

  5. Sunshines:Ecliptic versus Equator

  6. Ecliptic and Seasons

  7. The Longer Day

  8. The Shorter Day

  9. Moonshines:Feel It In Thy Bones Engraved bone from Ishango, Congo, circa 6,500 BCE (three faces)

  10. Sidereal versus Synodic Months

  11. The Days are Numbered • Tropical Year – 365.2422 days • Sidereal Year – 365.2564 days • Synodic Lunar Month – 29.53 days • Sidereal Lunar Month – 27.32 days • Lunations – 12.368 full moons per year • Metonic Cycle – 235 lunations in 19.0002 years

  12. Pattern-Shopping • Solar “counts” – 4, 6, 12, 30, 360, 365 • Lunar “counts”  – 4, 7, 13, 28, 52, 364 • “All at sixes and sevens” • “A year and a day” • “52-card pick-’em-up”: 4 suits; 13 cards per suit; 91 ‘pips’ per suit for 364 ‘pips’ per deck and the Joker

  13. Oh, by the way… • Out of the first 12 integers, 10 are factors of 360 • Only 7 and 11 are excluded; but… • 11/7 = 1/2 of P (or circumference of a semi-circle with diameter-unit of 1) • In isoceles triangle of base 11, altitude 7: two bottom angles = 51° 50’ 34” • Angle of elevation for sides of the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) = 51° 50’ 40” • Latitude of Stonehenge = 51° 10’ 44”

  14. Thorny Issue: The Briar Rose • The Queen has a little girl; the King holds a feast • There are 13 fairies in the Kingdom, but the King has only 12 golden plates for them • Curse of 13: Princess pricks finger in 15th year and swoons – “It shall not be death but a deep sleep” • Briar hedge surrounds and obscures castle • Prince forces the hedge, kisses the Princess; splendor returns to the Kingdom

  15. Stars in their eyes • Pisces, Aries, Taurus • Gemini, Cancer, Leo • Virgo, Libra, Scorpius • Sagittarius, Capricornus,   Aquarius

  16. Where does the time go? • 1 day = 360° = 24 hours • 1/2-day = 180° = 12 hours • 1 month = 30° • 1 hour = 15° • 1° = 4 minutes

  17. The Shape of Time – Here

  18. The Shape of Time – There Station Stone Rectangle at StonehengeN 51° 10′44″; W 1° 49′34″

  19. Ways of the Week

  20. Morning Starlets Astarte, Ishtar, Tanit… “Her emblems were the moon and the morning and evening stars” Autumnal Equinox 1737before sunrise

  21. Evening Starlets …Aphrodite, Venus, Freya Vernal Equinox 1825before sunset

  22. Before…You Know It

  23. Unsteady as She Goes

  24. When Was When? Vernal Equinox’s Timetable Through the Zodiac • Virgo 12,000 CE - 15,300 CE • Libra 10,300 CE - 12,000 CE • Scorpius/Ophiuchus 8,600 CE - 10,300 CE • Sagittarius 6,300 CE - 8,600 CE • Capricornus 4,400 CE - 6,300 CE • Aquarius 2,700 CE - 4,400 CE • Pisces 100 BCE - 2,700 BCE • Aries 2,000 BCE - 100 BCE • Taurus 4,500 BCE- 2,000 BCE • Gemini 6,600 BCE - 4,500 BCE • Cancer 8,100 BCE - 6,600 BCE

  25. So, What’ll it Be?  – PhanesReveal, dis-cover  –Make visible, manifest  –phantom, apparition

  26. Will Wonders Never Cease?

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