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Time of Day and Date of Year ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. HOMEWORK #2 due TODAY. Homework #3 handed out today and DUE NEXT THURSDAY. HOMEWORK #1 HANDED BACK AFTER CLASS. 2. OPTIONAL Observing night tonight at SBO 8pm weather permitting !!!! 3. SUGGESTED STRATEGY FOR UNDERSTANDING CLASS MATERIAL. READ ASSIGNED NOTE PAGES PRIOR TO LECTURE; REVIEW LECTURE POWERPOINT SLIDES AFTERWARDS. 4. Up for Presentation Today: SETTING A SOLAR CALENDAR with 1/ ZENITH PASSAGE DAYS AND 2/ HELIACAL RISING STARS. INCA CALENDAR METHODS FOR SETTING A SOLAR CALENDAR 1) SHADOW OF A GNOMON (VERTICAL We’ll take these STICK) or PINHOLE IMAGE OF THE one-by-one. SUN ALONG A MERIDIAN LINE {EGYPTIAN, CHINESE, EUROPEAN} ALL WERE USED 2) RISING OR SETTING POINTS OF THE BY ANCIENT SUN ALONG THE HORIZON {HOPI, EGYPTIAN, CELTS, etc etc} PEOPLE BUT TRADITION 3). “ZENITH PASSAGE DAYS” = THE TWO DAYS PER YEAR THAT THE SUN DIFFERED IN GOES EXACTLY THROUGH THE ZENITH DIFFERENT IN THE TROPICS (-23.5O TO + 23.5O) LOCATIONS AND 4). DAY THE SUN FIRST BREAKS THE CULTURES. HORIZON IN THE FAR NORTH 5). “HELIACAL RISING” OF CERTAIN KEY STARS (SIRIUS/SOTHIS, PLEIADES) THE YEAR IN THE TROPICS SEASONAL YEAR NOT AS CRITICAL TO MEASURE ACCURATELY. LENGTHS OF DAYS AND NIGHTS DO NOT VARY SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE YEAR AND THE SUN’S RISING AND SETTING POINTS DO NOT CHANGE SO MUCH DURING THE YEAR AS AT MID- LATITUDES. BETWEEN THE TROPICS OF CANCER AND CAPRICORN THE SUN ATTAINS THE ZENITH AT NOON TWO DAYS PER YEAR. THESE “ZENITH PASSAGE DAYS” ARE LISTED IN HOMEWORK #3 AND IN THE NOTES. ZENITH PASSAGE DAYS CAN BE USED TO SET A SEASONAL CALENDAR ACCURATELY…..BUT ONLY IN THE TROPICS. IF SOMEONE COULD DETERMINE WHEN THE SUN GOES EXACTLY THROUGH THE ZENITH, the calendar could be re-set. See Eratosthenes Challenge Observing Project Eratosthenes of Cyrene Michael Lahanas Ερατοσθένης ο Κυρηναίος : Μέτρηση μήκους περιφέρειας της γης WELL OF SYENE IN EGYPT EXACTLY ON TROPIC OF CANCER 23½ DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE MAYA TIMES and PLACES LATITUDE =14.5 N IN THE NEW WORLD THE MAYA PEOPLE LIVE IN THE TROPICS & ARE THE GREATEST CALENDAR MAKERS OF ALL COPAN, HONDURAS…CITY THAT MADE EARLY MAYA CALENDARS SOLAR ZENITH PASSAGE DATES FOR OBSERVERS AT DIFFERENT LATITUDES __________________________________________________________________________ LATITUDE DATE(S) NUMBER OF DAYS SUN IS: NORTH/SOUTH OF ZENITH ________ ______________ _____________ 23.5 North June 22 1/ 364 20 North May 21, July 24 64/ 301 15 North May 1, Aug 12 103/ 262 10 North Apr 16, Aug 28 134/ 231 5 North Apr 3, Sep 10 160/ 205 Equator Mar 21, Sep 21 184/ 181 5 South Mar 8, Oct 6 212/ 153 10 South Feb 23, Oct 20 239/ 126 15 South Feb 8, Nov 3 268/ 97 20 South Jan 21, Nov 22 305/ 60 23.5 South Dec 21 364/ 1 __________________________________________________________________________ For COPAN, Honduras the Zenith Passage Days are very close to the Cross-Quarter Days of Beltane (May 1st) and Lammas (Aug 12th) AT MONTE ALBAN SUN REFLECTS IN POOL OF WATER XOCHICALCO BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE ZENITH SUN EFFECT (AUG 2013 NATIONAL GEO) CENOTES, SACRED WELLS, ABOUND IN THE YUCATAN. HERE ARE A COUPLE AROUND CHICHEN ITZA IN THE TROPICS THE SUN CAN GO DIRECTLY OVERHEAD BUT IN THE ARCTIC AN EVEN NEATER THING CAN HAPPEN THE MIDNIGHT SUN. MULTIPLE EXPOSURE BELOW IS TAKEN ABOVE THE ARCTIC CIRCLE (LATITUDE > 90 - 23½) NATIVES OF NORTHERN CANADA START THEIR YEAR WHEN SUN FIRST BREAKS THE HORIZON. METHODS FOR SETTING A SOLAR CALENDAR 1) SHADOW OF A GNOMON (VERTICAL We’ll take these STICK) or PINHOLE IMAGE OF THE SUN ALONG A MERIDIAN LINE one-by-one. {EGYPTIAN, CHINESE, EUROPEAN} ALL WERE USED 2) RISING OR SETTING POINTS OF THE SUN ALONG THE HORIZON BY ANCIENT {HOPI, EGYPTIAN, CELTS, etc etc} PEOPLE BUT 3). “ZENITH PASSAGE DAYS” = THE TRADITION TWO DAYS PER YEAR THAT THE SUN DIFFERED IN GOES EXACTLY THROUGH THE ZENITH DIFFERENT IN THE TROPICS (MAYA, INCA) LOCATIONS AND 4). DAY THE SUN FIRST BREAKS THE CULTURES. HORIZON IN THE FAR NORTH (INUIT) 5). “HELIACAL RISING” OF CERTAIN (Egyptian, Greek, Inca, KEY STARS (SIRIUS/SOTHIS, PLEIADES) Lakota Sioux, etc etc) • TARAJUNGO IN MALI PLEIADES • MATARIKI IN POLYNESIA • IN JAPAN THEY ARE SUBARU • TO THE LAKOTA INDIANS : WINCHIALA SAKOWIN • TO THE INCA THESE STARS ARE CALLED COLCA “ WHEN YOU NOTICE THE PLEIADES RISING, START YOUR REAPING, AND ON YOUR SOWING WHEN THEY ARE SETTING. THEY ARE HIDDEN FROM YOUR VIEW FOR A PERIOD OF FORTY FULL DAYS, BOTH NIGHT AND DAY, BUT THEN ONCE AGAIN AS THE YEAR MOVES AROUND, THEY REAPPEAR AT THE TIME FOR YOU TO BE SHARPENING YOUR SICKLE.” HESIOD OF GREECE, 7th CENTURY, BCE… early Greek poet and farmer LAKOTA STAR KNOWLEDGE: A UNIQUE CELESTIAL PILGRIMAGE TO MATO TIPILA TO CONDUCT THE SUNDANCE ECLIPTIC : THE PATH OF THE SUN GEMINI PLEIADES ORION SUN NEARS THE LAKOTA SACRED HOOP: TIME TO BREAK WINTER CAMP AND MOVE TO HARNEY PEAK IN THE BLACK HILLS TO CONDUCT THE YOUNG WOMEN’S COMING-OF-AGE CEREMONY MATO TAPILA THE BLACK HILLS as HARNEY seen from PEAK SPACE ECLIPTIC : THE PATH OF THE SUN GEMINI PLEIADES TAYAMNI: THE CELESTIAL TATANKA THE LAKOTA SACRED HOOP: SUN ABOVE TAYAMNI (CELESTIAL BUFFALO)…TIME TO GO TO BUFFALO GAP TATANKA TATANKA ECLIPTIC : THE PATH OF THE SUN GEMINI PLEIADES ORION THE SUN MOVES INTO MATO TIPILA, THE BEAR LODGE STARS: THE LAKOTA MOVE TO BEAR LODGE BUTTE TO CONDUCT THE SUNDANCE MATO TIPILA, BEAR LODGE BUTTE MATO TIPILA, BEAR LODGE BUTTE That whites call “DEVIL’S TOWER” First land set aside by Teddy Roosevelt using the Antiquities Act. MACHU PICCHU HIRAM BINGHAM 1913 Cusco: THE CAPITOL OF THE ANCIENT INCA EMPIRE Tahuantinsuyu = land of 4 quarters The Coriacancha: The Center of the Inca Empire INTI RYMI: THE LARGEST SOLSTICE CELEBRATION IN THE WORLD ! At Cusco in Peru. Radiating from the Coriacancha at the center of Cusco are 41 “ceques” (sacred pathways) along which are 328 “huacas” (shrines), one for each day of the Inca year. INTRODUCING THE Q’ERO, DIRECT DESCENDENTS OF ANCIENT INCAS OF THE ANDES My Q’ero Astronomy Mentor, Santos the Elder At the Puno-level village of the Hatun Q’ero clan Hatun Q’ero has 3 village locations at different altitudes: 1. Puno: 14,000-16,000 feet where Llama and Alpaca are herded 2. Quechua: 9,000-11,000 feet where potatoes are grown and celebrations are held 3. Yunga: < 8,000 feet in the Jungle where corn is raised and nobody lives IMPORTANT DATES IN THE INCA YEAR • Mid-May: Pleiades (Colca or “Storehouse”) disappears from the Sky and calendar officially ends for 37 days while the Pleiades are not seen in the sky • FULL INCA YEAR IS 365- 37 = 328 DAYS • AFTER 328 DAYS THERE FOLLOW 37 DAYS WHEN PLEIADES ARE NOT SEEN IN SKY AND “MAMA PACHA” LIES FALLOW • Mid-June: Colca reappears in morning sky, a heliacal rising and the Qoyllur Rit’i (Star of the Snows) pilgrimage and celebration is held. Prognostication involving planting of crops at or around this time. • Winter Solstice (held on June 24th) Inti Rymi ceremony in Cusco at the Coriacancha, in Plaza de Armes and at Sacsayhuaman • Planting time in Cusco (Solar “nadir” passage day) Qoyllur Rit’i (Star of the Snows) pilgrimage Originally an Inca Festival and sacred pilgrimage to honor and bring back a small part of the glacier which provides the beginning of the rivers of life as they descend to Earth from Mayu. Held when Pleiades first visible in the Morning Sky Partly taken over by the Catholic tradition that a boy celebrating Qoyllur Rit’I witnessed a “miracle” seeing a figure of Christ in a rock underneath which the boy was buried. PLEIADES PROGNOSTICATION: PLEIADES LOOK BRIGHT GOOD CROPS PLEIADES LOOK FAINT POOR CROPS THIS METHOD HAS A ~ 70% SUCCESS RATE AT PREDICTING EL NINO YEARS OBSERVATIONS OF THE PLEIADES (COLCA) PREDICTS THE WEATHER ! NORMAL RAIEL NINO YEAR OF SPARSE RAINFALL: PLEIADES DIM & TWINKLING End thurs lecture here DEVIL’S THE BLACK TOWER HILLS… THE VIEW FROM SPACE Celestial “mirroring” Constellations in the sky relate to specific locations in the Black Hills THE ECLIPTIC GEMINI PLEIADES ORION THE LAKOTA SACRED HOOP CELESTIAL “MIRROR” OF THE BLACK HILLLS ECLIPTIC : THE PATH OF THE SUN GEMINI PLEIADES ORION SUN IN DRY WILLOW STARS: NEAR THE SPRING EQUINOX ECLIPTIC : THE PATH OF THE SUN GEMINI PLEIADES ORION SUN NEARS THE LAKOTA SACRED HOOP: TIME TO BREAK WINTER CAMP AND MOVE TOWARDS THE BLACK HILLS HARNEY PEAK TATANKA BUFFALO GAP AS VIEWED FROM “INSIDE” THE BLACK HILLS BUFFALO GAP AS VIEWED FROM “OUTSIDE” ECLIPTIC : THE PATH OF THE SUN GEMINI PLEIADES ORION THE SUN MOVES INTO MATO TIPILA, THE BEAR LODGE STARS: THE LAKOTA MOVE TO BEAR LODGE BUTTE TO CONDUCT THE SUNDANCE MATO TIPILA BEAR LODGE BUTTE MATO TAPILLA, BEAR LODGE BUTTE … WHERE EACH YEAR LAKOTA NATIVE AMERICANS CONDUCTED THE SUN DANCE RITUAL OF PURIFICATION AND DEDICATION OUTLAWED IN 1899 TREATY OF FORT LARAMIE 1868 Ceded western South Dakota to various bands of the Lakota Sioux Nation. US Government seized the Black Hills in 1877 after gold was found there. Law suit won in 1980 providing monetary settlement in favor of the General William T Sherman at Treaty signing Lakota. Lakota refused the money..
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