TheThe GreatGreat YearYear andand VirginVirgin CometsComets Gopakumar K.G The Great Year and Virgin Comets 2 To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge. -- NicolausNicolaus CopernicusCopernicus -- The Great Year and Virgin Comets 3 Table of Contents Preface........................................................................................................................................5 Acknowledgement......................................................................................................................7 Chapter I.....................................................................................................................................8 Our understanding of Solar System........................................................................................8 Astronomy, Cosmology and Astrology..............................................................................8 Optical Telescopes.............................................................................................................8 Radio Telescopes................................................................................................................9 Very Large Array (VLA).................................................................................................11 Infrared Telescopes..........................................................................................................11 Binoculars.........................................................................................................................11 Galileo Galilei..................................................................................................................12 Who discovered the planets of our Solar System?...........................................................13 Discovery of Uranus.........................................................................................................14 Discovery of Neptune.......................................................................................................16 Discovery of Pluto............................................................................................................18 Chapter II..................................................................................................................................20 Our knowledge expands.......................................................................................................20 Kuiper Belt.......................................................................................................................20 Trans Neptunian objects (TNO).......................................................................................20 Oort Cloud........................................................................................................................20 Asteroid Belt.....................................................................................................................22 Trojan Asteroids...............................................................................................................23 The Pioneer Missions.......................................................................................................23 The Pioneer 10..................................................................................................................23 Pioneer 11.........................................................................................................................24 Pioneer plaque..................................................................................................................25 Voyager Program.............................................................................................................26 Chapter III................................................................................................................................28 Ancient Astronomy..............................................................................................................28 Sumerians.........................................................................................................................28 Tiamat...............................................................................................................................30 Marduk.............................................................................................................................31 Impossible knowledge......................................................................................................31 Constellations...................................................................................................................31 Where did the constellations come from?........................................................................32 Zodiac ..............................................................................................................................33 Chapter IV................................................................................................................................35 Ancient Observatories and Sites...........................................................................................35 Stonehenge.......................................................................................................................35 Newgrange........................................................................................................................36 Gaocheng..........................................................................................................................37 Angkor Wat......................................................................................................................37 Jantar Mantar....................................................................................................................38 Maya Civilisation.............................................................................................................41 Chichen Itza......................................................................................................................42 Tikal.................................................................................................................................43 Chapter V.................................................................................................................................45 Lost Knowledge...................................................................................................................45 Pyramid of Giza................................................................................................................45 The Great Year and Virgin Comets 4 The Great Sphinx..............................................................................................................47 Colossi of Memnon..........................................................................................................48 The Unfinished Obelisk....................................................................................................50 The Antikythera Mechanism ...........................................................................................51 Chapter VI................................................................................................................................53 The Great Year.....................................................................................................................53 Back to school days!.........................................................................................................53 Equinox............................................................................................................................54 Solstice.............................................................................................................................55 Precision of the Equinox..................................................................................................56 The big challenge: What causes the precession of the Equinox?.....................................58 Chapter VII...............................................................................................................................60 Binary Star of Sun................................................................................................................60 Chapter VIII.............................................................................................................................63 Central Sun...........................................................................................................................63 The Pleiades Star System.................................................................................................64 Why are the Pleiades Important?......................................................................................66 Chapter IX................................................................................................................................68 Effects of Great Year............................................................................................................68 Based on Binary Star........................................................................................................68 Based on Central Sun Alcyone.........................................................................................70 Chapter X.................................................................................................................................73