Byrd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ogygos Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I took a look at what the sky would look like
> from
> > my home and noticed that between midnight 21
> and
> > 22 -local time(not daylight savings), two
> Orion
> > belt stars consecutively align with the
> southern
> > meridian
>
> I believe this happens at least once a year and
> lasts for a number of days. So it's been going on
> for at least 4 billion years. And no, I don't
> think their "accurate calendar" came from Hellas.
>
>
> It's just a 3 part calendar where all three
> calendars synch every 3600 years. It isn't
> unusually accurate (it can't account for leap
> minutes and leap seconds which means that it will
> get out of synch with the Earth's position.)
>
> The Hellenes of 900 AD are pretty well documented
> and none of them seem to have gone to the New
> World.
>
> -- Byrd
> Moderator, Hall of Ma'at
>
>
>
> Edited 1 times. Last edit at 07/01/11 06:52AM by
> Byrd.
It's all an issue of accuracy. Since Dec 21 2012 is the date, below I post the time of transit of the three belt stars at the beginning and end of this day - midnight to midnight. As a coordinate I first take my home, then I take three other arbitrary positions, let's say New York , Stonehenge, and Khufu's pyramid at Giza. Here is the data:
Dec 20 to 21 midnight
=====================
home, Alnitak: 12:08:36, Alnilan: 12:04:04,
Mintaka: 11:59:52
New York, Alnitak: 11:36:33, Alnilan: 11:32:01, Mintaka: 11:27:50
Stonehenge, Alnitak: 11:48:48, Alnilan: 11:44:16, Mintaka: 11:40:05
Khufu pyramid, Alnitak: 12:37:25, Alnilan: 12:32:54, Mintaka: 12:28:42
Dec 21 to 22 midnight
=====================
home, Alnitak: 12:04:40,
Alnilan: 12:00:08, Mintaka: 11:55:57
New York, Alnitak: 11:36:09, Alnilan: 11:28:05, Mintaka: 11:23:54
Stonehenge, Alnitak: 11:44:52, Alnilan: 11:40:20, Mintaka: 11:36:09
Khufu pyramid, Alnitak: 12:33:29, Alnilan: 12:28:58, Mintaka: 12:24:46
So from my home in the beginning of the day (midnight) Mintaka aligns with the meridian with -8 seconds error, while at the end of the day(midnight) Alnilam aligns with the meridian with +8 seconds error. This is the only way to align with both and have the smallest error divergence. By the way 8 is my favorite number.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2011 09:36AM by Ogygos.
