Two periods of my life served me the experience to work outdoors through the night.
In doing so I observed the rotation of the big dipper around the North star as the hours passed.
I hate to give away the suprise to any one who has never done this, but I will anyway. The handle of the dipper travels COUNTER- Clockwise.
By the time the dipper travels half way around, the morning light would precede the sun and another hour later it would be day light.
At the beginning of winter, on the longest night, the three stars of Orions belt project a line toward the eastern horizon. This line shows where the sun rises on the solstice morning.
Three kings follow a star, to where, the sun is born.
After that, at a rate of two minutes per day our days grow longer until the June equinox.
Then, after equinox, the sun begins to "die" two minutes per day until December.
Like the heart that beats in all of us. It is the most essential process to our existance and we give the least heed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You're a good man for caring enough to post this.
ReplyDeleteI have spent many nights staring at the stars. Sometimes from a desert through night vision goggles, others just looking up and tripping over my shoelaces, but mostly in my back yard looking through the eyepieces of my telescopes or the screen of my laptop monitoring the progress of my digital imagers.
The Big Dipper asterism or its parent constellation, Ursa Major, is remarkably rich in bright galaxies, some of which can be seen through binoculars. I never grow tired of looking at it.
Orion is my favorite place to look, as he is rich in nebulae and stellar nurseries. His arrival marks the beginning of winter, and so while I am excited to see him, I'm never too keen on his chilly friend.
I spent a few weeks in South America watching the night sky with no light pollution whatsoever. It made me miss the familiar stars at home. For me, it's a link to my primitive ancestors who watched the night sky with fear and awe. Whenever I spend time outside at night I can feel the passing of time, and it gives me a sense of place. Hard to put words to this feeling, but there it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this.
J.P. I hope one day you can have a solar system named after you.
ReplyDeleteChris, I can't imagine how lost I would feel if the stars were all wrong.