![]() ![]() To understand the patterns in the movements of the Moon requires some familiarity with the somewhat simpler pattern in the movements of the Sun.įrom day to day, the Earth revolves, or orbits, around the Sun in a plane which we call the ECLIPTIC, completing one orbit around the Sun in a time we call the YEAR. Lunar cycle, including why there is an 18.6-year cycle, and what the observable consequences of this cycle are. The following material explains the monthly behavior of the Moon along with the 18.6-year Sunwheel is one of the calendar sites around the world - including Stonehenge, Callanish, and the "Sun Dagger" at Chaco Canyon - where the 18.6-year cycle of the Moon is marked. ![]() Over 25,000 people have visited the Sunwheel since its construction, and over 10,000 have attended the seasonal sunrise and sunset gatherings which I host. Amherst, with 8'-10' tall stones marking the cardinal directions, the solstice sunrise and sunset directions, and the northernmost and southernmost moonrise and moonset directions. Sunwheel is a stone circle calendar which I created in 1997 on the campus of U.Mass. What this means is that each month for the years 2005-2007 and also 2023-2026, the Moon can be seen rising and setting more northerly and also more southerly than the solar extremes, and will transit monthly with altitudes which are higher in the sky than the summer Sun and lower in the sky than the winter Sun. At the peak of this cycle, the Moon's declination swings from -28.8° to +28.8° each month. The 18.6-year cycle is caused by the precession of the plane of the lunar orbit, while this orbit maintains a 5° tilt relative to the ecliptic. With the culmination of the 18.6-year cycle of the Moon in 2006 and again in 2024-25, also called the Major Lunar Standstill, we are afforded the unique opportunity to observe the monthly, annual, and 18.6-year wanderings of the Moon. The text below is based on an Education Press Conference which I was invited to presentĪt the San Diego meeting of the American Astronomical Society THE MAJOR LUNAR STANDSTILLS OF 2006 & 2024-25 MOON TEACHINGS FOR THE MASSES AT THE UMASS SUNWHEEL & AROUND THE WORLD: Major Lunar Standstill - Moon Teachings for the Masses
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |