On Wednesday, July 11, 2018 at 12:34:35 AM UTC+1, Bill wrote:
On Mon, 9 Jul 2018 23:45:27 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc wrote:

On Monday, July 9, 2018 at 2:15:59 PM UTC-6, Gerald Kelleher wrote:
but like so many, you have no feeling for the basic astronomical fact that each
day/night cycle is a result of one rotation.

Feelings have nothing to do with it.

Apparent stellar circumpolar motion, unlike sundial time, synchronizes to
mechanical clockwork, so the *mathematics* of the Earth's rotation becomes simpler
when we use the fixed stars, not the Sun, as the reference to define rotation.

Feelings certainly do have an important place in life, but the physical sciences
are tied to mathematics and deal with that which is objective. And doing things
that way works well, yielding impressive results.

John Savard

But if you were a *genuine* astronomer, you do away with with all those
tools, and you would feel the truth. ;-)
--
Email address is a Spam trap.

The hapless can't imagine that timekeeping devices have their origins in the daily and annual cycles of the planet therefore developed historically from observations which create the calendar system and specifically the number of day/night cycles within the confines of an orbital circuit. An ancient astronomer recognised a refined value of rotations for four orbital circuits or in timekeeping language 1461 days for four years using a specific astronomical observation that ultimately proves the Earth travels around the Sun. On this inviolate principle the 24 hour system and Lat/Long systems are based along with the mechanical devices themselves.

An academic community that insists there are more full rotations of the planet than 24 hour days due to a flawed celestial sphere observation in tandem with timepieces doesn't do anything other than produce a feeling of extreme irritation yet the false conclusion provides a point of departure for all these theoretical icons.

This thread is meant for those who can, at the very least, manage to anchor rotation to noon when their location is at a midway point either side of the circle of illumination while sunrise and sunset represent the Sun turning into view or out of sight due to the same rotation. The 24 hour system and the 15 degrees of rotation per hour contained in the Lat/Long system has been temporarily obscured by the solar vs sidereal fiction and the theoretical proponents who are pleased with themselves even though they represent the lowest level to which humanity has sunk in its long and distinguished astronomical history.