On Oct 23, 12:26*pm, Martin Brown
wrote:
On 23/10/2012 19:50, oriel36 wrote:









On Oct 23, 8:42 am, Martin Brown
wrote:
On 23/10/2012 12:48, Lunar wrote:

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and want to learn more about our solar system and
beyond. I'm eight years old and feel too advanced for what my school are
teaching me (poems about the order of the planets in our solar system!)
I want to learn more.

Ask away and we will try to answer at the right level. There is also

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/...StarChild.html

And probably more. ISTR there are some space fact trivia trading cards..

The childrens books on science and astronomy review with wildly
different 5* and 1* ratings for the same book so I'd try and borrow them
from a public or school library until you find one you like!

I know the basics but I'm struggling to understand the more advanced
books and documentaries. Is there anyone who can help me understand
beyond the basics?

Decide which areas interest you and we can try and point you towards a
book or online resource at about the right level.

Worth a look in your local library to see if they have anything.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

You lot crack me up,the child asks for basic planetary facts and NASA
can't give it to them -

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/...tem_level1/ear...

Is there an intelligent adult who can work out that the fundamental
unit of timekeeping is the number of rotations,to the nearest
rotation,corresponding to 4 orbital circuits of the Earth.The
Egyptians worked out it takes an extra day after 4 year for the star
Sirius to reappear from behind the glare of the Sun due specifically
to the orbital motion of the Earth -

" on account of the precession of the rising of Sirius by one day in
the course of 4 years.. therefore it shall be, that the year of 360
days and the 5 days added to their end, so one day shall be from this
day after every 4 years added to the 5 epagomenae before the New Year,
whereby all men shall learn, that what was a little defective in the
order as regards the seasons and the year, as also the opinions which
are contained in the rules of the learned on the heavenly orbits, are
now corrected and improved.." Canopus Decree

There are 1461 AM/PM cycles inclusive of 4 orbital circuits and the
averaging process which creates the 24 hour day also asserts that
rotation is constant without any external reference save the number of
times it occurs in 4 years.The whole process which uses the calendar
format of 365/366 days to create the 24 hour AM/PM cycle in tandem
with the Lat/Long system and maintains a correspondence of 15 degrees/
1037.5 miles per hour at the equator prohibits the Ra/Dec extensions
which NASA tries to present as planetary facts.

An 8 year old may not *be able to process the necessary geometric
judgments needed to make sense of the transfer of days/years into
rotations/orbital circuits but teenagers should with the aid of
graphics and modern imaging,of course,this supposes that adults can
get their act together with time,space and motion as it actually exist
rather than following the poor conclusion created by John Flamsteed.

The error should be treated with the utmost urgency and transparency
and especially as the key to the resolution partly resides with John
Harrison who defies the silly fact sheet of NASA -

"The application of a Timekeeper to this discovery is founded upon the
following principles: the earth's surface is divided into 360 equal
parts (by imaginary lines drawn from North to South) which are called
Degrees of Longitude; and its daily revolution Eastward round its own
axis is performed in 24 hours; consequently in that period, each of
those imaginary lines or degrees, becomes successively opposite to the
Sun (which makes the noon or precise middle of the day at each of
those degrees and it must follow, that from the time any one of
those lines passes the Sun, till the next passes, must be just four
minutes, for 24 hours being divided by 360 will give that quantity; so
that for every degree of Longitude we sail Westward, it will be noon
with us four minutes the later, and for every degree Eastward four
minutes the sooner, and so on in proportion for any greater or less
quantity. Now, the exact time of the day at the place where we are,
can be ascertained by well known and easy observations of the Sun if
visible for a few minutes at any time from his being ten degrees high
until within an hour of noon, or from an hour after noon until he is
only 10 degrees high in the afternoon; if therefore, at any time when
such observation is made, a Timekeeper tells us at the same moment
what o'clock it is at the place we sailed from, our Longitude is
clearly discovered." John Harrison

The English get to decide,albeit the window of opportunity is
closing,whether they wish to continue on with the worst possible
conclusion ever drawn or have an external source fix it for them,after
all,NASA itself is veering rapidly away from the error and adopting
the correct planetary facts -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDWHM00sZJc

The OP would do well to note that there are some right nutters and kooks
on the internet who post meaningless word salad text - a sample of which
is now conveniently between my original reply and this post.


Why would you send an 8 year old to a website which does not give the
accurate basic facts for the Earth ?.Even I allow that NASA has
changed it position and is now moving towards a stable astronomical
narrative but has not handled the error in a transparent way however
the English response to an English problem is quite different in a
dismaying sort of way. Even when principles and insights expounded by
the great John Harrison are ignored and that takes some doing as it is
the equivalent of the Americans ignoring the achievement of Armstrong
and the moon landing

If the English are presently occupied by a scandal centering on the
misuse of trust of children by a celebrity then they have no idea what
is looming in the background when empiricists/physicists are brought
to task in simple astronomical matters.There are no hastily assembled
committees asking how in God's name did an entire community lose basic
planetary facts and lose them they did.


If you can't make sense of Oriel36 ramblings then don't worry - nobody
else can either. You are not alone. You as an eight year old probably
already have a better understanding of modern physics than he does.


Leave him alone,he is a child.

I hold nobody accountable over the last 3 centuries for making a
mistake and taking a step too far with the Ra/Dec system,after all,it
is a great calendar based convenience for predicting eclipses and the
relationship of celestial bodies to each other but it cannot supplant
the 24 hour AM/PM system in tandem with the Lat/Long system as a
means to extract the daily and annual motions of the Earth.

On the other hand,I do hold people here accountable for the mistake
and whether the English choose to fix this mistake or not,it is
already being dealt with,even in a poor sort of way.Bluster all you
will Brown,I still hold people like John Harrison and William Blake
as true Englishmen who display the individuality, the creative/
productive nature and the sense of fair play rather than the empirical
thugs who now occupy English science.










--
Regards,
Martin Brown