Hapax legomenon

It is perhaps one of the loveliest passages found in one of the books in the Bible -

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?, Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?, Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?"

The proof of the Earth's motion is inherently contained in that masterpiece of a poem -

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage...38&version=KJV


Unlike celestial sphere rotation, a star comes in season alone the line of the orbital plane of the Earth so even though the ancient astronomers saw a star rise with the Sun, the transition from a star from an evening appearance to a morning appearance was dramatic . The first seasonal appearance of the star still marks the orbital position of the Earth, a lovely present day insight meshing with an ancient text -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeQwYrfmvoQ

The great system of the Greeks was to discriminate between the planets and the Sun by their motion through the Zodiac -

"Moreover, we see the other five planets also retrograde at times, and
stationary at either end [of the regression]. And whereas the sun
always advances along its own direct path, they wander in various
ways, straying sometimes to the south and sometimes to the north; that
is why they are called "planets" [wanderers]. Copernicus

This system is limited to predicting events as it is an outrigger of the calendar system but at least Copernicus tried to account for direct/retrogrades using this geocentric framework with inevitable limited success.

Then came Right Ascension/ Declination where even the Sun moved with North and South with the planets -

http://www.davidcolarusso.com/astro/

This framework has exploded recently with the emergence of celestial sphere software which suits the magnification/identification hobbyists and the theorists who couldn't care less but for genuine astronomy it is hopeless.

It is a badge of the most intelligent and courageous people to make distinctions that most can't or won't make so it is easy to leave the noiseboxes behind with their own designs and concerns.

And here we thought you were only going to say this once!

John Savard