December Solstice 2016

In a week or so a series of articles will appear describing the Solstice as an event where the Northern hemisphere tilts away from the Sun while the Southern hemisphere tilts towards the Sun notwithstanding that a mile either side of the planet's Equator is the Northern and Southern hemispheres making it an ungainly explanation.

It is now firmly established that when daily rotation is subtracted that the planet turns once and parallel to the orbital plane over the course of an orbit ,that this rotation is uneven in response to the variable orbital speed of the Earth and that it takes two separate rotations to explain the planet's distinct day/night cycles with special attention given to the polar day/night cycle.

In less than two weeks the forward motion of the Earth through space and around the distant Sun will bring the North and South polar points midway and at their furthest distance to the circle of illumination thereby creating the maximum circles of illumination (Antarctic circle) and the maximum circle of land area in total darkness (Arctic circle).

It now be enjoyed using 21st century imaging whereas before these explanations could only borrow from indirect means -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFrP6QfbC2g&t=4s

The December solstice can be defined a number of ways including the observation that the areas with the polar surface point at the center reach their maximum circumference of total daylight and total darkness known as the Arctic and Antarctic circles before shrinking to zero at the March Equinox as the planet turns as a function of its orbital motion.

The experimental analogies of splitting something apart and then re-combining the components to make sense of observations is true here by virtue that splitting the planet's two separate day/night cycles by cause and then using the resultant rotations in combination to explain the seasons and the variations in the length of time of the natural noon cycles obviates the need to dump everything into the tilt or tilting Earth.

It is a tale of competing imaging by the same organization. First there is the cheap use of imaging using a nearby satellite with a hideous tilting circle of illumination -

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140319.html


Then there is the exquisite imaging from a million miles away where the circle of illumination remains out of sight but implied in order to gauge the dual rotations which comprise the change from Equinox to Solstice and back again over the course of an orbit -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFrP6QfbC2g&t=15s


Once observers accept the planet's dual day/night cycles and their respective rotational causes the pain of ignoring it disappears or the attempt to reach for social/political commentaries to ease the pain. It shows that a wonderful engineering achievement which produces the images is not the same thing as an astronomical achievement as interpretation has lagged far behind what contemporary imaging is capable of generating. To hell with data, these are images of real motions which can be inspected, handled and directed towards productive research and a good reason to celebrate the Solstice as an event in a few days.

If a polar day/night cycle could be compared to the 24 hour daily day/night cycle then today, December 19th, would represent 5 minutes to polar noon at the South Pole on the December Solstice

https://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/spwebcam.cfm

These images are made possible by the ability to adapt to conditions through human innovations and I have no doubt that people do appreciate the polar day/night cycle and its respective rotational cause as a means to balance technological innovations with interpretative insights.

When insights become clear there is nothing to fight against and much to enjoy.

By the grace of God I entered the central chamber of Newgrange today just as the Sun shone out from behind heavy fog which spoiled the spectacle for those who had won the right to be in the chamber as the Sun appeared from behind a distant hill.

http://i.imgur.com/5PVx7Mr.jpg

It is more than a privilege to be part of an astronomical spectacle that was created by a community over 5200 years ago, it is a gift like no other. It is humbling to know that people once stood in the chamber on the exact same day despite a flawed accounting for the precession of the equinoxes but such is the feeling that admiring these ancient people subdues any comment on people today who neither know nor care for these spectacles.

On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 6:37:48 PM UTC, Gerald Kelleher wrote:
By the grace of God I entered the central chamber of Newgrange today just as the Sun shone out from behind heavy fog which spoiled the spectacle for those who had won the right to be in the chamber as the Sun appeared from behind a distant hill.

Congratulations on winning the lottery! How cool is that.

On Wednesday, 21 December 2016 07:10:00 UTC+1, wrote:

Congratulations on winning the lottery! How cool is that.[?]

Please don't interrupt the druil's stone-age, religious monologues.

Just roll a big blue stone over the source of the underground noise.

Peace will then return to this quiet backwater of ankle-deep learning.

Where two ancient sticks and a sand glass are still held sacred.

It is midwinter today for the same reason it is polar midnight where the greatest area of the planet's surface with the North pole at its center is in complete darkness and known as the Arctic circle . As the planet continues to travel through space and the North pole begins its journey in approaching the planet's circle of illumination where it be positioned there on March 21st,that area reaches its maximum circumference today will start to shrink. After March 21st the area in complete daylight will start to expand, again with the North pole at its center.

http://i.imgur.com/3Wthf5F.jpg

The triple spiral in the chamber is 5200 years old and came from a community which put its talents together to create a monument which includes astronomical significance which I am so,so privileged to have enjoyed. I firmly believe it would remove the layers of obstinacy which prevents observers from appreciating even the contemporary equivalent of community achievement in the form of satellite imagery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgNjRxZkv58

I too have my own private astronomical alignment photo which is taken in a place where the quarry for Newgrange was about 20 miles to the North and taken on the Equinox. The walls of the natural cave are made of Greywacke, the same material that lines the passageways of Newgrange and Dowth -

http://i.imgur.com/8wx48U4.jpg?1

There is no time to waste on those who live in their heads as the ability to absorb natural beauty or one created by a society through its own endeavor meshes wonderfully. It is why I am so grateful to the people who sent a satellite into space and captured images of the Earth as it travels around the Sun -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFrP6QfbC2g&t=26s

On Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 2:41:22 AM UTC-6, Gerald Kelleher wrote:
It is midwinter today for the same reason it is polar midnight where the greatest area of the planet's surface with the North pole at its center is in complete darkness and known as the Arctic circle . As the planet continues to travel through space and the North pole begins its journey in approaching the planet's circle of illumination where it be positioned there on March 21st,that area reaches its maximum circumference today will start to shrink. After March 21st the area in complete daylight will start to expand, again with the North pole at its center.

http://i.imgur.com/3Wthf5F.jpg

The triple spiral in the chamber is 5200 years old and came from a community which put its talents together to create a monument which includes astronomical significance which I am so,so privileged to have enjoyed. I firmly believe it would remove the layers of obstinacy which prevents observers from appreciating even the contemporary equivalent of community achievement in the form of satellite imagery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgNjRxZkv58

I too have my own private astronomical alignment photo which is taken in a place where the quarry for Newgrange was about 20 miles to the North and taken on the Equinox. The walls of the natural cave are made of Greywacke, the same material that lines the passageways of Newgrange and Dowth -

http://i.imgur.com/8wx48U4.jpg?1

There is no time to waste on those who live in their heads as the ability to absorb natural beauty or one created by a society through its own endeavor meshes wonderfully. It is why I am so grateful to the people who sent a satellite into space and captured images of the Earth as it travels around the Sun -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFrP6QfbC2g&t=26s

This year the December Solstice is today, December 21, at 10:44 UT, the first day of winter in the north and summer in the south. To celebrate, watch this amazing timelapse video tracing the Sun's apparent movement over an entire year from Hungary.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Note the analemma

On Wednesday, 21 December 2016 17:19:10 UTC+1, Razzmatazz wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFrP6QfbC2g&t=26s

This year the December Solstice is today, December 21, at 10:44 UT, the first day of winter in the north and summer in the south. To celebrate, watch this amazing timelapse video tracing the Sun's apparent movement over an entire year from Hungary.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Note the analemma

Hungary would seem to enjoy considerable sunshine.

If I attempted this it would be a severe case of "join the dots!"

As in: Sunshine? What sunshine?

I have often wondered if the Danes and Vikings didn't go on their "cruises" just to find sunshine.

Rather simplistic, of course, because they enjoyed a different [pre-Trumpton denial] climate back then. ;-)