The night sky 7,000,000 years ago above Earth?

Would the consellations layout in the night sky 7,000,000 years ago be
any differnt to how we see them today?

Not much, but you could see them better.


"Christopher" wrote in message
...
Would the consellations layout in the night sky 7,000,000 years ago be
any differnt to how we see them today?

Grunt wrote:
Not much, but you could see them better.

Why could you see them better? I thought 7 000 000 years would make quite a
difference in the night sky, even now all stars are detectably moving across
the sky. For example, IIRC there's a certain star that crosses a distance
comparable to the diameter of the full moon in about 600 years. Think about
where that star was 7 *million* years ago!


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"Christopher" wrote in message
...
Would the consellations layout in the night sky 7,000,000 years ago be
any differnt to how we see them today?

Yes, very different.

In message , Christopher
writes
Would the consellations layout in the night sky 7,000,000 years ago be
any differnt to how we see them today?


They would be unrecognisable because of the motion of the stars. There's
a widely reproduced image showing how the Plough has changed over only a
few hundred thousand years - five of the stars are going the same way,
two in another.
It would be very difficult or impossible to predict just what the
constellations will look like, so if you're writing about it you can
probably safely use your imagination.
An article in the 1984 Yearbook of Astronomy by Steven A Bell has maps
of the night sky in 50,000AD and BC, and a list of the 20 brightest
stars in 1000000AD and BC.
The planets and Moon would look almost as they do today, but again it
would be almost impossible to say where they appear in the sky.
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"Grunt" wrote in alt.astronomy:

Not much,

The current constellations would be unrecognizable. It doesn't take
millions of years for constellations to change. Some tens of thousands of
years will distort the constellation due to the movement of the individual
stars. None of the current constellations was present in its current form
7 million years ago.


but you could see them better.

No doubt.

--
CeeBee


"I am not a crook"

"Ugo" wrote in alt.astronomy:

For example, IIRC there's a certain star that
crosses a distance comparable to the diameter of the full moon in
about 600 years.

Barnard's star takes that trip in 180 years.


The butler did it.

So you say. Prove it.



--
CeeBee


"I am not a crook"

"CeeBee" wrote in message
. 6.82...
"Ugo" wrote in alt.astronomy:

For example, IIRC there's a certain star that
crosses a distance comparable to the diameter of the full moon in
about 600 years.

Barnard's star takes that trip in 180 years.

Well, at least I made my point.

--
The butler did it.

So you say. Prove it.

Why should I?

--
CeeBee


"I am not a crook"

So you say. Prove it. :-)))


--
The butler did it.

The night sky was very similar to the sky of today. And the
constellations were the same. The only change was with the procession
of the earth's axis. The wobble on it's axis. Real astronomers have
figured this and have created programs that can show the sky at any
given date. Past or future.

Lou

CeeBee wrote:
"Grunt" wrote in alt.astronomy:


Not much,


The current constellations would be unrecognizable. It doesn't take
millions of years for constellations to change. Some tens of thousands of
years will distort the constellation due to the movement of the individual
stars. None of the current constellations was present in its current form
7 million years ago.



but you could see them better.


No doubt.

Lou wrote:
The night sky was very similar to the sky of today. And the
constellations were the same. The only change was with the procession
of the earth's axis. The wobble on it's axis. Real astronomers have
figured this and have created programs that can show the sky at any
given date. Past or future.

Lou

Do you and those "real" astronomers have any proofs that the constellations
were the same back then? I go along with the observed facts and the facts
are the stars are moving, quite rapidly for the timescale in question here.

--
The butler did it.