Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Astronomy, Astrology, and the Zodiac





Astronomy is the study of the solar system, stars, and other celestial objects.  The heavens have been studied for many thousands of years.  Ancient Babylon, Egypt, MesoAmerica, Europe, and Africa have all studied the heavens.  Today, access to a simple telescope allows the average individual the capability to see things in the heavens that the naked eye could not see.

The science of astrology asserts that the movment of the planets and other heavenly bodies affect the personality and future of a person as well as affect world events.  The Zodiac is a system that tracks the star system that the sun appears to rise in during the year.  In Western astrology, there are 12 star signs in the zodiac.  The zodiac is also used to track the great cycle of precision of the Earth.  The Earth wobbles on its axis every 26,000 years.  Currently, we are now transitioning or are in the age of Aquarius and have left the Age of Pisces.







The approximate 2150 years for each age corresponds to the average time it takes for the Vernal Equinox to move from one constellation of the zodiac into the next. This can be computed by dividing the Earth's 25,800 year gyroscopic precession period by twelve, the number of Zodiac constellations used by astrologers. According to different astrologers' calculations, approximated dates for entering the Age of Aquarius range from 1447 AD (Terry MacKinnell) to 3597 (John Addey). The start date for the Aquarian age is somewhat contentiousand there is little uniform agreement upon the date or process leading from the previous Piscean age to the Aquarian age (or between any two ages).
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius


A good summer or all year round project would be to go out at night when the stars are visible and see if you can identify star constellations.  If you can get up before dawn, perhaps you can see which star system the sun appears to rise in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation

A sundial can be made to track the time, during the day.  Many Irish and Native American spirals engraved in stone were used to track the sun and determine the time of year the planet was in.  You can try to do this at home and see if you can build a sun spiral or dial to capture the sun's light at the summer and winter solstices.

http://hilaroad.com/camp/projects/sundial/sundial.html


 
By Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)



Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ecliptic_path.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ophiuchus.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_spiral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation

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