dadsnook2000
The following URL was posted recently on another site and deserves some thought and study.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090619.html
The site offers a photo of the cosmos each day and is interesting in itself. If one clicks on a link in the upper left corner of the opening screen, "Discover the cosmos", you will be presented with a date listing of past/recent photos.
Click on the June 19th date. One of the star maps of the Dunhuang Star Atlas will be shown. This Chinese hand drawn star map dates from 649 to 684 AD and shows stars in the northern hemisphere.
As a typical example of ancient records, we can appreciate the extraordinary amount of effort it takes researchers to study and interpret these documents. Even more disconcerting is the the thought that we, as astrologers who might have lived then, would have to use materials such as this to base our observations and measurements upon in order to calculate a chart.
Is it any mystery as to why the Babylonians moved to using tables of star positions and planet movements based on one-time astronomical calculations rather than doing nightly observations. Yet, over time, these star maps, the tools to observe and measure, and the mathematics did improve. The Chinese were able around the 1200's onward to start seaward explorations and prior to the 1400's had visited and set up colonies along the north and south American coasts. They even brought a merchant fleet to the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Venice in 1434. The materials they left behind seems to have been the basis for the maps that European explorers later used to sail out into the world, as well as the extraordinary development of tools and machinery of great complexity that emerged as "inventions" by that area's scientists. A little knowledge goes a long way.
Yet, the question remains, "Would you be able to work with resources such as this?" Dave
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090619.html
The site offers a photo of the cosmos each day and is interesting in itself. If one clicks on a link in the upper left corner of the opening screen, "Discover the cosmos", you will be presented with a date listing of past/recent photos.
Click on the June 19th date. One of the star maps of the Dunhuang Star Atlas will be shown. This Chinese hand drawn star map dates from 649 to 684 AD and shows stars in the northern hemisphere.
As a typical example of ancient records, we can appreciate the extraordinary amount of effort it takes researchers to study and interpret these documents. Even more disconcerting is the the thought that we, as astrologers who might have lived then, would have to use materials such as this to base our observations and measurements upon in order to calculate a chart.
Is it any mystery as to why the Babylonians moved to using tables of star positions and planet movements based on one-time astronomical calculations rather than doing nightly observations. Yet, over time, these star maps, the tools to observe and measure, and the mathematics did improve. The Chinese were able around the 1200's onward to start seaward explorations and prior to the 1400's had visited and set up colonies along the north and south American coasts. They even brought a merchant fleet to the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Venice in 1434. The materials they left behind seems to have been the basis for the maps that European explorers later used to sail out into the world, as well as the extraordinary development of tools and machinery of great complexity that emerged as "inventions" by that area's scientists. A little knowledge goes a long way.
Yet, the question remains, "Would you be able to work with resources such as this?" Dave
