NATS 1745 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Newgrange, Naked Eyes, Well-Order
12 Feb 2016
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Document Summary
Cosmos- the universe seen as a well-ordered whole. Rises and sets due to rotation of earth on its axis. Path that sun takes through sky changes through year due to the revolution of the earth in its orbit around the sun, and tilt of the earth"s rotation axis. Northern hemisphere: sun summer solstice rotation axis points towards the sun june 21, 6 months later rotation axis points away from the sun - winter solstice december 21. The rotation is not steady it wobbles due to the tilt in the rotation axis. The wobbling axis traces a circle in 26000 years ---- called precession. The precession affects the location and exact positions of the stars, sun and planets in ancient sky. Burial chamber with opening that points toward the sun rise of winter solstice. Due to precession opening is illuminated with sunlight 4 min after sun rise. Egyptian pyramids contain openings which aligned with bright stars (orion belt, cassiopeia,
