AST 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Hebrew Calendar, Babylonian Calendar, Chinese Calendar

• School: Syracuse University
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: AST 101
• Professor: Walter Freeman

Document Summary

Next mastering astronomy hw posted tonight and due next wednesday. Office/clinic hours will be held this friday as per usual. Coaches/professor will be holding extended office/clinic hours next week to help study for the exam next wednesday. We now understand the motion of the stars, and the combined effects of the earth"s axial tilt, rotation, and orbit have on the seasons: the phases of the moon. The moon has often been a symbol of change. That change is regular, though: every 29. 5 days, the pattern of the phases repeats. This is orderly enough that it is the basis of many calendars: Babylonian calendar (but not the traditional calendars of europe!: everything else in the sky seems to be a constant size and shape, but the moon waxes (gets bigger) and wanes (gets smaller). The moon differs from other stars because it doesn"t make its own light.