Astrology

[Guest guest]

Just FYI,

 

I forget who asked what here, but the earth has not "wobbled" the signs have

changed and are recognized as such although not read as such by

both Vedic and Western. Western reads according to the month rather than

where the actual signs are. The movement of the signs is due to the movement

of the Solar System in the Galaxy, around the Galactic Center, which is 27d

Sag which is a natural progression which takes approximately 26,000 years to

travel all the way around. This is why we have the Ages, e.g., Age of Taurus

(Midas, the Golden Bull, the Calf) Age of Aries (Ram, Rama, lamb sacrifice,

Abraham, Jason and the Golden Fleece, etc., etc.,)

 

There is a new astrology, called Galactic, which reflects more

the actual placement of the Stars, the woman who has researched

it used to be a physicist with NASA, her name is Jane Axtell, and

her work is rather extraordinary. It isn't easy, but it

is indeed fascinating. Yes, Jessica <g>, more mind wanders :-)

and body wanders this week as I'm travelling, have a great

week all.

 

Love and Light,

~ bo ~ playing in the Leela Lily Gardens

[Guest guest]

Hi bo,

>I forget who asked what here, but the earth has not "wobbled"

 

Well, I admit "wobbles on its axis" is rather imprecise. ) So here's the

way an astronomer explains it.

 

Love,

Dharma

---

>

>1*18. The Ecliptic; Equinoxes and Solstices. The ecliptic is the apparent

>annual path of the sun's center on the celestial sphere. It is a great

>circle inclined 23 1/2° to the celestial equator.

> Four equidistant points on the ecliptic are the two equinoxes, where

>the circle intersects the celestial equator, and the two solstices, where

>it is farthest from the equator. The vernal equinox is the sun's position

>about March 21, when it crosses the celestial equator going north; the

>autumnal equinox is the sun's position about September 23, when it crosses

>on the way south. The summer solstice is the most northern point of the

>ecliptic, the sun's position about June 22; the winter solstice is the

>southernmost point, the sun's position about December 22. These dates vary

>slightly because of the plan of leap years.

>

>Fig. 1*18. Relation of Ecliptic and Celestial Equator.

>/Astro.pics/1.GIF

>

> The north and south ecliptic poles are the two points 90° from the

>ecliptic. They are 23 1/2° from the celestial poles.

> The relation between the ecliptic and celestial equator is explained

>in Fig. 1*18, in which the earth's orbit is viewed nearly edgewise.

>Because parallel lines meet in the distant sky, the celestial poles,

>toward which the earth's axis is directed, are not displaced by the

>earth's revolution around the sun; similarly the celestial equator is

>unaffected. Evidently the angle between the ecliptic and celestial equator

>is the same as the angle between the earth's orbit and equator. This

>inclination, or obliquity, of the ecliptic is 23' 2T'; it is at present

>decreasing at the rate of 1' in 128 years.

>snip<

>

>1*20. Celestial Longitude and Latitude. The observations of early

>astronomers were confined for the most part to the sun, moon, and bright

>planets, which are never far from the ecliptic. It was accordingly the

>custom to denote the places of these objects with reference to the

>ecliptic by giving their celestial longitudes and latitudes. Celestial

>longitude is angular distance from the vernal equinox, measured eastward

>along the ecliptic to the circle through the object that is at right

>angles to the ecliptic. Celestial latitude is the angular distance of the

>object from the ecliptic, measured to the north or south along the

>perpendicular circle.

> The earlier coordinates still find use in problems of planetary

>motions. They have been supplanted for most purposes by right ascension

>and declination, which are the counterparts of terrestrial longitude and

>latitude. The newer coordinates might well have been named celestial

>longitude and latitude instead, except that these names had already been

>appropriated.

>snip<

> THE EARTH'S PRECESSION

>

>2*24. Conical Motion of the Earth's Axis. The axis of a spinning top

>describes the surface of a cone around a line perpendicular to the floor.

>When it stops spinning, the top falls over. While it continues to spin,

>the action of gravity does not tip the axis, but

>

>Fig. 2*24. The Earth Resembles a Spinning Top.

>/Astro.pics/2.GIF

>

>causes instead the conical motion we observe in the same direction as that

>of the rotation. This is the precession of the top.

> Just as the axis of the spinning top is likely to lean away from the

>vertical, so the earth's axis is inclined 23 1/2° from the perpendicular

>to the plane of its orbit, and its equator is inclined to this plane by

>the same amount. The attractions of the moon and sun, both nearly in the

>ecliptic plane, for the earth's equatorial bulge tend to bring the equator

>into the plane of the ecliptic. Because of the earth's rotation, however,

>the inclination is not much affected. Again, as in the case of the top,

>there is a conical motion of the axis, but in the opposite direction with

>respect to the rotation.

> The earth's precession is a slow conical movement of the earth's axis

>around a line joining the ecliptic poles, having a period of about 26,000

>years.

> The effect we are considering is a change in the axis relative to the

>stars. It is unlike the wandering of the terrestrial poles (2*17), which

>is caused by a shifting of the earth upon its axis.

>

>2*25. Precessional Paths of the Celestial Poles. The conical movement of

>the earth's axis causes the celestial poles, toward which the axis is

>directed, slowly to describe circles around the ecliptic poles; the radii

>of the two circles are the same and equal to 23 1/2°. This is a movement

>of the poles among the constellations.

>

>Fig. 2*25. Precessional Path of the North Celestial Pole.

>/Astro.pics/3.GIF

>

> As one faces north, the precessional motion of the north celestial

>pole is counterclockwise. This pole is now about 1° from the star Polaris,

>which it will continue to approach until the least distance of slightly

>less than half a degree is reached, about the year 2100. Thereafter, the

>diurnal circle of Polaris will grow larger. For those who live in the year

>7000, Alpha Cephei will be the nearly invariable pole star, and Polaris

>will circle daily around it 28' away.

> Because the celestial poles are the centers of regions where the

>stars never set or never rise, the precessional motion shifts the

>constellations relative to these regions, out of them or into them. The

>Southern Cross, which rose and set 6000 years ago throughout the United

>States, is now visible only from the extreme southern part of this

>country.

>

>2*26. The General Precession. It is the lunisolar precession that has been

>described. The sun's attraction contributes to this effect as well as the

>moon's attraction, but in smaller amount. Planetary precession is the

>effect of other planets on the plane of the earth's orbit, so that the

>ecliptic shifts slowly toward the east along the celestial equator. The

>result of the two precessions is the general precession.

> A complete account of precession involves additional factors. Because

>the inclination of the moon's path to the plane of the earth's equator

>varies in a period of 18.6 years (5*11), the celestial pole describes a

>small ellipse in this period around its mean position in the precessional

>path. The semimajor axis of the ellipse is 9".2 in the direction of the

>ecliptic pole. This is the chief term in ,nutation, the nodding of the

>pole. Thus the precessional path of the celestial pole is irregular; it is

>not exactly circular and is not precisely the same from one cycle to the

>next.

>

>2*27. Precession of the Equinoxes. The earth's precession has been defined

>as a conical movement of the axis. It may also be regarded as a

>corresponding gyration of the earth's equator and of the celestial equator

>in the same plane. The celestial equator slides westward on the ecliptic,

>keeping about the same angle between the

>

>Fig. 2*27. Precession of the Equinox.

>/Astro.pics/4.GIF

>

>two. The equinoxes, where the two circles intersect, accordingly shift

>westward along the ecliptic; they move in the general precession at the

>rate of 50".26 in celestial longitude in a year. This is the precession of

>the equinoxes.

> The annual displacement of the vernal equinox in right ascension is

>now 46".09, or 3s.07, and in declination is 20".05. Thus the equatorial

>coordinates of the stars on the celestial sphere, which are measured from

>the vernal equinox, are continuously changing. Accurate catalogs give the

>right ascensions and declinations of the stars at a stated time and the

>annual variations of these positions caused by precession as well as by

>the motions of the stars themselves.

> Two other effects of the the precession of the vernal equinox are

>described in the two following sections. These are the displacement of the

>signs of the zodiac relative to the constellations of the same names and

>the shortening of the year of the seasons.

>

>2*28. Signs and Constellations of the Zodiac. The zodiac is the band of

>the celestial sphere, 16° in width, through which the ecliptic runs

>centrally. It contains at all times the sun and moon, and the principal

>planets, with the exceptions of Venus and Pluto; these two and many

>asteroids are not confined within its limits.

> The signs of the zodiac are the 12 equal divisions, each 30° long,

>which are marked off eastward beginning with the vernal equinox. The signs

>are named from the 12 constellations of the zodiac situated in the

>respective divisions 2000 years ago. The names of the signs and the

>seasons in which the sun is passing through them are as follows:

> Aries | Libra |

> Taurus | Spring Scorpius | Autumn

> Gemini | Sagittarius |

>

> Cancer | Capricornus |

> Leo | Summer Aquarius | Winter

> Virgo | Pisces |

>

> Because of the precession of the equinoxes, the vernal equinox has

>moved westward about 30°, and the signs have moved alone with it, away

>from the constellations after which they were named. Thus the signs and

>constellations of the zodiac of the same names no longer have the same

>positions. When the sun, on March 21, arrives at the vernal equinox and

>therefore enters the sign Aries,

>

>Fig. 2*28. The Twelve Constellations of the Zodiac.

>/Astro.pics/5.GIF

>

>it is near the western border of the constellation Pisces and will not

>enter the constellation Aries until the latter part of April.

>

> - Robert H. Baker, _Astronomy_, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc.,

>Princeton, N.J., 1964.