Methodological Issues concerning the Astronomy of Qumran

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eshbal Ratzon
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Angular Distance ◽  
Lunar Theory ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Astronomical Data ◽  
The Times

In the 21st issue of Dead Sea Discoveries, Dennis Duke and Matthew Goff offered their collaboration as physicist and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar in order to study the lunar theory of the Aramaic Astronomical Book (aab). They use the astronomical model of lunar elongation—the angular distance between the moon and the sun on the observed heavenly sphere—to compute the times of the moon’s visibility and invisibility. They conclude that the times written on the Aramaic fragments are closer to reality than the times written in the Babylonian sources of the aab. This paper concludes that lunar elongation is not the best explanation of the astronomical data of the aab, and Duke and Goff’s computations should be refined according to some astronomical, cosmological, textual, and historical considerations.

Opening of the Cook Gallery at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, on 17 July 1968

1969 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Calculation ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Angular Distance ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Great Pleasure ◽  
Astronomical Data ◽  
Maritime Museum ◽  
Nautical Almanac

It was with great pleasure that I received the invitation from the Director, Mr Greenhill, to open the Cook Gallery in the National Maritime Museum. For Cook had long been one of my heroes, as one of the greatest navigators and explorers of history. In addition, he was, in Fanny Burney’s words, ‘. . . the most moderate, humane and gentle circumnavigator who ever went upon discoveries’. Cook’s first voyage, which started at Plymouth in August 1768 and which we celebrate today, 200 years later, occurred at a turning point of the technique of navigation. His navigation on his three years’ voyage depended for longitude on the measurement of the angular distance of the moon from the fixed stars. It could take up to four hours of numerical calculation to work out the longitude. Cook had clearly trained himself to be a first-rate observer and an accurate calculator. This method of lunar distance became of practical use at sea only when the essential astronomical data became easily available to seamen. This happened in 1767, the year before his voyage, because of the publication of the Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris by the Astronomer Royal. By this method Cook was generally able to determine the longitude to less than 30 miles.

scholarly journals Planetary Theories in Sanskrit Astronomical Texts

1987 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 113-124
Author(s):  
S.N. Sen
Keyword(s):  
Day Length ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Irregular Motion ◽  
Correct Ratio ◽  
The Times ◽  
Planetary Theories

The origin and development of planetary theories in India are still imperfectly understood. It is generally believed that fullfledged planetary theories capable of predicting the true positions of the Sun, Moon and Star-planets appeared in India along with the emergence of the siddhāntic astronomical literature. Before this siddhāntic astronomy there had existed the Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa of Lagadha, prepared around circa 400 B.C. in the Sūtra period more or less on the basis of astronomical elements developed in the time of the Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas. This Jyotiṣa propounded a luni-solar calendar based on a five-year period or yuga in which the Sun made 5 complete revolutions. Moreover, this quinquennial cycle contained 67 sidereal and 62 synodic revolutions of the Moon, 1830 sāvana or civil days, 1835 sidereal days, 1800 solar days and 1860 lunar days. An important feature of the Jyotiṣa is its concept of the lunar day or tithi which is a thirtieth part of the synodic month. The tithi concept was also used in Babylonian astronomy of the Seleucid period. To trace the motion of the Sun and the Moon and to locate the positions of fullmoons and newmoons in the sky a stellar zodiac or a nakṣatra system coming down from the times of the Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas was used. The Jyotiṣa was acquainted with the solstices and equinoxes, the variation in day-length of which a correct ratio was given. It is, however, silent about the inclination of the ecliptic, the non-uniform and irregular motion of the Sun and the Moon and various other important elements.

Qumran Temple?

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-85
Author(s):  
Lawrence H. Schiffman
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Proper Place ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
Sacrificial Ritual ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Temple

Study of the textual evidence preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls makes it exceedingly unlikely that the sectarians would have conducted sacrificial worship at their desert retreat. They disagreed vehemently with the Jerusalem establishment and refused to worship at the Temple because the sacrificial ritual did not accord with their halakhic ideals. However, they still maintained that the Temple was the only proper place to worship: it just had to be renewed under their aegis at the End of Days, when they would control all its functions. In the meantime, the sectarians viewed their community as a substitute Temple; they conducted prayers at the times when the Temple sacrifices took place; their communal meals became ritualized as a replacement for the Temple offerings; they studied the laws of sacrifices. Priests and Levites were given preferential roles, the communal meals and study sessions substituted for Temple rituals, and the ritual purity that the sect maintained assured them that they would be ready for the soon-to-dawn eschaton that would restore the glory of the Temple to them. Thus, the literary evidence points to a longing for the Temple but also to a resignation that, until the End of Days, various modes of worship would have to substitute for its sacrifices.

scholarly journals Encounter in the Keplerian Field: Analytical Treatment

1993 ◽  
Vol 132 ◽  
pp. 289-289
Author(s):  
V.A. Brumberg ◽  
T.V. Ivanova
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Lunar Theory ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Type Solution ◽  
Analytical Treatment ◽  
Hill’S Problem ◽  
Hill's Problem ◽  
Resonance Character

AbstractIn extending the results of Henon and Petit (Celes.Mech., 38,67, 1986) an algorithm is suggested to construct the series representing the general encounter-type solution of the spatial eccentric Hill’s problem. The series are arranged in powers of the eccentricity E of Hill’s problem and two integration constants e and k characterizing eccentricity and inclination of the relative motion. A particular non-periodic solution of Henon and Petit corresponding to E = e = k = 0 is taken as an intermediary. The perturbations to this solution are constructed similar to the Lunar theory of Hill and Brown with; the Universal Poissonian Processor. From theoretical point of view Hill’s problem for the encounter case is of particular interest. In distinction from the Lunar problem we do not have here angular arguments with different frequencies. Moreover, the perturbations related with the external eccentricity E (analogous to the perturbations in the motion of the motion of the Moon caused by the eccentricity of the orbit of the Sun) are of resonance character.

scholarly journals XVII. On an improved reflecting circle

1801 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 363-374 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Degree Of Approximation ◽  
Angular Distance ◽  
Direct Image ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Additional Index

In Practical Astronomy large instruments are useful, not only to enable the observer to read the angles to a small fraction of a degree, but likewise to diminish, in the construction, the inaccuracies which proceed both from the errors of the divisions and the eccentricity of the index. Frames of considerable dimensions admit also the application of telescopes with great magnifying powers, which is a circumstance of the utmost importance in celestial observations. As the reflecting instruments employed at sea are supported by the hand, their weight and scale are limited within a narrow compass; and it seemed very difficult to obviate, by any expedient, the inconveniences arising from the smallness of their size, while it was impossible to increase it. The celebrated Tobias Mayer contrived, however, a method to determine, at one reading, instead of the simple angle observed, a multiple of the same angle; and, by this means, the instrument became, in practice, capable of any degree of accuracy, as far as regards the above mentioned errors. His invention is essentially different from the mere repetition of the observations; and my object requires that I should explain the principle upon which it is founded. Mr. Mayer proposed to complete the limb of the Sextant, making a whole Circle, with the horizon glass moveable round the centre, with an additional index, which I shall call the horizon index , in order to distinguish it from the centre index , to which the centre glass is attached. This instrument is represented in Plate XXIX. Fig. 1; and the manner of using it is as follows. After the index A is set at o, (the beginning of the divisions,) the two glasses are rendered parallel, as is usually practised with Hadley's Quadrant, by moving the horizon index B, till the horizon of the sea, (or the sun, or any other object,) or its direct image, and the doubly reflected image of the same, seen through the telescope, coincide. After fixing the horizon index in that position, the centre index A is to be moved, in order to measure the distance of the two objects S and L, (which I shall suppose the sun and moon,) by bringing into contact the doubly reflected image of the sun with the direct image of the moon, seen through the telescope. The centre index will then be at M, and the arch o M might give, as in the Sextant, the angular distance required; but the construction of the Circle renders it easy, in this position, to effect again the parallelism of the glasses, and to make another observation of the contact, in the like manner as from o; which operation will bring the centre index to N. The index will then give o N, or double the distance; and, as it must be divided by 2, in order to have the angle required, the errors of division and eccentricity, which, together, I shall call the error of the instrument , will be likewise reduced to one half. It is obvious, that by successive repetitions of the same process, triple, quadruple, &c. the distance may be obtained, and the said error further reduced, in the inverse ratio of the multiplication of the distance, to any degree of approximation required.

scholarly journals Theory of the Libration of the Moon

1983 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 37-37
Author(s):  
M. Dubois-Moons
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Field ◽  
Orbital Motion ◽  
Lunar Theory ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Lunar Gravity ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Fourth Degree ◽  
Lunar Gravity Field ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Second Degree

AbstractThe paper presents a new theory of the libration of the Moon, completely analytical with respect to the harmonic coefficients of the lunar gravity field. This field is represented through its fourth degree harmonics for the torque due to the Earth (the second degree for the torque due to the Sun). The Moon is assumed to be rigid and its orbital motion is described by the ELP 2000 solution (Chapront and Chapront-Touzé 1981) for the main problem of lunar theory with planetary perturbations and influence of the non-sphericity of the Earth. Comparisons with other theories (Migus 1980 and Eckhardt 1981) are also presented.

Computational Stylometric Approach to the Dead Sea Scrolls

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-82
Author(s):  
Pierre Van Hecke
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
The Third ◽  
First Results ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Dead

Abstract The question of how to classify the different texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls is a central issue in scholarship. There is little agreement or even little reflection, however, on the methodology with which these classifications should be made. This article argues that recent developments in computational stylometry address these methodological issues and that the approach therefore constitutes a necessary addition to existing scholarship. The first section briefly introduces the recent developments in computational stylometry, while the second tests the feasibility of a stylometric approach for research on the Scrolls. Taking into account the particular challenges of the corpus, an exploratory methodology is described, and its first results are presented. In the third and final section, directions for future research in the field are articulated.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Secular Variations of Longitudes of the Sun, Mercury and Venus from Optical Observations

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 330-333
Author(s):  
Y.B. Kolesnik
Keyword(s):  
Secular Variation ◽  
Optical Observations ◽  
Lunar Theory ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Significant Discrepancy ◽  
Secular Variations ◽  
Tidal Acceleration

AbstractAbout 240 000 optical observations of the Sun, Mercury and Venus, accumulated during the era of classical astrometry from Bradley up to our days, are incorporated to analyse the secular variation of the longitudes of innermost planets. A significant discrepancy between modern ephemerides and optical observations is discovered. The possible sources of discrepancy are discussed. The tidal acceleration of the Moon has been revised to conform the lunar theory with the ephemerides of the planets. The offset and residual rotation of Hipparcos-based system with respect to the dynamical equinox is determined. Interpretation of this rotation is given.

scholarly journals MEMAHAMI MAKNA HILAL MENURUT TAFSIR AL-QUR’AN DAN SAINS

UNIVERSUM ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qomarus Zaman
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Majority Opinion ◽  
Timing System ◽  
The Future ◽  
New Moon ◽  
The Times ◽  
Modern Astronomy

Interpretation of surah Al-Baqarah verse 189 which uses a method of transmission saying that the verse would describe the times predetermined by God to mankind in serve him well to explain when fasting, and pilgrimage feast. Similarly, the new moon will also indicate the prescribed period for women. Narrated by Bisyri bin Mu'adh said that Qatada once said: The Prophet Muhammad was asked one day by his people will paragraph يسألونك عن الأهلة قل هي مواقيت للناس at the time of the new moon has not yet appeared? Then the Prophet said to them; Then the Prophet said to them; Allah have it appear as what ever you know. هي مواقيت للناس therefore to bring it up then he is as a sign on the start of fasting for the Muslims and for Iftar (feast) and indicates the time for those with the arrival of the rituals of Hajj and to determine the future iddahnya women.Hilal is a sign or marker clue is a unity of time and timing system consisting of day, month and year. This has been the form of a calendar (almanac, Taqwim) used easily for the benefit of mankind in the implementation of fasting, pilgrimage, prayer time, the determination of the prescribed period and other mualamah agreement. In view of modern astronomy as Danjon, the new moon will be visible if the position of the moon within a minimum of 8 degrees in addition to the sun (the moon's crescent cauld rot be seen closer to the sun for elongation less that 80). This opinion was never confirmed by Muammer Dizer the International Islamic Conference in Istanbul Turkey in 1978, according to research that has been accepted by international astronomers declared that the moon looks at the position of the sun distance (angle of azimut) 80 and the position of elevation above the horizon of 50. He stated it is impossible if there is a majority opinion expressed in the following 50 positions height above the horizon can be seen with the eye. While MABIMS including Indonesia make imkan al-rukyat criteria states that the size of the moon positions can be seen at a height of 20, 30 the azimut distance elongation angle and distance when ijtimak and sunset time of 8 hours (kiteria to 20, 30 and 8 hours). MABIMS criteria is lower than the criterion Istanbul. This last criterion used Malaysia Singapore and Brunei, while Indonesia is still no difference and there is no agreement on these criteria.Keywords; Hilal, Masa Iddah, Taqwim, Imkan al-rukyat

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