scholarly journals Occultation of Planets by the Moon in European Narrative Medieval Sources

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-220
Author(s):  
María José Martínez Usó ◽  
Francisco J. Marco Castillo

Existing research dealing with astronomical observations from medieval Europe have extensively covered topics such as solar and lunar eclipses and sightings of comets and meteors, but no compilation of occultations of planets by the Moon has been carried out and, till now, the data have remained scattered in different publications. The main reasons for this are the small number of observations that has reached us, their limited use for calculation of parameters associated with the rotation of the Earth, and the fact that between the fifth and fifteenth centuries, the period that we consider, almost none of these observations were made scientifically, since they usually appear in narrative texts, be they chronicles or annals. Our purpose is to make a compilation of these phenomena, trying to shed light on some of the most controversial observations after examining them in their historical context. We will examine European sources, but, occasionally, we will also consider reports from other parts of the world to make comparisons, when necessary.

Designs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Pyrrhon Amathes ◽  
Paul Christodoulides

Photography can be used for pleasure and art but can also be used in many disciplines of science, because it captures the details of the moment and can serve as a proving tool due to the information it preserves. During the period of the Apollo program (1969 to 1972), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully landed humans on the Moon and showed hundreds of photos to the world presenting the travel and landings. This paper uses computer simulations and geometry to examine the authenticity of one such photo, namely Apollo 17 photo GPN-2000-00113. In addition, a novel approach is employed by creating an experimental scene to illustrate details and provide measurements. The crucial factors on which the geometrical analysis relies are locked in the photograph and are: (a) the apparent position of the Earth relative to the illustrated flag and (b) the point to which the shadow of the astronaut taking the photo reaches, in relation to the flagpole. The analysis and experimental data show geometrical and time mismatches, proving that the photo is a composite.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Yehia Hassan Wazeri

The Qur’an contains about eighteen verses that refer to the architecture of the earth. Nearly two hundred elements (terminologies) of architecture and town planning have been mentioned in the Quran. This paper aims to present examples from the Quran to shed light on the Islamic vision of architecture and art. It uses content analysis method to achieve the objective of the research. The analysis is done by studying and discussing verses of the Holy Quran, which is related to architecture and urbanism. One of the most important results of this research is to give distinct architectural and urban examples, include the following: building materials, environmental architecture, houses of insects, visual illusions in architecture, and the centrality of Mecca to the world. All of them is explained in the Qur’an verses, such as Al-Baqarah, An-Naml, An-Nahl, Al-Kahf, and Al-Fajr. 


1985 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya. S. Yatskiv ◽  
W. J. Klepczynski ◽  
F. Barlier ◽  
H. Enslin ◽  
C. Kakuta ◽  
...  

During the period, work on the problem of the Earth’s rotation has continued to expand and increase its scope. The total number of institutions engaged in the determination of the Earth’s rotation parameters (ERP) by different techniques has been increased significantly. The rotation of the Earth is currently measured by classical astrometry, Doppler and laser satellite tracking, laser ranging of the Moon, and radio interferometry. Several long time series of the ERP are available from most of these techniques, in particular, those made during the Main Campaign of the MERIT project. The various series have been intercompared and their stability, in the time frame of years to days, has been estimated for the purposes of establishing a new conventional terrestrial reference system (COTES). On the other hand, the difficulties of maintaining a regular operation for laser ranging to the Moon (LLR) have been recognized. It resulted in the proposal to organize an one-month campaign of observations in 1985 in order to complement the COTES collocation program and to allow additional intercomparisons with other techniques.


1979 ◽  
Vol 24 (90) ◽  
pp. 482-482
Author(s):  
C. S. M. Doake

Plastic deformation of ice shelves in the region along the grounding line where they bend with the tide can dissipate enough tidal energy to make them the most important single source contribution to tidal friction (Doake, 1978). Some of the effects are to slow the rotation of the Earth and to cause the moon to retreat from the Earth.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (A29B) ◽  
pp. 402-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne J. Pendleton

AbstractAfter years of thinking the Moon is dry, we now know there are three manifestations in which water appears on the Moon today: 1) Previously hypothesized buried deposits of volatiles at the lunar poles were found at Cabeus crater. There are questions about the origin of such volatiles (i.e., in-falling comets & meteorites, migration of recently formed surficial OH/H2O, and accumulated release from the interior), but there is no doubt the water is there. 2) Widespread, thinly-distributed, surficial OH (or H2O) has been clearly detected across all types of lunar terrain. The consensus is that the OH is derived from solar wind, but we do not know how quickly it forms, nor how mobile it is. 3) The amount of water present soon after the Moon formed is now documented in new analyses of lunar materials in volcanic glass beads, apatites and plagioclase feldspars. Apollo era sample analyses were not precise enough to distinguish between indigenous lunar water and terrestrial contamination. Measurements with modern equipment are more precise (both elemental and isotopic), and can better constrain a host of processes (e.g. diffusion, thermal cycling). Scientists around the world are studying lunar water. Ongoing analyses are informing a number of hypotheses and theories about the connection between the Earth and its wet Moon.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-72
Author(s):  
Jane Mikkelson

Abstract The phoenix (ʿanqā) appears in the philosophy of Avicenna (d.1037) as his example of a “vain intelligible,” a fictional being that exists in the soul, but not in the world. This remarkable bird is notable (along with the Earth, the moon, the sun, and God) for being a species of one. In this essay, I read the poetry Bedil of Delhi (d.1720) in conversation with the philosophical system of Avicenna, arguing that the phoenix in Bedil’s own philosophical system functions as a key figuration that allows him simultaneously to articulate rigorous impersonal systematic ideas and to document his individual first-personal experiences of those ideas. The phoenix also plays a metaliterary role, allowing Bedil to reflect on this way of doing philosophy in the first person—a method founded on the lyric enrichment of Avicennan rationalism. Paying attention to the adjacencies between poetry and philosophy in Bedil, this essay traces the phoenix’s transformations from a famous philosophical example into one of Bedil’s most striking figurations in his arguments about imagination, mind, and self.


Author(s):  
Sandhya Gangarade

The creator, the Creator, the creator, by whatever name, calls the ultimate power that colors the sky blue, the earth green, the sun gold and the moon silver. The colors of Pushpavali in the forest division are countless and the colors of water creatures in the ocean are amazing. Colorless water is also the miracle of the same and the white, black and red color of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati is also an expression of the same. Some also create 'Kavirmanishi Paribhu Swayambhu', the poet of the world of life, nature's colors with full sensibility Does. In poetry, there are mainly three basic colors - white, black, white, black and red. सृष्टा, रचेता, विधाता जिस भी नाम से पुकारें उस परम शक्ति को जो आकाश को नीला, धरती को हरा, सूरज को स्वर्ण और चाँद को रजत रंग में रंग देता है। वन प्रान्तर में पुष्पावलि के रंग अनगिनत है और सागर में जल-जीवों के रंग अद्भुत। रंगहीन जल भी उसी का चमत्कार है और गंगा, यमुना और सरस्वती का श्वेत, श्याम और लाल रंग भी उसी की अभिव्यक्ति है।कवि भी रचेता है ‘कविर्मनीषी परिभू स्वयंभू’ जीवन के जगत के, प्रकृति के रंगो को कवि पूरी संवेदन शीलता से संयोजित करता है। काव्य में मुख्य रूप से तीन रंग आधारभूत रंग है- श्वेत, श्याम, रतनान-सफेद, काला और लाल।


1980 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 235-237
Author(s):  
G. P. Pilnik

It is possible, in principle, to derive from astronomical observations both the tidal and nutational variations in the rotation of the Earth. However, in practice there are a number of difficulties. To detect the waves with periods of 18.6, 1.0 and 0.5 year one could use UT1-TAI. Unfortunately, this is impossible because of the lack of sufficiently long series of observations and because of significant non-periodic irregularities in the rate of the Earth's rotation. In addition, the annual wave consists of several harmonics of different natures which cannot be separated from one another. Investigation of short-period nutations is more promising, but it is also connected with specific difficulties.


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