The Sidereal Year
June 29, 2015
G.D.O'Bradovich III
1
Oftentimes when we're feeling down or not ourselves, we like to research “fringe” ideas. Some of our favorite fringe ideas are Atlantis, Nazi UFOs, and the flat earth. We should state that the concepts are not what attracts me to them; the reality is that the unsupported claims are humorous. We're always amused by Atlantis “discoveries” because most researchers forget there is only one source: Plato, not Donnelly; while Nazi UFOs have a handful of sources for their theory. From our research, we have determined the flat earth proponents have multiple sources and individuals throughout history. The writers of these three theories have ideas or suppositions or conclusions that are so fantastic, they are guaranteed to relieve boredom and depression.
Recently, we found a treatise from 1885 that contains 100 "proofs" that the earth is flat. For most of these so called “proofs”, we either have no knowledge [such as optics and cartography] or we see faulty reasoning. However, one of the proofs we quote in its entirety with pertinent points underlined:
Recently, we found a treatise from 1885 that contains 100 "proofs" that the earth is flat. For most of these so called “proofs”, we either have no knowledge [such as optics and cartography] or we see faulty reasoning. However, one of the proofs we quote in its entirety with pertinent points underlined:
98. Mr Hind speaks of the astronomer watching a star as it is carried across the telescope by the diurnal revolution of the Earth." Now, this is nothing but downright absurdity. No motion of the Earth could possibly carry a star across a telescope or anything else. If the star is carried across anything at all, it is the star that moves, not the thing across which it is carried! Besides, the idea that the Earth, if it were a globe, could possibly move in an orbit of nearly 600,000,000 of miles with such exactitude that the cross-hairs in a telescope fixed on its surface would appear to glide gently over a star "millions of millions" of miles away is simply monstrous; whereas, with a FIXED telescope, it matters not the distance of the stars, though we suppose them to be as far off as the astronomer supposes them to be; for, as Mr. Proctor himself says, "the further away they are, the less they will seem to shift." Why, in the name of common sense, should observers have to fix their telescopes on solid stone bases so that they should not move a hair's-breadth, - if the Earth on which they fix them move at the rate of nineteen miles in a second? Indeed, to believe that Mr. Proctor's mass of "six thousand million million million tons" is "rolling, surging, flying, darting on through space for ever" with a velocity compared with which a shot from a cannon is a "very slow coach," with such unerring accuracy that a telescope fixed on granite pillars in an observatory will not enable a lynx-eyed astronomer to detect a variation in its onward motion of the thousandth part of a hair's-breadth is to conceive a miracle compared with which all the miracles on record put together would sink into utter insignificance. Captain R. J. Morrison, the late compiler of "Zadkeil's Almanac;" says: "We declare that this "motion" is all mere 'bosh'; and that the arguments which uphold it are, when examined with an eye that seeks for TRUTH only, mere nonsense, and childish absurdity. "Since, then, these absurd theories are of no use to men in their senses, and since there is no necessity for anything of the kind in Zetetic philosophy, it is a "strong presumptive proof" - as Mr. Hind would say that the Zetetic philosophy is true, and, therefore, a proof that Earth is not a globe..
We don’t know why we were not able to understand any of the proofs until the end; either the topic is obscure or it is presented obscurely. We were drawn to this proof since the inquiry is asking why astronomers are concerned about the accuracy afforded by the crosshairs of a telescope if the earth is moving through space and is not stationary.
Astronomy is so kind as to give us two values for the duration of a year: A tropical year [also known as a solar year] is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position as seen from Earth and a sidereal year is the orbital period of the earth around the sun, taking the stars as a reference frame, and is 20 minutes 24.5 seconds longer than the mean tropical year.
Astronomy is so kind as to give us two values for the duration of a year: A tropical year [also known as a solar year] is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position as seen from Earth and a sidereal year is the orbital period of the earth around the sun, taking the stars as a reference frame, and is 20 minutes 24.5 seconds longer than the mean tropical year.
It's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly....
The Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor
The earth is tilted 23 degrees on its axis and rotates roughly every 24 hours on its axis. The earth's speed averages 67,108 mph, which is fast enough to cover the planet's diameter in seven minutes 4.76 seconds. We can estimate the distance around the sun at approximately 588,256,148.793 miles [365.2421897 days×24 hours×67,108 mph]. The path of the earth around the sun is approximately 74,293.5272535 earth diameters [588,256,148.793 miles/7.918 miles].
We are assured by modern science that the earth’s path around the sun is not a circle, but an elliptical orbit; in the summer the earth is 94,509,129.8 miles [11,935.985 earth diameters] from the sun and in winter we are 91,402,505.61 miles [11,543.635 earth diameters] from the sun. The distance varies as much as 3,106,64.19 miles or 392.3496 earth diameters.
For all the wobbling and tilting and rotating and changes in speed that the earth endures, we must point out that astronomers assume that their telescopes return to the same point every year, “a thousands part of a hair's breadth”, if you will. If we do not return to the exact position in space, then any sidereal measurements must be inaccurate. Measurements of the solar and sidereal years seem to presume not only a fixed telescope but, by extension, a fixed earth.
We are assured by modern science that the earth’s path around the sun is not a circle, but an elliptical orbit; in the summer the earth is 94,509,129.8 miles [11,935.985 earth diameters] from the sun and in winter we are 91,402,505.61 miles [11,543.635 earth diameters] from the sun. The distance varies as much as 3,106,64.19 miles or 392.3496 earth diameters.
For all the wobbling and tilting and rotating and changes in speed that the earth endures, we must point out that astronomers assume that their telescopes return to the same point every year, “a thousands part of a hair's breadth”, if you will. If we do not return to the exact position in space, then any sidereal measurements must be inaccurate. Measurements of the solar and sidereal years seem to presume not only a fixed telescope but, by extension, a fixed earth.
One thousandths part of an earth’s breadth
The sidereal year is 20 minutes 24.5 seconds longer than the mean tropical year; this time is the equivalent of only 2.88 earth diameters [1,224.5 seconds/424.76 seconds].
Since the leap second “was implemented in 1972, 25 such leap seconds have been inserted.” All the “leap seconds” that have been added are positive, not negative “leap seconds”. Because “the Earth's rotation is...unpredictable in the long term... leap seconds are announced only six months in advance.”
Astronomers inform us that the rate of precession is currently 50.3 arc seconds a year. “Precession” means the sun is moving slower than the stars and the sun will eventually slip through all 12 signs of zodiac in about 25,765 years.
This “rate of precession” is simply the difference between the solar year and a sidereal year. The 50.3 arc seconds are, in essence, the 20 minutes 24.5 seconds. One deduction of these measurements ist hat the sun is falling behind the zodiac one degree every 71.57 years [25,765 years/360 degrees]. Unfortunately, the rate of precession is not constant and has been increasing. In the year 1900, the Great Year was 25,787.8 years.
The length of the Great Year can be understood as:
Since the leap second “was implemented in 1972, 25 such leap seconds have been inserted.” All the “leap seconds” that have been added are positive, not negative “leap seconds”. Because “the Earth's rotation is...unpredictable in the long term... leap seconds are announced only six months in advance.”
Astronomers inform us that the rate of precession is currently 50.3 arc seconds a year. “Precession” means the sun is moving slower than the stars and the sun will eventually slip through all 12 signs of zodiac in about 25,765 years.
This “rate of precession” is simply the difference between the solar year and a sidereal year. The 50.3 arc seconds are, in essence, the 20 minutes 24.5 seconds. One deduction of these measurements ist hat the sun is falling behind the zodiac one degree every 71.57 years [25,765 years/360 degrees]. Unfortunately, the rate of precession is not constant and has been increasing. In the year 1900, the Great Year was 25,787.8 years.
The length of the Great Year can be understood as:
The length of the solar year / the difference between the solar and the sidereal year
31,556,925.19 seconds / 1,224.5 seconds
25,771.27 years
We, as either Occultists or Scientists, do not claim more accuracy by including more numbers beyond the decimal, for example, 74,293.5272535 [earth diameters] should be written as 74,293, since the earth’s diameter did not have any numbers beyond the decimal [7,918 miles], because we can not honestly present the data in this manner. However, astronomers purport to have accuracies amounting to not only one part of 1,296,000 of a circle, but to one part of 12,960,00 of a circle (one tenth of an arcsecond). The accuracy of one arcsecond per circumference is equivalent to being able to measure one inch in a circle whose circumference is 20.5 miles. With this high level of precision outside of nanotechnology and science fiction, we are suspicious regarding the raw data that astronomers give us and, by extension, we question their conclusions.
We have previously noted that the ratio of an inch to a mile [63,360 inches] is close to the value of an astronomical unit to a light year [5,878,499,562,550 miles/ 92,584,307.6433 million miles or 63,493 AU]. We do not believe that the difference between these ratios to be a coincidence [.209911616% difference], anymore than the diameter of the moon [2,160 miles] is the amount of time in years for one 1/12 of precession [25,765/12 is 2,147 is equivalent to 2,160×12=25,920 for a difference of .60159% (25,920/25,765].
The distance to the sun [in miles] multiplied by 2 divided by 1,000 is equal to the speed of light. [92,620,000×2=185,240,000/1,000=185,240]. The difference is .5625% [186,282/185,240=1.005625].
A final coincidence: the ratio of the diameters of the moon and the sun is approximately 1:400 [the diameter of the sun [864,752.3463 miles] divided by the diameter of the moon [2,160 miles] is 400.34].
The United States Naval Observatory provides the dates for the solstices, equinoxes, perihelion, and helion for selected years. The reader must bear in mind that as recently as four centuries ago, astronomers could not achieve an accuracy more precise than several days before or after the equinoxes and solstices, that is, the best they could determine was a range of days, not one day. Today, astronomers calculate not only the date, but the hour and minute of the solstices, equinoxes, perihelion, and helion. We can imagine scientists in the 16th century willing to sacrifice several woodland creatures to know how to determine the date of an equinox, let alone the hour and minute.
The story regarding Julius Caesar’s astronomers being able to determine the length of the solar year at 365.25 days in the first century BC is implausible. Other than an academic exercise, there is no need, and therefore no reason, to attempt to determine the solar year, as it would have no utilitarian value. Agriculture does not need a solar calendar, nor does the military need one.
Accepted history admits that this knowledge of determining the length of the solar year was subsequently forgotten for 1,500 years while western civilization continued to use product of that knowledge [the Julian calendar]. There was no practical reason to know when future days would occur: one plants in the spring, harvests in the fall and fight our enemies as needed. We recall that as late as the 19th century, certain areas in southern Europe had not adopted the Julian month names, but still retained the traditional month names. On that evidence alone, we are certain that the Julian calendar was unknown to these peoples, although the calendar was allegedly approaching its second millennium of existence.
Our excursion into the “fringe” theory of the flat earth has concluded and we are no longer bored, but we have feelings of uneasiness, of uncertainty.
We readily admit, that with use of atomic clocks and powerful telescopes, astronomers can measure transits with amazing accuracy. Our uneasiness results from the fact that these measurements are taken from “a big ball of wibbly wobbly”.
While our astronomers are congratulating themselves on ever increasing accuracy of their measurements, the “Big Bang” is pushed ever further into the past and stars and galaxies and are now positioned ever further away. The Law of Unintended Consequences is in full force: The astronomers increased certainty only increases our uncertainty. With fondness, we remember the discovery of the “pyramid inch”, whose value is one thousandths of an inch longer than the standard inch. Before Piazzi Smyth became the founder of the branch of science known as “Pyramidology”, we recall his profession: astronomer.
We have previously noted that the ratio of an inch to a mile [63,360 inches] is close to the value of an astronomical unit to a light year [5,878,499,562,550 miles/ 92,584,307.6433 million miles or 63,493 AU]. We do not believe that the difference between these ratios to be a coincidence [.209911616% difference], anymore than the diameter of the moon [2,160 miles] is the amount of time in years for one 1/12 of precession [25,765/12 is 2,147 is equivalent to 2,160×12=25,920 for a difference of .60159% (25,920/25,765].
The distance to the sun [in miles] multiplied by 2 divided by 1,000 is equal to the speed of light. [92,620,000×2=185,240,000/1,000=185,240]. The difference is .5625% [186,282/185,240=1.005625].
A final coincidence: the ratio of the diameters of the moon and the sun is approximately 1:400 [the diameter of the sun [864,752.3463 miles] divided by the diameter of the moon [2,160 miles] is 400.34].
The United States Naval Observatory provides the dates for the solstices, equinoxes, perihelion, and helion for selected years. The reader must bear in mind that as recently as four centuries ago, astronomers could not achieve an accuracy more precise than several days before or after the equinoxes and solstices, that is, the best they could determine was a range of days, not one day. Today, astronomers calculate not only the date, but the hour and minute of the solstices, equinoxes, perihelion, and helion. We can imagine scientists in the 16th century willing to sacrifice several woodland creatures to know how to determine the date of an equinox, let alone the hour and minute.
The story regarding Julius Caesar’s astronomers being able to determine the length of the solar year at 365.25 days in the first century BC is implausible. Other than an academic exercise, there is no need, and therefore no reason, to attempt to determine the solar year, as it would have no utilitarian value. Agriculture does not need a solar calendar, nor does the military need one.
Accepted history admits that this knowledge of determining the length of the solar year was subsequently forgotten for 1,500 years while western civilization continued to use product of that knowledge [the Julian calendar]. There was no practical reason to know when future days would occur: one plants in the spring, harvests in the fall and fight our enemies as needed. We recall that as late as the 19th century, certain areas in southern Europe had not adopted the Julian month names, but still retained the traditional month names. On that evidence alone, we are certain that the Julian calendar was unknown to these peoples, although the calendar was allegedly approaching its second millennium of existence.
Our excursion into the “fringe” theory of the flat earth has concluded and we are no longer bored, but we have feelings of uneasiness, of uncertainty.
We readily admit, that with use of atomic clocks and powerful telescopes, astronomers can measure transits with amazing accuracy. Our uneasiness results from the fact that these measurements are taken from “a big ball of wibbly wobbly”.
While our astronomers are congratulating themselves on ever increasing accuracy of their measurements, the “Big Bang” is pushed ever further into the past and stars and galaxies and are now positioned ever further away. The Law of Unintended Consequences is in full force: The astronomers increased certainty only increases our uncertainty. With fondness, we remember the discovery of the “pyramid inch”, whose value is one thousandths of an inch longer than the standard inch. Before Piazzi Smyth became the founder of the branch of science known as “Pyramidology”, we recall his profession: astronomer.
Post Script
The following are the earliest citations for "sidereal" from the Oxford English Dictionary.
1681 G. Wharton Disc. Years in Wks. (1683) 71
The Sydereal year is the space of time, in which the Sun returns to the same star from whence he departed.
1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. ii. §11. 242
The Astronomic [year] is also twofold,..namely, the Sydereal and Tropical. The Sydireal Year..is 365 Days, 6 Hours, and 10 Minutes nearly.