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"Starlore
& Solar System Astronomy" - Saturday 21st of January 2006 at
7:00pm |
STARLORE
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STARLORE Names for the Pleiades Cluster around the world THE PLANETS & MOONS Climate, Comets & Human History Solar eclipses 2002, 2003 & 2005 OTHER STUFF
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 Greetings
and welcome to the starlore website. Astronomy is a broad subject and it
has many different branches. Ethnoastronomy is one such branch and it
deals with the way that each individual culture perceives the night sky.
Our planet is home to thousands of diverse cultures and particularly
many of the early ones have stories that relate to the heavens. What I
hope to do with this site is share with you some of the different lore that relates to the night sky. Many of us live in cities or countries
that now have excessive light pollution and pollution in general, so the
skies are not as clear as say 5,000 years ago. However, many us still
watch the night sky and wonder about the celestial majesty displayed
before us.
In 1928 the International Astronomical Union, who are the governing body in astronomy met in Holland to bring some form of order to the many constellations. They bequeathed us the current 88 constellations used by astronomers to find their way around the sky. Many of these star patterns had been passed down through the ages from early civilizations who had keenly watched the cosmic ballet of stars passing overhead. Ancient civilizations like the Sumerians, Babylonians and Egyptians were responsible for many of the constellations in use today. These constellations were passed down and added to by later civilizations like the Greeks and Arabs.
Ignorance
more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who
know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that
this or that problem will never be solved by science.
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However many other cultures across the world had also
long looked to the sky and created myths relating to the
patterns visible from their locations. The Chinese for example have a
long history of astronomy. The diverse Aboriginal Cultures of Australia,
which current estimates date their occupation of Australia at some
45,000 years, have a rich history and ongoing lore relating to the
heavens. Ancient cultures like the Aztec, Anasasi, Maya and Inca of the
America's took a keen interest in astronomy. In countries like India,
Japan, Brazil, Iran, New Zealand and many others, all have a
good history of stellar lore.
©
Paul
Curnow - Last update 13th of January 2006. Send your e-mail comments to