eclipse
Planet X and 2012 and Astrology: Exploring the Claims of Astrologer Terry Nazon on 2012, Part 1
tags :
- Scientific Skepticism
- 2012
- 2012 astrology
- 2012 doomsday
- aries
- astrology
- astronomy
- Conjunction
- december 21
- doomsday
- eclipse
- Exposing PseudoAstronomy
- galactic alignment
- gemini
- Jupiter
- Lunar eclipse
- maya
- mayan prophecy
- Occultation
- pisces
- Pluto
- Saturn
- solar cycle
- Solar eclipse
- spica
- taurus
- terry nazan
- Uranus
- Venus
Introduction
While I was supposed to be working today, I was looking at the upcoming Coast to Coast AM late-night George Noory -hosted radio show. Tonight, February 15, 2010, they’re having what has been termed an “Astrology Special” with three astrologers coming in. I went to each of their websites just to nose around, and I found a page on Terry Nazon’s site dedicated to “The Mayan Prophecy of 2012.”
I’m an astronomer. Astrology is to astronomy what alchemy is to chemistry (or, for those about to take the SATs: astrology:astronomy::alchemy:chemistry). And, I’ve written many, many posts on the non-event of Planet X and 2012 (Planet X, 2012, and Planet X and 2012 — yes, those are different). So, this particular woman has combined two things that I just couldn’t help myself to post a break-down.
Video: Solar Eclipse Seen From Space
A European satellite launched late last year has returned a new animation of the annular solar eclipse that occurred on January 15. The images returned by the Proba 2 mission are the first of their kind and part of the first set of data released by the European Space Agency. A similar, more robust sun observing platform, the Solar and Helisopheric Observatory, is unable to see eclipses. The images that compose the animation were taken about one minute apart. The eclipse was viewable from Earth for more than eleven minutes.
Satellite Captures Solar Eclipse from Space
Solar eclipse seen by Proba-2's SWAP instrument. Credit: ESA
A Double-Dose of Cassini Goodness
Solar Eclipse Images Show Dazzling Corona Detail
The annular solar eclipse that was visible earlier this month in parts of Africa, the Indian Ocean and Asia yielded some beautiful photographs of the moon obscuring the light from the sun.
But none of them provided the kind of exquisite detail that a team of astronomers watching from the Marshall Islands captured during last summer’s total solar eclipse. By combining 31 images of the eclipse shot with a Canon EOS 5D, the composite shows the incredible structure of the sun’s corona stretching out from occluded central disc. The moon’s surface details are also clearly visible.
Annular Eclipse Photos, Videos From Earth and Space
Caption: Annular solar eclipse on January 15, 2009. Courtesy Daniel Fischer, "cosmos4u" on Twitter.
…and then a Dragon came out of Nowhere and ate the sun…
Mankind’s fascination with eclipses has been going on a long time, since at least November 30th, 3340 BC when Irish Neolithics built an eclipse tracking cairn site and recorded the event in stone.
Eclipse Icon 3340 BC, Loughcrew Cairn, Paul Griffin
World’s oldest known eclipse record.
Ancient Chinese Astrologers believed a celestial dragon was devouring the sun (or the moon), and the populace would bang drums in an attempt to frighten the dragon away. Not the best job to hold in ancient China; if the Astrologer miscalculated the date of the eclipse, he was likely to lose his head.
Eclipse from China
Solar Eclipse from China. A Xinhua/Reuters Photo
The Eclipse, as Seen by the People (With Flickr Accounts)
The shadow of the Earth covered the sun for three minutes yesterday. Rather than sacrificing astrologers or going to war, people uploaded their photos to Flickr.
