Click on any object for extended information and photos of its surroundings up to 1x1 °.
Star map online- will help when observing through a telescope and simply when orienting in the sky.
Star map online- an interactive sky map shows the position of stars and foggy objects that are available in amateur telescopes at a given time over a given location.
To use the star map online, you need to set the geographic coordinates of the observation site and the observation time.
With the naked eye, only stars and planets with brightness up to about 6.5-7 m are visible in the sky. To monitor the rest of the objects you need telescope... The larger the diameter (aperture) of the telescope and the less illumination from the flashlights, the more objects will be available to you.
This online sky map contains:
- the SKY2000 star catalog, supplemented by data from the SAO and XHIP catalogs. In total - 298457 stars.
- proper names of the main stars and their designations in the HD, SAO, HIP, HR catalogs;
- information about stars contains (if possible): coordinates J2000, proper motions, brightness V, magnitude Johnson B, color index Johnson BV, spectral class, luminosity (Sun), distance from the Sun in parsecs, number of exoplanets for April 2012 , Fe / H, age, data on variability and multiplicity;
- the position of the main planets of the solar system, the brightest comets and asteroids;
- galaxies, star clusters and nebulae from the Messier, Caldwell, Herschel 400 and NGC / IC catalogs with the ability to filter by type.
It is possible to search for foggy objects on the map by their numbers in the NGC / IC and Messier catalogs. As you enter the number, the map is centered on the coordinates of the desired object.
Enter only the object number as it appears in these catalogs: without the prefixes "NGC", "IC" and "M". For example: 1, 33, 7000, 4145A-1, 646-1, 4898-1, 235A, etc.
Three objects from other catalogs: C_41, C_99 from Caldwell and the bright nebula Sh2_155 enter into the NGC field as written here - with underscore and letters.
As the NGC / IC, its refined and somewhat supplemented version of the RNGC / IC dated January 2, 2013 was used. A total of 13958 objects.
About maximum stellar magnitude:
The faintest star in the SKY2000 catalog, which is used in the online sky map, has a brightness of 12.9 m. If you are interested in stars, keep in mind that after about 9-9.5 m, gaps begin in the catalog, the further the stronger (such a drop after a certain magnitude is a common thing for star catalogs). But, if the stars are only needed to search for foggy objects in a telescope, then by introducing the 12 m limit, you will get noticeably more stars for a better orientation.
If in the field "stars are brighter" set the maximum 12 m and click "Refresh data", then the initial download of the catalog (17Mb) may take up to 20 seconds or more - depending on your Internet speed.
By default, only stars up to V = 6 m (2.4 Mb) are loaded. You need to know the pumped volume to select the auto-update interval for the map if you have limited Internet traffic.
To speed up the work, at low magnifications of the map (at the first 4 steps), NGC / IC objects are fainter than 11.5 m and faint stars are not shown. Zoom in on the desired part of the sky and they will appear.
When "turning off the images of the Hubble telescope, etc." only black-and-white images are shown, which more honestly show the image available in an amateur telescope.
Help, suggestions and comments are accepted by mail: [email protected].
Used materials from sites:
www.ngcicproject.org, archive.stsci.edu, heavens-above.com, NASA.gov, Dr. Wolfgang steinicke
The photographs used were declared by their authors free for distribution and transferred for public use (based on the data I received in the places of their original placement, including according to Wikipedia, unless otherwise indicated). If this is not the case, write to me by e-mail.
Acknowledgments:
Andrey Oleshko from Kubinka for the original coordinates of the Milky Way.
Eduard Vazhorov from Novocheboksarsk for the initial coordinates of the outlines of the Foggy Objects.
Nikolay K., Russia
Moreover, it was on this night that the Earth flew through the Geminid meteor shower. True, I never managed to catch them, but the stars themselves were good!
1. Here is a photo showing the satellite tracks.
2. The Parus rock is visible below. We'll go down closer.
3. In 1927 an earthquake occurred on the Crimean peninsula, and then an insignificant part broke off from Cape Limen-Burun, which became the Parus rock. Finally, "Parus" became a separate rock, surrounded on all sides by the Black Sea waters after the destruction of the isthmus that connected the rock with the coast. The Parus rock is located next to the Swallow's Nest.
4. And here the Milky Way is visible above the rocks.
5. Now we are on the shore.
7. Here, either a satellite or a meteor flies through the Pleiades.
11. While we were moving to Mount Cat, Orion stood over the horizon. This is a complex natural monument of national importance, located on the southern coast of Crimea on the territory of the Yalta City Council (Crimea).
Have you already seen all the Crimean palaces? Have you taken a dip in the sea and jumped off slides in water parks? Have a chat with the charming inhabitants of the Yalta Zoo? Walked on a dangerous one? It's time to explore the excursions that follow routes that are not so popular among tourists. One of them will be a visit to the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory.
Where is located: urban-type settlement Nauchny, Bakhchisarai district.
How to get there: from Simferopol, from the Zapadnaya bus station to the Nauchnyi village, regular buses and minibuses run every hour. Four times a day by bus you can get to the observatory and from Bakhchisarai.
What is the best time to visit: the best time is late spring, summer or autumn, since the territory near the observatory is large and it is unpleasant to walk on it in the rain and wind. To look at the stars, it is important to guess with the weather: for an excursion to the Crimean Observatory, you need to gather in cloudless weather (study the weather forecast in the Bakhchisarai region in advance). Another feature: on a full moon, nebulae and star clusters are illuminated by the Moon. The best time to observe is the first quarter.
It is located at an altitude of 600 m above sea level in the village of Nauchny, next to the Crimean nature reserve. The observatory is not only an interesting, but also a full-fledged scientific center conducting research on modern equipment. Astrophysicists conduct research in a wide spectral range of electromagnetic radiation from artificial satellites of the Earth and small bodies of the solar system to extragalactic formations. You can learn about the work of scientists and see how distant galaxies appear in telescopes on an excursion to the Crimean Observatory.
The beginning of astrophysical research in the Crimea was laid by Nikolai Maltsov. A lover of astronomy, he founded a private observatory on Mount Koshka (near Simeiz), which he later handed over to the Pulkovo Observatory. Even before the Great Patriotic War, studies of the photometry of stars and minor planets were carried out here. During the war, the Simeiz observatory was destroyed, and the telescopes were taken to Germany.
In 1945, it was decided to establish a new laboratory in the central Crimea, the climate of which is better suited for the operation of large telescopes. The place was chosen taking into account the long-term observations of the Pulkovo Observatory: it is here that the best transparency of the atmosphere and the largest number of sunny days are noted. Another factor was the remoteness from industrial enterprises. The amazingly beautiful plateau, towering over the immense forests near the lilac peaks of Chatyr-Dag, has become the "home" of the new Crimean Astrophysical Laboratory.
In the 40-50s, active work was carried out to equip the research center with equipment. It was here that a large solar telescope was installed, the largest in the USSR and Europe at that time. Several telescopes with concave mirrors from the famous Zeiss company appeared in the Crimea. In 1954, an extra-eclipse coronagraph was installed, at the same time construction of a tower with a mirror telescope named after academician G.A. Shine with a diameter of 2.6 m.
Scientific research
As you can read on the website of the Crimean Observatory, scientists working here have made a great contribution to the study of physical processes on the Sun, in particular, magnetic fields and flares. They discovered more than 1.5 thousand asteroids, a huge number of variable stars, three comets. It was Crimean scientists who discovered volcanic phenomena on the Moon and the phenomenon of the pulsation of the Sun.
Today, at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, scientists work in six departments - solar physics, radio astronomy, gamma astronomy, experimental astrophysics, optical production and physics of stars and galaxies. The main areas of research are solar activity, the structure and chemical composition of stellar atmospheres, their magnetic fields, gamma astronomy, helioseismology. In addition, scientists are engaged in the development of new generation telescopes, research on asteroids and planets, etc.
Excursion to the Crimean Observatory
Excursions to the Crimean Observatory are organized all year round, however, irregularly. Before going to the Nauchnyi village, be sure to contact the administration by phone:
- 7-978-806-13-74;
- 7-978-893-54-11.
Excursions to the Crimean Observatory are held both in the daytime and in the evening. In principle, you can come in any weather - just look at the Sun or the Moon and the stars, if there are clouds in the sky, you will not be able to - you will have to limit yourself to examining the telescopes and the pictures taken by them. That is why, when planning a trip to Nauchny, it is better to check the weather forecast and check with the guides if there are any clouds directly above the observatory.
In the evening, excursions to the Crimean Observatory begin at sunset, so the exact time needs to be specified. For example, in July-August it will be necessary to drive up by 19.30, and in September - by 19.00.
The ticket price for an excursion to the Crimean Observatory is 300 rubles for adults and 150 for children. There are a few more important points that are useful for tourists:
- In order for the stars to be better visible, the territory of the Crimean Observatory is very poorly illuminated, so it is advisable to bring a flashlight with you.
- Dress warmly. The village of Nauchny is located on an elevation, so the temperature here is 4-5 degrees lower than on the South Coast or in Sevastopol.
- Be sure to bring some souvenir money with you! You won't buy such unique things as from the Crimean Observatory anywhere else.
The great opposition of Mars and the Earth, a total lunar eclipse, meteor showers - 2018 will be rich in astronomical phenomena that can be observed from Earth.
Convergence of planets
Already on January 7, one of the most remarkable “convergence of planets.” “Without a telescope, residents of all of Russia will be able to see Mars and Jupiter in the sky so close that they could well be covered by the disk of the full moon. Of course, the real distance between these planets is huge, but on this night they will line up so that they will actually be visible in the neighborhood of each other. And on January 11, next to this pair of planets, the Moon will also pass, which is also worth seeing, ”said Kashin.
The moon will close Aldebaran
On January 27, it will be possible to see the first in the new year the Moon's covering of the star Aldebaran from the constellation Taurus. This astronomical event will happen several times during the year.
Kashin noted that, according to one of the versions, it was precisely such astronomical observations of a bright star near the Moon that could inspire ancient people with the idea of a well-known symbol - a month with a star. Now it is present on the flags of many eastern states.
Venus, Uranus and Jupiter
From February 19, in the evenings, Venus will be visible in the sky, it will be possible to observe it for several months. On March 4, Mercury will pass at a distance of two lunar disks (1 degree) north of Venus, and on March 29, Venus will pass 0.1 degrees south of Uranus.
“This is a very interesting circumstance. Imagine Venus - the brightest planet in our sky - and Uranus, which we cannot see with our eyes in the illuminated city sky. We need a telescope, and we also need some kind of landmark to direct it to Uranus. And here is a generally unique situation - the brightest planet Venus and next to it (in one-fifth of the Moon's disk) - Uranus, ”Kashin explained.
The best conditions for observing the giant Jupiter will develop on May 9 - it will go into opposition to the Sun. According to the astronomer, approximately every 13 months this planet approaches the Earth at a minimum distance and Jupiter illuminated by the Sun in the sky becomes brighter, and looks larger in a telescope.
Great confrontation
July 2018, according to Kashin, is the most promising month in terms of astronomical phenomena. The most interesting event will take place on the night of July 28 - the planet Mars will be at the closest distance from the Earth in the last 15-17 years. This is called the "great confrontation."
“The fact is that Mars revolves around the Sun in an elongated orbit: it either approaches the Sun, then moves away. Every 2.5 years our planet catches up with Mars, and we find ourselves at close distances, but if at this moment Mars just approached the Sun, the distance between our planets turns out to be the smallest possible. At these moments in strong telescopes you can clearly distinguish the elements of the Martian relief, "- said Kashin.
Meteor showers
The maximum of one of the most famous meteor showers - the Perseids from the constellation Perseus - will be observed on August 13. Kashin recalled that in some years it was possible to observe up to 60 bright meteors per hour.
“In order to feel the full effect, it is imperative to look outside the city - even a trail of a meteor is visible there,” explained Kashin.
Another powerful meteor shower - Draconids from the constellation Draco - will reach maximum activity by October 8, and another torrential stellar shower - on December 14.
In 2018, there will be more solar and lunar eclipses than usual, and one of them - the lunar eclipse of July 27, which can be observed throughout Russia - will be the longest in 100 years, it will last almost 2 hours. The phenomenon will begin at 20 : 13 Moscow time. The total phase of the eclipse is from 22:30 on July 27 to 01:14 on July 28.
Most scientists believe that the selection of the constellation Taurus by the Sumerians, as the first constellation in the zodiacal row, testifies to the antiquity of the zodiac. The ancients (including the Sumerians) considered the beginning of the year to be the vernal equinox, and the 30-degree celestial segment, in which the Sun was at that moment, was the first in the series of zodiacal signs. During the heyday of the Sumerian civilization and the emergence of astrology (IV-V millennium BC), the vernal equinox was in Taurus, which served as the basis for identifying this zodiacal sign as a reference point in the annual movement of the Sun along the ecliptic. The summer solstice at this time took place under the sign of Leo, which was endowed with bright solar qualities due to the highest position of the sun during the year in this zodiac sign. The researcher of the Sumerian culture Hartner drew attention to the motive of the fight between the bull and the lion, which is often repeated since ancient times in the drawings of the Sumerians, and put forward the hypothesis that it is a reflection of the mutual arrangement of the constellations Taurus and Leo, marked by the vernal equinox and the summer solstice in 4000 BC.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu wrestle with lions and bulls.
But the vernal equinox does not have a stationary position on the ecliptic; it is slowly shifting in the direction opposite to the daily rotation of the celestial sphere. In addition to the rotation of the Earth around its own axis, our planet, under the influence of the joint influence of the Sun and the Moon, performs oscillatory precessional and nutational movements, similar to the movements of a top, the axis of rotation of which is inclined relative to the horizontal plane. Due to the precession of the earth's axis, the equinox and solstice points moved year after year in the direction opposite to the direction of the Earth's rotation, at a rate of fifty seconds per year, or 1 degree of the celestial arc in 72 years, that is, one complete zodiacal sign in 2160 years. "
1 The phenomenon of precession is the result of the oscillation of the earth's axis, which connects the poles of the earth and describes a large circle in the sky. The time for the earth's axis to pass a full circle of 360 degrees is 25,920 years. So many years must pass before the North Pole again points to the same Pole Star.
In 2003, the vernal equinox moved to the sign of Aquarius, and therefore the beginning of the zodiacal circle should move along with it to the sign of Aquarius. Nevertheless, this did not happen - the "Sumerian" order of astrological signs and the system of abodes and exaltation of the planets remained unshakable. The Sun still has its abode in the sign of Leo, although the summer solstice now falls not on the sign of Leo, but on the 30th degree of Taurus. The moon, which affects the growth of plants, still takes place of exaltation in Taurus, although during the period of spring flowering today, the Sun moves not along the constellation Taurus, but along the constellation Pisces.
projection onto constellations of rotation of the axis of precession
Time passes, the equinox points move along the ecliptic, the zodiacal signs no longer coincide with the zodiacal constellations to which they were once "attached", but astrological patterns, nevertheless, remain very relevant. People born under the sign of Leo still stand out against the background of those around them with brightness and regal manners, typical Pisces still prefer the illusory world of fantasies and dreams to objective reality, and Taurus still try to create a solid material foundation for the realization of their very specific goals. what is the secret of such a strange discrepancy between the unshakable astrological system of signs, houses, abodes, etc. real movement of the precession point from sign to sign? After all, astrological patterns are objectively manifested regardless of whether we know about them or not. How can this happen if the zodiacal constellations corresponding to astrological signs have long ago left their original places?
There can only be one answer - in astrology, primary not at all constellations crossed by the planets in their movement along the ecliptic, but luminaries- The Sun, dividing the year into four seasons, equinoxes and solstices, and the Moon, dividing the year into 12 months. The zodiac signs, reflecting the division of the solar year into 12 lunar months, exactly corresponded to the zodiacal constellations only in the time of Ancient Sumer. The Sumerians used the celestial sphere only as a scale for marking the year for 4 seasons of 3 months each. Those stars that fell into the 30-degree segments of the celestial arc marked by the Moon and the Sun were combined into the zodiacal constellations. For the groups of stars that coincide with the rising of the Sun during 12 different months, the ancient astronomers assigned astrological names: Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and the one that has survived for them to this day.
As a result, confusion arose: from the moment astrology appeared to the present time, the zodiac constellations have shifted along the ecliptic by almost 90 degrees, the vernal equinox has moved to the sign of Aquarius, while the beginning of the zodiac corresponds to the picture of the 1st century BC, when the vernal equinox was at the sign of Aries. With all this, the system of rulers of the zodiacal signs remained the same as in the time of Ancient Sumer, when the point of the vernal equinox, the beginning of the year and the zodiacal circle fell on the sign of Taurus. Such a discrepancy between astrological constructions and the real movement of the heavens was the result of a number of errors, each of which was due to objective historical circumstances.
In the era of Pisces - the era of Christianity, astrology condemned by the church was in a "frozen" state, which led to the fact that the vernal equinox along with the zodiacal constellations went ahead, and the sequence of astrological signs with the beginning of the zodiacal circle in Aries still corresponded to the level of development of astrology times of Hellenism. However, apparently, the initial mistake was made much earlier.
Most likely, the Akkadians still misunderstood the essence of the zodiacal astrology of the Sumerians. The inhabitants of Akkad, having conquered the more developed Sumerians in the XXII century BC, took the writing, mathematics and astrological science of the Sumerians, but, unfortunately, they took it literally. Astrological signs were correlated by them with the zodiacal constellations, which, in principle, could not be done, since the signs should be rigidly linked with the solstices and equinoxes, and not at all with the sections of the celestial sphere along which the Sun moves during the year. Astrological signs and zodiacal constellations could be identified only if the celestial sphere was immutable and did not undergo precessional movement.
Even the Sumerians knew about the phenomenon of precession (anticipation of the equinoxes), but during the heyday of their civilization, the zodiacal constellations exactly corresponded to the zodiacal signs. The successors of the Sumerians - Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians and Hellenes - developed astrological science, supplementing the basic Sumerian astronomy with new discoveries. One of these "innovations" was the discovery by Hipparchus of the phenomenon of precession, which was known to the Sumerians 3000 years earlier. By the time of Hipparchus, many ancient knowledge had been lost, including the knowledge of such a phenomenon as the anticipation of the equinoxes. But in the days of Assyria and Babylon, astrologers corrected the zodiacal circle by moving the beginning of the zodiac from the sign of Taurus to the sign of Aries.Only the fact of the transition of the vernal equinox point from the zodiac sign Taurus to the sign of Aries could have pushed the stargazers to such a reform. planets.
The fact that the Sumerians have a deep knowledge of the movement of the Earth and the luminaries is confirmed by many modern researchers. “Research by Professor Langdon has shown that the Nippur calendar, compiled around 4400 BC, that is, in the era of Taurus, speaks of awareness of the phenomenon of precession in general and of the displacement of the zodiacal houses in particular, which took place 2160 years earlier than the indicated time. Professor Jeremias, who correlated the Mesopotamian texts on astronomy with similar Hittite texts, was of the opinion that ancient clay tablets contain information about the transition from the constellation Taurus to the constellation Aries, and also came to the conclusion that Mesopotamian astronomers predicted and expected the movement of the Sun from Aries house to Pisces house »Sitchin Z. 12th planet. M, 2002".
Apparently, the Sumerians knew about the phenomenon of precession long before the second discovery of this phenomenon by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus. However, they, who created a surprisingly harmonious system of the zodiacal hierarchy, knew that precession affects events of an epochal nature, while the solar cycle of 12 zodiacal signs, divided into 4 groups by the points of solstices and equinoxes, dividing the year by 4 is much more important for human life. season for 3 months each. Each zodiac sign is associated with one or another lunar month, successively replacing each other 12 times throughout the year. Even the mythological images of the zodiac signs are associated with the calendar cycles of sowing, plowing, harvesting, the rainy season, and so on. If the zodiacal circle was displaced along the ecliptic adequately to the precession, then now we would have to recognize the zodiacal sign of Aquarius as the first sign, and the entire system of planetary mansions would have to shift along the ecliptic by 90 degrees. In this case, from February 2003, Taurus would have to be considered the sign of the abode of the Sun, Aries, the sign of the abode of the Moon, and so on to complete absurdity. Of course, this should not happen, since the entire system of astrological laws becomes conditional and loses all meaning.
The zodiac is adapted for the geocentric system, for people living on Earth, and therefore much more acutely feeling the change in the phases of the moon and seasons of the year than the transition of the vernal equinox from one zodiac sign to another due to the phenomenon of the precession of the earth's axis. Therefore, once and for all, we will establish the most important astrological position: the zodiac and the constellations along which the sun moves during the year are not the same thing. The constellations move along the ecliptic at a speed of 1 degree of the celestial arc in 72 earth years. The zodiac is unshakable, for it embodies the cosmic law of proportionality of the annual solar and monthly lunar cycles.
The influence of the Sun and the Moon dominates over all other cosmic influences, and this was perfectly realized by the ancient astronomers, who created a universal system of the zodiacal hierarchy. The zodiacal circle is based on 4 pivotal points of the solar and lunar paths along the celestial sphere. These points and the corresponding zodiac signs symbolize 4 hypostases of the sun and 4 hypostases of the moon. The sun in the monastery symbolizes the greatness of the Sun at the time of the summer solstice, the winter solstice shows the qualities of the exiled Sun, the lack of its life-giving energy in the winter months. The vernal and autumnal equinoxes correspond to the exaltation and fall of the Sun, reviving in the spring and "dying" in the fall. The four zodiac signs, in which the Moon exhibits special qualities, correspond to the four phases of the Moon during the month. The expulsion of the Moon is nothing more than a new moon, the abode of the Moon is the manifestation of the maximum lunar qualities at the moment of the full moon, exaltation and the fall of the night luminary correspond to the growing and aging Moon, mythologically associated with the images of Selena and Lilith.
The signs of the highlighted position of the Sun and the Moon form an unshakable frame of the zodiacal circle, on which the entire building of planetary abodes, exiles, exaltation and falls is built. The zodiac signs, which are under the patronage of the Sun and the Moon, have only one ruler, which distinguishes them from among other signs, each of which is ruled by two planets.
The sun and the moon make up a pair of luminaries, symbolizing the cosmic harmony of masculine and feminine principles. That is why the signs of the abode, expulsion, fall and exaltation of the Sun are in close proximity to the signs of the abode, expulsion, fall and exaltation of the Moon. Leo, symbolizing the power of the Sun at the moment
solstice, adjacent to the sign of Cancer, embodying the qualities of the full moon. Capricorn, in which the exiled Moon exhibits the qualities of a new moon, is adjacent to Aquarius, in which the Sun is in exile at the time of the winter solstice. This logic was followed by the founders of the zodiacal circle 6,000 years ago.
Over time, such astrological views have not become less relevant. The Sun and the Moon have a much greater influence on the biosphere of the Earth than the rest of the planets and even more distant stars, which makes it clear the priority of the Sun and the Moon in the astrological system in comparison with all other celestial bodies. The diameter of the Moon is 400 times smaller than that of the Sun, but the fact that it is 400 times closer to the Earth than the Sun makes its apparent angular diameter almost equal to the solar diameter, as a result of which total solar eclipses become possible. The equal size of the apparent angular diameters of the day and night stars served as a reason for the ancient astrologers to give the Sun and the Moon an equal status in the zodiacal circle.
The zodiacal circle is a sequence of signs expressing the idea of evolution and the formation of the cosmos. The belonging of the zodiacal signs to one element or another is due to a strict regularity, suggesting the division of the zodiacal circle not only into elements, but also into zones, quadrants, hemispheres and crosses. The twelve-part Zodiac can be divided into several prime numbers, as a result of which the zodiacal crosses, zones, elements, etc., arise. The prime numbers by which 12 is divisible without a remainder are 2, 3, 4 and 6, but since these numbers have different occult-mystical meanings, the division of the zodiacal circle into 2 hemispheres, 3 zones, 4 quadrants, 4 crosses and 6 dyads, allows you to look at the "circle of life" (zodiacos) from different angles.
The refraction of the zodiacal circle into 2 equal parts (northern and southern hemispheres) is the primary of the possible divisions of the zodiac, since it expresses the initial duality - the equal size of day and night during the day and the equal size of the warm and cold seasons. Two is the number of primary duality, the presence of opposition, and therefore any even number (equally divided without remainder) is dual, ambivalent by definition. Each even number, and therefore the 12-ary zodiacal circle, contains two necessary opposites: masculine and feminine, light and dark, obvious and secret sides. The annual circle of 12 months is divided by the spring and autumn equinox into two semesters - warm and cold, due to the tilt of the earth's axis in relation to the ecliptic. A decrease in the tilt of the planet's axis would lead to a noticeable decrease in seasonal climate changes and the elimination of climatic differences between the southern and northern hemispheres of the Earth. An increase in the angle of inclination of the planet in relation to the plane of the ecliptic, on the contrary, would lead to a pronounced temperature and climatic contrast between the hemispheres of the planet. An example of this is Uranus, orbiting almost lying on its side, as a result of which an eternal day lasts in the hemisphere facing the Sun, while eternal cold and darkness reigns beyond the planet's equator.
Earthlings are spared such a pronounced polarity of climatic conditions, but nevertheless, in terrestrial conditions, the contrast between the cold and warm seasons is felt the sharper, the closer the observer is to the planet's pole. In the Arctic Circle, time flows according to different laws, and the daily rhythm of the change of day and night acquires the scale of the annual rhythm of the change of the seasons of the year. The polar night, which lasts for six months, replaces the no less long polar day. In the Arctic, the struggle between light and darkness, day and night, summer and winter, life and death, becomes the main idea of nature. The life of people living in the circumpolar regions is completely subordinate to the natural rhythm of the alternation of the dark and light seasons, which could not but affect the psychology, mythology and religious views of the northern peoples. According to the Iranian Avesta and the Indian Rig Veda, the oldest written records of the Indo-Europeans, the ancestors of the Aryans came from the far North, from where they brought the doctrine of the struggle between light and darkness, as well as the cult of the Sun - the giver of life, light and warmth. Lunar cults are a product of the southern peoples, for whom the coolness of the night and the soft light of the moon seemed more valuable than the sizzling heat of the southern sun. The difference in climatic conditions of residence of individual ethnic groups led to the formation of various psychotypes, national cultures, mythological and religious ideas.
Most researchers agree that the ancestral home of the Aryans could have been the Arctic in the distant times of the halowen optimum, when the life of people, animals and plants in the extreme northern latitudes was possible. For the inhabitants of the North, winter and night are identical, inextricably linked concepts, which cannot be said about the inhabitants of more southern latitudes. Near the equator, there are no seasonal changes in nature at all, and the biological tuning fork of living organisms is tuned only to the diurnal rhythm. If the pole is the focus of opposites, the concept of the eternal struggle between light and darkness, then in the equatorial regions of the planet all opposites are erased, a balance of night and day is established with absolute climatic constancy and the absence of seasons.
Everything is much more complicated in middle latitudes, where the length of daylight hours directly depends on the time of year, and the main rhythm of nature is not the annual cycle, as at the pole, and not the daily cycle, as at the equator, but the monthly cycle, which is of enormous importance for agricultural crops. The poles and equatorial regions of the planet are completely subordinate to the solar rhythm, with the only difference that the equatorial day marks the revolution of the Earth around its axis, and polar days equal to a year mark the revolution of the Earth around the Sun. In both cases, nature is inherent in constancy: at the equator during the year 365 times replace each other "days of the groundhog", which are no different from each other, at the poles, endless polar days and nights last six months. And only in middle latitudes, the nature of the earth manifests itself in maximum diversity, due not only to the change of day and night, but also to the change of seasons. For residents of middle latitudes, the lunisolar calendar is very relevant, combining in its structure the rhythms of the day and night stars. New moons, occurring every 30 days (synodic month), served as a reason for dividing the year into shorter periods of time, reflecting the different stages of the vegetative annual cycle. The years marked by the coincidence of the new moons and the vernal equinox were considered pivotal, "basic", since it was during these years that the solar and lunar months came simultaneously, which symbolized the heavenly harmony and beauty of the established world order.
For an elementary orientation in time, a person needs to know three time indicators: day, month and year, associated with the movement of the Earth around its axis, as well as with the movement of the Moon around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun. The annual macrocycle has a solar nature, the monthly one is lunar, and the daily microcycle of day and night changes is of an earthly nature and is associated only with the speed of rotation of the Earth around its axis. Each of the three time cycles (annual, monthly and daily) is divided into four parts. The day is divided into 4 times of the day: morning, afternoon, evening and night. The year is divided into 4 seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. The month is divided into 4 phases of the moon, which have become prototypes for dividing the month into 4 seven-day weeks (the word "week" emphasizes the indivisibility, integrity of the sacred number 7, since any numbers ending in 7 are not divisible by any divisors except 1). Thus, there are 3 main time cycles, but each is divided into 4 components, which together make up 12 forms of time: 4 times of day, 4 seasons of the year and 4 weeks of the month, symbolically associated with the four phases of the night star.
Three zodiacal zones include 4 signs each, which makes up an integral set of primary cosmic elements, consisting of fire, earth, air and water. The division of the zodiac into zones occurs between the signs of fire and water - elements that are mutually exclusive. Each zodiacal zone - a section of the ecliptic at 120 degrees - represents a model of the evolution of cosmic matter. The first sign of each zone of the zodiac is associated with the cosmic element of fire, which corresponds to the idea of the primacy of the fiery principle.
According to the concept of the origin of the solar system, established in the scientific world, in the center of the gas and dust nebula, the Sun was the first to appear - a fiery star, a source of heat and light. Further, grains of solid matter revolving around the center of the gas-dust cloud were grouped into protoplanes (tl. Planetesimals), from which the solid terrestrial planets with a rocky core subsequently arose: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. This second stage of the genesis of the solar system is quite consistent with the elements of the earth, with which Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are associated - the second signs in the zodiacal zones. Further, in the zodiacal zones, the signs of the air element follow, and in the solar system, behind the solid "terrestrial" planets, there are gaseous giant planets Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, formed from gas - light matter, and therefore displaced further from the Sun compared to the terrestrial planets. Closer to the periphery of the solar system are located "water" planets: Neptune, Pluto, Proserpine, which are spherical lumps of frozen liquid. An ammonia ocean moves under the icy surface of Neptune, while Pluto receives so little solar heat that almost all the liquid on it has turned into ice.However, distant planets can reasonably be correlated with the water signs of the Zodiac, which close the evolutionary sequence of elements in each zodiacal zone.
Thus, it can be established that the sequence of the four elements in the zodiacal circle (fire, earth, air, water) is due to the evolution of the solar system, and not some other process, since a gradation in density of matter would give a completely different picture. Four states of matter, depending on its density: plasma, gaseous, liquid and solid, exactly correspond to the four alchemical elements: fire, air, water and earth. However, in the zodiacal model, we observe a different sequence, from which we can conclude that the Zodiac is a more complex structure, built not on the involutionary principle of the transition of energy into a state of matter with a further increase in its density, but on the evolutionary principle of the formation of the solar system and the origin of life in it ...
Life is symbolized by the element of wood - the fifth element, which is the quintessence of the four elements. The system of Chinese medicine is based on the doctrine of five elements, which, in addition to the usual zodiacal elements, also include the element of wood, which is an integral part of the Chinese universe. The fifth element of Greek astrology was considered ether - a subtle substance that permeates the entire Universe and connects it into a single whole. On the material level, the element of wood corresponded to the ether, which Plutarch popularly spoke about in his work "On" E "in Delphi". The tree is the carrier of life, embodying the principle of evolutionary growth and the connection of the lower, middle and upper worlds. It is no coincidence that practically in all traditions there is an image of the World Tree, which is the axis on which the entire Universe is based. Therefore, not to include the “fifth element” in the Zodiac would mean leaving it as a lifeless model of aimless development of the cosmos, because the true goal of the evolutionary cosmic process is the development of life, and it is the World Tree that is the main carrier of vital energy. Plants arose before living organisms and subsequently became the basis of the diet for more highly organized forms of life. It is no coincidence that the tree became the symbol of eternal life.
The evolution of nature and the emergence of life are reflected in the sequence of five elements that make up the integrity of the Universe as understood by the ancient Chinese. The Chinese pentagram evolves from fire to earth, from earth to metal (corresponding to the element of air in the European tradition), from metal-air to water, from water to wood. As you can see, the sequence is the same as in the zodiacal circle, with the only difference that the fifth element is added to the circle of life - the element of a tree. This diagram accurately reflects the sequence of processes that led to the formation of life on planet Earth. First, in the chaos of a gas-dust cloud, the Sun (fire) is born, then a material planet (element of the earth) is molded from solid particles. Further, the Earth - Gaia gives birth to the sky - Uranus (element of air), i.e. the geological and volcanic activity of the planet leads to the formation of the atmosphere. The next element in the evolutionary sequence of the elements is water, born from the air. Water vapor in the earth's atmosphere cooled down and condensed into water that fell to the ground in the form of rain. And water, as you know, became the environment in which life was born, symbolically represented in the five-ray evolutionary model by the element of wood