NATS 1745 Study Guide - Final Guide: Eclipse Season, February 29, Tropical Year
25 Oct 2014
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Document Summary
The ancient chinese monitored the skies because they believed that celestial events mirrored those on earth (chaos in the sky reflected rebellion in the chinese people against the government). They were interested in comets and supernovae because they were unpredictable to them, unlike planets. The crab nubula and crab pulsar were produced by a supernova. The pyramid of kukulkan has 365 steps, showing that the mayans were aware of the sun"s. The annual serpent-pattern of light & shade on the structure tracked the time of year. The remaining openings in the mayan el caracol suggest that the building was used to track. Many ancient civilization believed that eclipses were bad omens due to the damaged appearance of the sun or moon. The moon"s phases are caused by the changing angles (relative positions) of the earth, the. Moon and the sun, as the moon orbits the earth. We see different portions of the moon"s sunlit side as it orbits.
