SOLAR-LUNAR
CALENDAR
Updated
Wednesday 8th August 2007-
Several crop pictures from the summer of 2007 have
suggested a near-future date of August 18 for the
occurrence of some unexpected event, that may cause
Earth's scientists to take the crop-circle phenomenon
seriously.
On July 7 at East Field, a
series of lunar phase cycles seemed to end anomalously
on August 18, just six days after a new Moon. Then on
August 1 at Sugar Hill, a series of cube sundials were
used to symbolize a time interval of only 18 days,
between midnight on July 31 (when that crop picture
appeared) and midnight on August 18.
Now on August 4 at Pewsey,
we have been presented with a "solar-lunar calendar"
that gives precise dates based on motions of the Sun
and/or Moon. We need to study it carefully in order to
understand what they are telling us:
Lunar phase
information
With those ideas in mind, I
first calculated a precise value of "lunar phase" as
shown in that new crop picture, based on the geometry of
its large internal crescent which seems to symbolize the
Moon.
Most astronomers define
lunar phase in terms of "fractional illumination", or
how much of the Moon's surface facing Earth is
illuminated by sunlight. We can find fractional
illumination from the Pewsey crop picture by measuring
the area of a large outer circle (surrounding
that crescent), minus the area of a small inner circle
(internal to the crescent), then dividing by the area of
the large outer circle.
From published photographs,
I measured diameter (outer circle) = 123 mm versus
diameter (inner circle) = 100 mm. Those values give
radius (outer circle) = 61.5 mm versus radius (inner
circle) = 50.0 mm. Taking the squares, we find (3782 -
2500) / 3782 = 34% lunar phase. Another photograph gave
32%. Perhaps someone might wish to measure in the field?
Using a program from the
web (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/AltAz.html),
one can determine that a
narrow range of lunar
phases from 32-34% gives near-future times based on GMT
as either August 7 from 0700 to 1200, or else August 18
at 2400 to August 19 at 0600. In light of other recent
crop pictures, the latter might seem more relevant than
the former:
Solar azimuth
information
Next I tried to find out
what they were telling us concerning the Sun? As shown
the in first diagram above, their solar calendar shows
threefold symmetry about the centre. Hence sunrise would
lie on the eastern horizon at 60 degrees, noon would
lie high in the southern sky at 180 degrees, while
sunset would lie on the western horizon at 300 degrees.
Another crop picture from Avebury last week likewise
showed threefold solar symmetry, on a date of July 31
for latitude 51 degrees North.
But such symmetry depends
on latitude, and may be calculated as August 4 (when
Pewsey appeared) for latitude 52 degrees, August 7
for latitude 54 degrees, or August 18 for latitude 61
degrees. That final value would correspond to southern
Norway, where the ancient inhabitants of Britain (called
Tuatha de' Danaan) lived before they migrated to
Scotland, Ireland and Avebury. Further crop pictures
over the next two weeks will be eagerly anticipated. What
next?
An alternative
interpretation that gives almost the same times and
dates for 32-34% lunar phase. But I remain unsure
whether they intended Pewsey to be field oriented or
not.
Why was the lunar
crescent at Pewsey oriented toward a setting Sun?
Pewsey of August 4 showed a lunar crescent with 34%
phase, that could be interpreted either as a waning moon
on August 7, or as a growing moon on August 18-19. To
resolve that ambiguity, the crop artists oriented it in
the field toward a setting Sun. Their
culturally-specific symbols often show "a new Moon
coming out of the setting Sun" (as at Stonehenge 1996),
but never "a full Moon coming out of the rising Sun".
Hence that lunar crescent at Pewsey seemingly refers to
the "next new Moon" beginning on August 13, which will
reach 32-34% phase after six days. Indeed, that was
precisely what they showed at East Field on July 7 for
lunar cycle IV.
Red Collie
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