Something About The Night Sky Thales from Miletus, the first recorded Greek philosopher, was once reported to be walking around late one night with his eyes glued to the sky. That night he was so engrossed in his stargazing, he didn’t notice that he was approaching a well. He kept walking, and just like that he fell in. Thales demonstrates human’s constant need to comprehend the sky. During day time their is one star that heats the whole earth and remains never changing. While at night there is a natural satellite that is changeable and allows the earth to cool. These figures are given titles the sun and moon, and they rise and set to schedules. They seem predictable, despite the fact they are not. Human’s have unquenchable thirst for understanding everything. The sky is no different. Humans interest in sky can be broken down into many main categories mainly astronomy and astrology. Astronomy covers the study of the sun, moon, stars. While astrology may be pseudo-science, it’s based on the sky, and was once the most searched terms on Google.com. Astrology is the study and interpretation of the relationship between the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets and the life of an individual essentially. Astrology has a long history. …show more content…
The believing American use the sun signs it to explain and interpret their individual physical and mental characteristics. The signs each seem to have general fitting observations regarding their mental, emotional, physical, spiritual characteristics. The signs are broken down to Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each of the signs are grouped into 4 elements. Aries, Leo, Sagittarius are fire signs. While Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces are water signs, Libra, Aquarius, Gemini are air signs, and Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo are earth signs. Even the element associations add characteristics each person
When a person's faith is also an alternative for their culture and morals, it proves challenging to take that sense of security in that faith away from them. In Night, Elie Wiesel, a Jewish student living in Sighet, Transylvania during the war of 1942, uses his studies in Talmud and the Kabbalah as not only a religious practice but a lifestyle. Elie and his fellow civilians are warned, however, by his Kabbalah teacher who says that during the war, German aggressors are aggregately imprisoning, deporting, and annihilating millions of Jews. When Elie and his family are victim of this aggression, Elie realizes how crucial his faith in God is if he is to survive the Holocaust. He vows after being separated from his mother and sisters that he will protect he and his father from death, even though as death nears, Elie gradually becomes closer to losing his faith. In the end, to Elie's devastation, Elie makes it out of the Holocaust alone after his father dies from the intense seclusion to malnutrition and deprivation. Elie survives the Holocaust through a battle of conscience--first by believing in God, then resisting his faith in God, and ultimately replacing his faith with obligation to his father.
The basic astrological assumptions are not hard to grasp. For if astronomy is the study of the movements of the heavenly bodies, then astrology is the study of the effects of those movements. The astronomers of the ancient world assumed a division of the universe whereby the superior, immutable bodies of the celestial worlds ruled over the terrestrial or sublunary sphere, where all was mortality and change. It was assumed that the stars had special qualities and influences which were transmitted downwards upon the passive earth, and which varied in their effect, according to the changing relationship of the heavenly bodies to each other. They were led to postulate a single system in which the seven moving stars or planet shifted their position in relation to the earth and each other, against a fixed backcloth of the twelve signs of the zodiac.
In the renaissance period stars were said to have a great impact on society. The Elizabethans were absorbed by celestial prophesy also called astrology, the reading of the different positions of stars, and their impact on people. It was also used as an important political instrument by the rulers as it gave them guidance and future predictions, thus astrology was regarded as important mainly for its popularity among the monarchs especially queen Elizabeth because she was known for her friendship and consultation with john Dee, a famous astrologist.
Even to the casual observer, using just the ability of the human eye, there is a noticeable order in the manner of the movement of the celestial objects as they travel across the sky. The Sun, Moon, and the stars, all have a discernable pattern to their rising and setting. Upon closer observance, one might notice slight seasonal changes in the relative location on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets. Alternatively, one can notice more drastic variations in the Moon's relative position, the timing of it's appearances, and the variation of the portion of the Moon that is illuminated on any given night. In addition, the stars, if tracked even for a short period, clearly have a pattern to their rising and setting on any given night. Again on careful observance over a period of time one can see that there is a seasonal variation to the location of some stars, with some not being visible at certain time of the year, and others appearing instead. Finally, still with the naked eye, if one were to place close attention, one would notice that some of these "stars" do not follow the same pattern, and seem to follow different rules. So, what do the observable facts all add up to? Are there rules of order that the celestial objects follow? If one were to study the celestial objects long enough, could one discover the rules and be able to accurately predict the movements of celestial objects with accuracy? Surely, peoples of ancient civilizations pondered the same type of questions.
I was born with an inherent fascination for all things celestial. Ever since I was young, I have been staring at the night sky trying to find constellations, or using my juvenile imagination to create my own. My efforts to find, view, and mentally catalogue everything the heavenly bodies have to offer has led me to employ some over-the-top measures, but the most extreme of them all might be the night I stayed awake through the wee hours of the morning to catch a glimpse of a meteor shower. Over the course of an entire year, the memory of this stupefying event is still as lucent and vivid as it was that very night so long ago.
In the poem “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost, the Romantic poet explores the idea of humanity through nature. This sonnet holds a conversational tone with a depressing mood as the man walks in the dark city trying to gain knowledge about his “inner self”. The narrator takes a stroll at night to embrace the natural world but ignores the society around him. His walk allows him to explore his relationship with nature and civilization. In “Acquainted with the Night”, the narrator emphasizes his isolation from the society by stating his connectivity with the natural world.
Today many patterns including real estate sales to fluctuations in the climate have been attributed to the cycle of sunspots. These fluctuations may be an explanation of the decline of Sun worship in India due the increased sunspot activity during the time of the Medieval Maximum. Throughtout history these fluctuations have been omens (e.g. a slave revolutionists incited a riot when he interpreted the site of a large black area on the Sun as the black taking over the white) (Schaefer 38). There are also modern examples of solar fluctuations affecting the Earth like the delayed launch of the Hubble Telescope (Schaefer 38) and the disruptions in electrical and radio technology during solar flares due to increased activity of sunspots at the last solar maximum in 1989.
The 20th Century American poet, Anne Sexton once said, “Poetry should be a shock to the senses. It should almost hurt.” Sexton displays this belief through her writing style and set of controversial themes, which unquestionably shocked critics at times. Many of Sexton’s poems reflect on her personal struggles with mental illness and her numerous encounters with suicidal feelings. Sexton became known as a confessional poet because of her autobiographical style of writing. The main themes of her poetry are depression and death. “Wanting to Die”, “The Truth the Dead Know”, “The Abortion”, and “The Starry Night”, are all examples of Sexton’s writing that portray her central poetic themes. Through the use of vivid visual imagery, especially natural
In Bright Star, Keats utilises a mixture of the Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnet forms to vividly portray his thoughts on the conflict between his longing to be immortal like the steadfast star, and his longing to be together with his love. The contrast between the loneliness of forever and the intenseness of the temporary are presented in the rich natural imagery and sensuous descriptions of his true wishes with Fanny Brawne.
Vincent Van Gogh’s piece titled Starry Night, represents the artist’s insanity and isolation from the outside world. Van Gogh painted the view that was seen from the room, mixed with the emotions he felt inside. Starry Night is an oil painting on canvas and is two dimensional. The painting is found in the Museum of Modern Art located in New York. The variety of elements and principles of art, help to bring the painting to life, and help viewers understand what the art could represent.
Human fascination with the stars is as ancient as Babylonians and has been suggested to be older than Stonehenge. From “be fruitful and multiply” to “live long and prosper,” the instinct to protect and propagate the species has manifested in religion, art, and the imaginations of countless individuals. As human understanding of space treks out of the fantastical and into the scientific, the realities of traveling through and living in space are becoming clearer. Exploring, investigating, and living in space pose an expansive series of problems. However, the solutions to the problems faced by mankind's desire to reach beyond the horizon, through the night sky, and into the stars are solutions that will help in all areas of life on Earth.
It was not up until 200 years ago that people started identifying their zodiac sign with the position of the Sun. So when a person is asked what is his or sign, the Sun was passing through on the day that person was born. This can be demonstrated on a birth chart. Our birth charts are special "sky maps" which reflect the quality of the exact moment we drew our first breath. With that first breath, we each began our own incredible hero's journey through life on planet Earth. The birth positions of the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto all play their own unique symbolic roles as messengers and ambassadors of the universe.
When people believe in astrology, what they believe is that the planets and stars directly or indirectly influence their lives and determine what happens to them in life. (Weblinkers.com Enterprises, p.1) The stars are said to show guidance and meaning for the lives of people. (Woolfolk, p.297)
Ever since the beginning of time there have been stars. Not only stars in the sky, but moons, planets, and even galaxies! Astronomy is defined as the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. In other words it is the study of space, planets, and stars. Throughout the ages, many people have used astronomy to help them learn about the universe, our own planet, and even make predictions about life itself. Understanding astronomy means understanding where it originated, the different groups/cultures that used it, and modern purposes of the science of the stars.
Have you ever thought about going on a vacation? Would you go to Alaska, the northern part of Canada, or the southern half of Sweden? I want to see Alaska, not visit because I feel I would freeze to death my first day there. Better bring a heavy wool jacket if you go to Siberia or south Antarctica. When the forecast is just right in those areas, and you go on vacation you will be able to catch a beautiful aurora. I am not talking about the Roman Goddess of dawn, although she might help with lighting up the night sky where Aurora Borealis, or Aurora Australis shine (Eos). Aurora Borealis in Latin means “red dawn of the north,” (Fast & Thomas). Internationally known as the Northern Lights. With a fascinating history, incredible views, and interesting