this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2024
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[–] Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca 31 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Lined up with Orions Belt is that great little sprinkle of wild, flailing outrage that makes no sense whatsoever.

How could ancient people, with their better visibility of the stars and greater common understanding and reliance on their position for navigation, place things on the ground to match stars?!

But also, Orions Belt is 3 randomly bright stars in a line, not at all nearby to each other in space, that arc across the night sky every evening and change position in the night sky throughout the years. Aligned how?

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Would the stars in Orion's belt even be in the same positions relative to our perception 4000-5000 years BP? I don't know enough about the astronomy side of things, but I know stars generally don't stay at a static position in the sky long-term.

[–] LordCrom@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago

Stars are not static, but slight movement is only detected after hundreds of thousands of years. Add into that the movement of the earth precession, it wobbles kind of like a top, one rotation every 10k years so that stars are not always in the same spot in our sky. This is why astrology and the zodiac symbols no longer line up with the dates allowed to them.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

That's correct. The positions can be simulated, and IIRC, they do match from the time of their construction.

Of course, that just means they mapped out some stars and stuck the buildings in the same relative positions.

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

How could they match? Star positions in the sky are dependent on Earth's orbit and wobble. Their height to and from the horizon changes from Earth's tilt and position across the sky from Earth's rotation. The only constant (ish) stars are like Polaris and Little Bear because they're at the celestial poles, so appear in the same spot. Orion appears to move all over the place relative to time of day and time of year.

[–] crawancon@lemm.ee 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

I don't believe in any of this BS in post but 4000 BP, people could build and align with the sky. it wouldn't be unheard of to build things that align with what they view as significant objects. they were unaware that the middle star is way farther away but so much larger it looks the same as the other two. they didn't have a detailed grasp but could ascertain some movements. No, Orions belt hasn't shifted much over the millenia. Orion's shoulder (betelguise) should explode any day now though.

[–] Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago

Sorry, yeah, that was sarcasm. Exactly, it's 3 stars in a line that everyone would be more familiar with than the vast majority of people today.

There are loads of examples of ancient architecture that perfectly lines up with celestial events at a particular time.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Orion's shoulder (betelguise) should explode any day now though.

I'm sorry, What?

Wait, is this something we won't be able to see until like 300 years after it happens? Or do we just say it's name three times?

[–] crawancon@lemm.ee 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I think it's a few thousand light years away, but yes, it could have already happened.

say it's name 3 times backwards will summon the demon called de.

[–] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

The latest news that I've seen is that it won't explode for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. It's predicted that in the next 300 years it'll run out of fuel leading to collapse.

[–] Asetru@feddit.org 2 points 4 months ago

Aligned how?

Orions Belt is 3 [...] stars in a line

Weil, they're certainly three pyramids in a line, aren't they?