Celestial Equator is changing?

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jimhebert United States of America
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Celestial Equator is changing?

#1

Post by jimhebert »


Hi:
I have noticed on my celestial Software, Cartes du Ciel, that the Celestial Equator has been moving downward through the centuries. For example, I entered the year 1AD and noticed the Celestial equator was across the center of Pisces. Now it is very near the bottom of Pisces. I projected the date to 2500AD and the Celestial equator will be on the cuff of Pisces and Aquarius. Is the plane of the earth and all of the planets going lower? Thank you.
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Re: Celestial Equator is changing?

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Post by Lady Fraktor »


It is called precession, everything in the universe rotates and moves :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession
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Re: Celestial Equator is changing?

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Thank you, Lady Fraktor. You are so smart. I was born in the beginning of September and was always told that my sign was Virgo. But I checked it out on my celestial program and the Sun was in Leo on my birth date. So I would be a Leo, correct?

I just now read the link you sent me. Do you believe that the melting of the Northern Glaciers might be because a downward movement during this precession of the axis, directing the northern part of the globe to face the sun in a more direct manner, would cause this melting? Thank you.
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Re: Celestial Equator is changing?

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Post by Lady Fraktor »


No one reason caused the end of the ice age. (there has been many over the millennia)
Geologic, atmospheric and a host of other things all contributed.
I would suggest a search for things that contributed to the end of it, you will likely be reading for a while. :)
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Re: Celestial Equator is changing?

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Post by JayTee »


jimhebert wrote: Sat Feb 18, 2023 8:52 pm Do you believe that the melting of the Northern Glaciers might be because a downward movement during this precession of the axis, directing the northern part of the globe to face the sun in a more direct manner, would cause this melting? Thank you.
This discussion is better left to a more suitable website than ours. Thanks.
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Re: Celestial Equator is changing?

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Post by John Baars »


jimhebert wrote: Sat Feb 18, 2023 8:52 pm I was born in the beginning of September and was always told that my sign was Virgo. But I checked it out on my celestial program and the Sun was in Leo on my birth date. So I would be a Leo, correct?
At our public observatory, I often get asked about the constellations under which people are born. Often they don't even have the faintest clue how that works.

I then explain that although astrology and astronomy have the same roots several thousand years ago, they have nothing to do with each other now.

As a matter of fact, we do astronomy here.

When I show questioners in Stellarium that the constellation under which they were born according to ancient astrology is totally inconsistent with reality now, you see the question marks rise. The ancient astrologers had never heard of precession.

Q: "So I'm an Aries, but actually Pisces? "
A: "Yes. Only if you believe in it. In any other case: no. And since you are in an astronomical observatory: the answer is NO, you have no zodiacal sign."

I myself always answer, "I am an amateur astronomer. I have no zodiacal sign. My favorite constellation is Orion."
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Re: Celestial Equator is changing?

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Post by Baurice »


I have heard that if you were born when the Sun is in Ophiuchus, the Moon in Cetus and Saturn in Orion, you will die a horrible death at the hands of a loved one and your favourite sports team will finish in last place.
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Re: Celestial Equator is changing?

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Post by chris_g »


Baurice wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 4:40 pm I have heard that if you were born when the Sun is in Ophiuchus, the Moon in Cetus and Saturn in Orion, you will die a horrible death at the hands of a loved one and your favourite sports team will finish in last place.
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Re: Celestial Equator is changing?

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Post by KathyNS »


The celestial equator is not moving "downwards". There is no up or down in space. It is a great circle and. like all great circles in the sky (ecliptic, galactic plane, etc), it is centred on the observer. So if it goes "down" relative to the stars on one side of the sky, it goes "up" relative to the stars on the other side.
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