We already know that the global Atlantean culture was deeply involved
in astronomical observation and mapping generally. A few things can
be said with assurance.
1 They knew the circumference of the Globe. They particularly knew
the global circumference at both Stonehenge and at Giza and surely
for all their major sites. From these they determined their land
measuring tools as specific fractions of those known constants. How
this was done occupies a chapter in my manuscript 'Paradigms Shift'
This was the derivation root of all ancient measures now known as the
megalithic yard in particular.
2 all this demanded excellent time measurement and excellent
surveying and ample attention to the location of stars and all that
for which we have nothing but ample evidence worldwide. In fact, it
is this enthusiasm that traveled with the metals and the Bronze Age
culture.
3 They also had at least a thousand years of data from 2420BC through
1159BC to add to the data accumulated by the Sumerians. That was
likely another thousand years although local.
Thus it is no surprise that they tracked Algol in particular and
associated supernatural values to it. At the same time the
importance of Sirius was also recognized in Egypt. (it appears we
orbit the Sirius cluster) One extraordinary observation deserves
another.
'Demon Star'
The Demon Star lies some 93 light-years away in the constellation
Perseus as one of the eyes of Medusa's head. (Shown here in Johannes
Hevelius' Perseus from Uranographia.)
Ancient Egyptians may
have chronicled the flickering of a star known as "the Demon,"
perhaps the earliest known record of a variable star, astronomers
suggest.
The ancient Egyptians
wrote calendars that marked lucky and unlucky days. These predictions
were based on astronomical and mythological events thought of as
influential for everyday life. The best preserved of these calendars
is the Cairo Calendar, a papyrus document dating between 1163 and
1271 B.C. The entry for each day is prefaced by three hieroglyphics
that indicate either good or bad luck, with the characters often
derived from events of mythology.
Astronomers at the
University of Helsinki in Finland had previously discovered that some
of the fortunate days recurred in a pattern, every 29.6 days. This
almost exactly matches the length of the lunar cycle — the time
between two full moons. New moons may have been associated with bad
luck.
Dimming demon star
The scientists also detected another pattern in the calendar, one
that occurred every 2.85 days. Now the researchers suggest this
approximately matches regular dimming of Algol, "the Demon
Star," which lies approximately 93 light-years away in the
constellation Perseus as one of the eyes of Medusa's head. Its name
comes from the Arabic phrase, ra's al-ghul, which means "the
demon's head."
Algol is the brightest
known example of an eclipsing binary system — the large bright
member of the system, Beta Persei A, regularly gets eclipsed by the
dimmer Beta Persei B. From our point of view, Algol dims by more than
a factor of three for 10 hours at a time, dwindling easily seen with
the naked eye.
"It seems that
the first observation of a variable star was made 3,000 years earlier
than was previously thought," said researcher Lauri Jetsu, an
astronomer at the University of Helsinki.
The Cairo Calendar
describes how Wedjat, the Eye of Horus, regularly transformed from
peaceful to raging, with good or bad influences on life. Horus was
the patron god of kings in ancient Egypt. [Gallery: Sun Gods and
Goddesses]
The eclipse seems to
be linked with the lucky days, because it represents the pacification
of the Eye of Horus," researcher Sebastian Porceddu, an
astronomer and Egyptologist at the University of Helsinki, told
LiveScience. "A bright Eye of Horus meant it is raging and a
threat to mankind."
Pinch of salt?
In modern times, Algol actually dims every 2.867 days. The
researchers suggest this discrepancy of 0.017 days — about 25
minutes — between ancient Egyptian and modern values for Algol's
dimming may be due to changes Algol may have undergone in the past
three millennia. Matter is apparently flowing from the dimmer member
of this eclipsing binary to the brighter star, altering their orbit
so that eclipses now take longer than they once did. If correct, this
ancient Egyptian data could shed light on eclipsing binaries and the
details of how such mass transfer might affect their orbits.
"I believe that
from now on, Egyptologists will be keeping an eye on possible
references to Algol elsewhere," Porceddu said.
Other scientists are
intrigued by the idea, but remain skeptical.
"I think it's an
interesting idea — just how convincing it is is another issue,"
astrophysicist Peter Eggleton at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, who did not take part in this research, said in an
interview.
This pattern "does
seem very plausibly attributed to Algol, and the suggestion that it
has slowed down by a small amount over 3,000 years is not
unreasonable," Eggleton said. "But you do have to take the
idea with a pinch of salt — it's obviously difficult to pin down
what people were really thinking 3,000 years ago."
The scientists
submitted their findings to the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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