I cannot see anything beyond the picture of the dog and his master. What I need is an idea of who this celestial image was made for, why it was made, what was happening physically and socially in this time period and what it represents. This is totally beyond me. What ever suggestions, ideas or cites would be welcome.
2006-09-13 15:27:23 · 2 answers · asked by animalcrackers31 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Hi. I believe that many years ago when the sky was much darker people had a better view of the stars. Many constellations may be tied into the ancient myths about gods and stories, and in fact may have ORIGINATED some of the myths. Some asterisms are easy to envision (Orion is a hunter in many cultures, including American Indian cultures) while some are more subtle. (Does anyone actually see a whale in Cetus?). Keep in mind that the stars were a complete mystery and some of this makes a sort of sense. The filling in of the various forms in ancient works is a good example of poetic license.
2006-09-13 15:35:44 · answer #1 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The 12 constellations of the Zodiac are not really natural groupings. They seem to have been chosen in elongated adjacent shapes so as to make a great circle in the sky. About 2500 BC, this circle cut the horizon at exactly east and west (but not any more, because of the "precession of the equinoxes"). If you were an ancient sailor, and could remember these 12 shapes, then at night you could tell which directions were east and west, even if you could only see part of the sky.
After that, I suppose it was natural to make pictures out of the groups of stars in the rest of the sky, maybe just to know that when you looked at them and recognised them, they weren't the Zodiac. It is definitely noticeable that the non-Zodiac constellations (Orion, Canis Major, Cassiopaea etc.) are more natural visual groupings.
2006-09-13 23:45:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋