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Season 1, Episode 5 - Aired 04/04/2010
All life on Earth needs water so the search for aliens in the solar system has followed the search for water. Professor Brian Cox examines the patterns in the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa, which reveal an ocean far below with more potentially life-giving water than all the oceans on Earth. But of all the wonders of the solar system forged by the laws of nature, there is one that stands out as Brian reveals the greatest wonder of them all.
Season 1, Episode 4 - Aired 03/28/2010
The worlds that surround our planet are all made of rock, but there the similarity ends. Some have a beating geological heart, others are frozen in time. Professor Brian Cox travels to the tallest mountain on earth, the volcano Mauna Kea on Hawaii, to show how something as basic as a planet's size can make the difference between life and death. Yet the fifth wonder in the series isn't on a planet at all. It's on a tiny moon of Jupiter.
Season 1, Episode 3 - Aired 03/21/2010
Discover how something as flimsy as an envelope of gas - an atmosphere - can create some of the most wondrous sights in the solar system. Professor Brian Cox takes a flight to the top of Earth's atmosphere, where he sees the darkness of space above and the thin blue line of our atmosphere below. Against the stunning backdrop of the glaciers of Alaska, Brian reveals his fourth wonder: Saturn's moon Titan, shrouded by a murky, thick atmosphere.
Season 1, Episode 2 - Aired 03/14/2010
Discover how beauty and order in Earth's cosmic backyard was formed from nothing more than a chaotic cloud of gas. Chasing tornadoes in Oklahoma, Professor Brian Cox explains how the same physics that creates these spinning storms shaped the young solar system. Out of this celestial maelstrom emerged the jewel in the crow, Brian's second wonder - the magnificent rings of Saturn.
Season 1, Episode 1 - Aired 03/07/2010
Professor Brian Cox explores the powerhouse of them all, the Sun. In India, he witnesses a total solar eclipse and in Norway, he watches the battle between the sun's wind and Earth, as the night sky glows with the northern lights. Beyond Earth, the solar wind continues, creating dazzling aurora on other planets. Brian explains the effect of the Sun's greatest power - gravity - and how it reaches out for hundreds of billions of kilometres.


Solar System Toys Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals, Coupons, Sales & Offers 2020 –Black Friday is going to be celebrated around the last of November (27th November 2020) and you will get the best and last chance to buy Solar System Toys at a discounted price during this holiday session. Below we have compiled up some best Solar System Toys Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for you where you can get up to 60% off on these top-selling and much more.
This year, During this Black Friday Sale 2020, all the top stores like Bunn, Keurig, Ninja, cut the price of Solar System Toys and much more of the popular product. So don’t miss this chance and grab the best deals on here and save your money from here.
We all know Black Friday 2020 is “the day after Thanksgiving Day 2020” celebrated in the United States. Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year for the US. On this day, there is a huge discount on shopping. Check out the list of best Solar System Toys Black Friday and Cyber Monday below.
Solar System Toys Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals :
Below is a youtube video on Solar System Toys
Learn about Planets in our solar system | Planets songs Educational Video for Kids
Learn about Planets in our solar system | Planets songs Educational Video for Kids with Ryan ToysReview!!! Let's Explore our solar system and learn about each ...
So, above is a compiled list of Solar System Toys Black Friday deals 2020 from ablackfridaydeals.net.


If you are a mystical person who enjoys a good apocalypse theory, this third blood moon of four in 18 months signals the end of times according to Pastor John Hagee. Doomsdayers should visit bloodmoonprophecy.com for an ominous scare.
The idea of a "blood moon" serving as an omen of the coming of the end times comes from the Book of Joel, where it is written "the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes." (Wikipedia)
Of course science has clearly explained that blood moons happen when the moon travels into the Earth's shadow and the current tetrad of events just happens to be lucky "season". The current century of 2001 to 2100 will have eight tetrads of blood moons. The first occurred in 2003, the second is underway in 2014-2015. The final in the tetrad of blood moons occurs on September 28, 2015 and also happens to a giant super moon (when the moon is closest to the Earth). Mark your calendars now and rent a zoom lens for your DLSR. (See the Blood Moon on the Rise post from April 14, 2014 for a video from ABC news.)
Why no one has made a movie about the blood moon to capitalize on the fear mongering is beyond me! Maybe the upcoming disaster flick SAN ANDREAS will market the blood moon angle.


SEE THE UNIVERSE AROUND US
The Path From Newbie to Astro-Photographer
How & Where I Learned My Craft
My fascination with the night sky goes back well over four decades to my childhood in Brooklyn, New York. Scientific curiosity and a desire to learn about the universe was nurtured by my parents when I received my first 60mm Tasco telescope. Currently I am an active member with several Long Island based astronomy groups and serve as a volunteer observatory staff member at a private Long Island preserve. Previously, during my tenure as a senior staff member at the Custer Institute, I spearheaded the use of digital video technology for the purpose of public outreach. Finally, since late 2005, my focus has been in digital astrophotography primarily because it has allowed me to see the universe in a way that’s beyond what the eyepiece and the telescope can alone.
As an active astro-imager, I enjoy sharing my love for digital astrophotography by presenting many how-to lectures on the different forms of data capture and image processing. The lectures have been heard by many which include: groups from the Amateur Observers Society of New York, the Astronomical Society of Long Island, the Suffolk County Community College Astronomy Club, and attendees at the annual Custer Institute Jamboree. Some of my work has appeared in: articles in Newsday, Long Island Pulse magazine, the Reader Gallery in Astronomy Magazine, Astronomy.com, scientific presentations at Brookhaven National Laboratory and has been the subject matter of a T.V. interview on Push Pause T.V. Long Island from FIOS 1.
A good portion of my work is displayed in black and white (technically panchromatic) not only because of the better contrast, but I feel it viscerally reflects what we see in a telescope when we look through the eyepiece. Frequently when I am doing public outreach, I am asked "why don't I see the beautiful colors like in the magazines?" I always answer... our biology. Our eyes are wired to see only in a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum better known as "visible light" aka ROYGBIV. In our retinas there are two types of photoreceptors known as Rods and Cones. The difference between them is that the Rods give us our night vision but cannot detect color. The Cones on the other hand allow us to see color but are completely useless in low dim lighting. Dim objects, like the Orion nebula, do not emit enough light, even with most amateur telescopes to "activate" our Cone receptors so all you see are shades of grey, just like most of my photographs.
My primary location for pursuing astrophotography is in my backyard observatory - Babylmar Observatory situated in a very light polluted Bortle 7/8 zone on Long Island, NY.
Please feel free to click and follow
After decades of traveling long distances to darker sky sites followed by the lengthy set up and tear down time, I really have come to appreciate having a backyard observatory and working with ready to go equipment. If the clouds part and only give me a two hour window; I'm able to utilize it. If there is a target that is in optimal position only in the early morning, I can image it. If I want to image a target over multiple nights, I can. The severe light pollution around me is a challenge to overcome but through the use of modern light pollution filters, narrow-band imaging filters, imaging and processing techniques, I'm making it work.


Astronomy Star Charts
Astronomy star charts are literally maps of the night sky. They date back centuries, because first farmers, and then sailors, realized that the best way to mark the passage of the seasons and to plot a true course was to use the stars as markers. While farmers had other hints, the weather is not always the same year to year. Especially in the middle east, which is the cradle of civilization. How do you know when to best plant crops or prepare for a river flooding? Mark it against the change in the stars and make sure you understand the relationship. It was logical to farmers then and stars are still considered when marking the change of the seasons. Sailors, however, had nothing else to navigate by. In the wide open ocean, everything is just blue water and blue skies, with no other markers for navigational purposes.
Now star charts are still heavily used, though they are mostly used by astronomers who chart the night sky. They create the chart and mark it as a grid, so it’s easier to use and easy to understand. All of the stars are placed on this grid, including ones everybody would recognize, like constellations. Anybody can have access to these charts, because they’re online, sold as posters, and available in books. In fact, if you buy a telescope with the intention of becoming an amateur astronomer and part-time star watcher, finding and using these charts will be in your best interest. You can use them as a guide to help you begin your astronomical hobby or career.
The Meade telescope has been found in every serious telescope using country since 1995. The large variety of Meade products allows for everyone with a telescope need to have telescopes available to them.
Kids astronomy provides and educational resource for children, putting the scientific study of the universe into understandable fun terms.


We bring you a list of the top 5 kids pirate telescope. These are kids pirate telescopes worth money’s buy, also check out our reviews on the 10 best kids pirate telescope
1. NAUTICALMART COLLECTION CHROME PIRATE TELESCOPE
The Nauticalmart collection chrome with leather harbor master telecope 40” really encompasses the trajectory of its name. A pirate telescope for Masters and being part of the top 5 kids pirate telescope it is for sale on Amazon for $189
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NAUTICALMART KIDS PIRATE TELESCOPE
- Leather made telescope with brass chrome tripod stand
- Comes with a free concrete rope weight
- Sleek design
- Expensive if you are on a budget
Nauticalmart Collection Chrome with Leather Harbor Master Telescope 40″ – Telescope With Free Concrete Rope Weight . Overall dimensions: 32″ L x 25″ W x 60″ H
2. 65” DYNAMIC BLACK LEATHER CASED PREMIUM LARGE TELESCOPE
One of the Top 5 kids pirate telescope, an absolute beauty embodies elegance and a unique shape suitable for beginner astronomers. Available on Amazon for $149.99
Here is a telescope that’s sure to inspire the whole family’s natural inclination to explore. This telescope is no toy – it’s a real reflecting telescope that is wonderfully simple to set up and use! A perfect telescope for beginning amateur astronomers,
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE NAGINA INTERNATIONAL KIDS PIRATE TELESCOPE
- Optical glass and metal construction with metal brass tube
- Comes with a heavy solid sturdy tripod
- Made of international standard par leather & metal build quality
- 360mm focal length
- Suitable for astronomical and sight seeing & land observing
- Distortion free images
- This kids pirate telescope can be returned easily and immediately upon dissatisfaction
- Exclusive home décor
- A view of the moon and sky in clear details
- Manufacturer recommended age 6 years band up
This telescope is manufactured with the kind of quality you’d expect only to find in much more expensive models. Everyone will enjoy using this telescope thanks to its uncomplicated, simple design and high level of performance.
3. WUAZ KIDS PIRATE TELESCOPE FOR BEGINNERS
The Wuaz collection of kids pirate telescopes are arguably one of the few collection makers of kids pirate telescope. Little wonder why this particular kids pirate telescope made the Top 5 kids pirate telescope.
The Wuaz telescope or kids is aimed at beginners with its super lightweight tripod which makes it ideal for moon and planet viewing
This model costs $132.42 on Amazon
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WUAZ KIDS PIRATE TELESCOPE
- Unlike other telescope kids toy telescope for kids is made with FC glass providing a brighter and higher-contrast images ;suitable for terrestrial and astronomical observations
- Astronomical telescope kids can be used as a christmas birthday gift for kids that make kids explore the mystery of universe and initial engage with astronomy
- 360° horizontal panoramic and vertical range of 90° allow kids to observe from different angles and easy to use for kids
- Has a soft rubber eyecup of the eyepiece which protect children eyes
Smooth Functioning Altazimuth Mount
The telescope is equipped with an azimuth mounting, can be moved vertically.
Use the Pan Handle to control the mount for easy pointing to located objects
4. WUAZ PROFESSIONAL KIDS PIRATE TELESCOPE
Another inclusion on our top 5 kids pirate telescope is yet another from the Wuaz kids pirate telescope collection but this time onr for professionals and not beginners.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WUAZ PROFESSIONAL KIDS PIRATE TELESCOPE
- This telescope allows you capture the beauty of a planetary images and share them with your family and friends in real time.
- This kids pirate telescope comes with a phone adapter
- Made of premium ABS acrylic and aluminum alloy, lightweight and portable, insuring long serving time.
- Powerful telescope for sky and land exploration
- convenient to use outdoors, set up and take down
- Because it is tagged ”professional” kids do not fancy it when in actual sense it was made just for them.
With a spotting scope, you can see things in low light condition, but it can’t help you see things in total darkness and when the phone connect with spotting scope, the picture is a circle view and around is black, please zoom the picture and you’ll get a full size picture.
5. NICKEL PLATED STAND KIDS PIRATE TELESCOPE
The Nickel plated stand telescope is a 15” kids pirate telescope functional vintage replica brass nautical antique. All this for only $79.99 on Amazon.
The Nickel plated kids pirate telescope is a beauty to behold and you can see for yourself from the image below
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NICKEL PLATED STAND TELESCOPE
- This is Fully Handcrafted Vintage Telescope. Antique Brass Telescope and stand is made of Premium Grade Brass and Wood.
- Unique Antique finish Shining Brass Telescope with Engraved imprint. Pirate Telescope extended to 15 inches in length, 5.4 inches when Closed.
- The spyglass telescope uses push-and-pull mechanism to focus distant objects.
- Stylish: For kids, youngsters and adults interested in astronomy, sky watch, maritime, sailor, navigation, naval, trekking
- comfort: Beautiful telescope replica made of solid brass with a stand of very fine quality, this item can be gifted to loved one or to the collectibles lover
- useable: This telescope has 4 moving tubes which add to its look and feel, and are used to focus far distance objects.
- standing: This vintage telescope is manufactured to reflect the workmanship and materials of a more elegant bygone age. A must-have vintage look telescope.
A handcrafted wooden standing telescope comes with a finely polished beautifully handcrafted wooden stand. The nautical standing telescope magnifies far away objects and landscapes with a clear image, with just a push on the eyepiece in or out to bring the image into clear focus. The scope extends to a full 15″ and can retract.
Selling on Amazon for $79.99 with a lot of positive reviews and a 4 star rating


A page from my new book - about Space, Time, Gravity and the speed of light
Space, Time, Gravity and the speed of light – What’s up!
If terrestrial science thinks that today’s and yesterday’s theories cannot be changed or disproven today or in the future, then maybe it is because the “viewing-angle” at which science tries to prove these theories or disprove them, is wrong. Try changing the premises of the problem and maybe, just maybe the results will look different.
Even though Albert Einstein in his theory of special relativity in 1905 (and in 1907 Hermann Minkowski) formulated/theorized that it is impossible to move faster in a vacuum than the speed of light (approx. 186.000 miles per second) – which is the speed of photon particles (electromagnetic radiation – which is waves) in a vacuum - terrestrial science has NEVER transported ANYTHING (a craft) at that speed through the vacuum of space. Scientists have made calculations, but have never actually done it. So where is the proof that a mass (a craft) CANNOT go faster than the speed of light? It is only electromagnetic radiation which does not move faster than that. That does not mean that a mass cannot go faster than that speed. The premise/law of physics that mass increases with speed when moving in a vacuum is WRONG (and Einstein and Minkowski actually pointed to this possibility in their theories). Because the theories of relativity say that it is impossible to exceed the speed of light – does not mean that it IS impossible (some galaxies actually moves at faster than light speed away from each other).
It is almost the same as if science says that there is no LIFE outside the Earth, because all theories point to the fact that there cannot be co-existing civilizations in the Universe – because they have not found any. Because science says that it is so, how do they know the answer to that question? Have they searched the entire known Universe? NO! I instead suggest looking objectively at the premise and come to your own conclusions. What is the likelihood that the Earth is the only living planet in the vast Universe? Or just in the Milky Way galaxy – consisting of approx. 200 billion stars of which around 10 percent (20 billion) is sun-like stars? Just think about it.
Space and Time – as I have explained earlier – was created simultaneously when our Universe was created. The same was Gravity and Light.
Space and Time are – contrary to what most of terrestrial science thinks (again derived from Einstein’s and Minkowski’s theories) – separate “entities”. Space is the PHYSICAL CONSTRAINT of the Universe and Time is a FORCE within Space. Time, just as the other known forces in the Universe (Electromagnetism, Gravity, the Weak Nuclear Force and the Strong Nuclear Force) are waves which consist of smaller units. Like I touched on in the previous pages – Time is important to fully understand (together with Gravity) when travelling at speeds exceeding the “terrestrial accepted” maximum speed of the Universe (the speed of light) which terrestrial physics postulate.


Dunedin Aurora began in 2015 as capstone project when we (Chris Campbell and Vaughn Malkin) were completing our Bachelor of Information Technology degree at Otago Polytechnic. We had the good fortune of meeting Dr Ian Griffin (Director of Otago Museum) who agreed to be our client – he’d just bought magnetic sensors (magnetometers) and he wanted them hooked up to the internet and watch for space weather that would cause an aurora.
Chris and I set to work, learn many things, broke stuff, but eventually produced a simple website that showed the state of space weather near Earth. We graduated as a result of this project. But unusually for a student project, Dunedin Aurora just kept going!
Since then Dunedin Aurora has evolved. We still monitor the Earth's magnetic field for changes caused by the impact of space weather, but we also track satellite data for information about the solar wind and the near-Earth space environment, and we process images of the sun to create an empirical forecast of likely space weather conditions - especially if they'll cause an aurora.
Local newspaper article - 2015.
Presentation given to Stargazers Weekend for North Otago Astronomical Society - 2018.
Presentation given to Stardate SI astronomy weekend - 2019.
Interview with local TV - 2019.
For those interested in some of the technical details, Dunedin Aurora consists of:
We use a range of magnetometers, from the sophisticated Geometrics G-857 magnetometer owned by Otago Museum, to magnetometers on the GOES satellites, to reproductions of classical variometers, and an experimental 3 metre diameter induction coil. Variety is the spice of life and owning a range of hardware gives us quick access to data and resiliance to hardware failure!
The magnetometers live inside here, we promise.Copyright 2015 © Project Helios
Dunedin Aurora could not exist without the following people:
Dr Ian Griffin & Otago Museum
Ian is Director of Otago Museum. Ian was the original client for our degree project, but since then has continued to allow us to play with the Museum's toys. His energy and enthusiasm for all things sciencey and aurora-y (?) is astonishing!
Chris Campbell & Vaughn Malkin
Since graduating, Chris spends much of his time working miracles for the customers of a local wireless comms provider and gets his arm twisted to provide network and hardware support for Dunedin Aurora - plus he's the guy with a car!
Vaughn torments first year students by teaching I.T. at the local polytechnic, and is responsible for mushing together the background code that makes Dunedin Aurora tick. Occasionally things become unmushed.
Aurora Australis Facebook Group
A huge inspiration is the Aurora Australis Facebook group. The range of people interested in the art, science, and love of photographing the aurora and the night sky is a delight. We count ourselves lucky to be part of their ranks.


The world's first e-commerce satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2017, China Economic Net reported on Sept. 22.
Juhuasuan.com, a group shopping website affiliated with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, recently announced plans to launch the world's very first e-commerce satellite. The project is in cooperation with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and the China Space Museum.
These three parties aim to further develop space exploration with the help of both space technology and e-commerce data.
According to the report, Juhuasuan.com plans to provide consumers with the world's best vegetables after analyzing agricultural cultivation and harvesting data provided by satellites.
"In the future, consumers on the Juhuasuan platform will be able to enjoy high-quality goods that follow the trajectory of the satellites. Lovers' keepsakes can be sent into space," offered Liu Bo, general manager of Juhuasuan.com. Liu said that the company aims to develop a series of customized products with the help of satellites.
Material that fell from the Shenzhou-11 carrier rocket will be made into daily commodities such as umbrellas, jewel cases and vacuum cups. These goods will be available on Juhuasuan.com from Sept. 23 to 25.
The company made the above announcements during its Beijing launch ceremony for the new space marketing plan.


The Hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar.
Most of these calendars are inherited from a system first enunciated in Vedanga Jyotisha of Lagadha, a late BCE adjunct to the Vedas, standardized in the Surya Siddhanta (3rd century CE) and subsequently reformed by astronomers such as Aryabhata (499 CE), Varahamihira(6th c. CE), and Bhaskara (12th c. CE). There are differences and regional variations abound in these computations, but the following is a general overview of Hindu lunisolar calendar.
In the Hindu calendar, the day starts with local sunrise. It is allotted five "properties", called angas. They are:
- the tithi (one of 30 divisions of a synodic month) active at sunrise
- the vaasara or weekday
- the nakshatra (one of 27 divisions of the celestial ecliptic) in which the moon resides at sunrise
- the yoga (one of 27 divisions based on the ecliptic longitude of the sun and moon) active at sunrise
- the karana (divisions based on tithis) active at sunrise.
Together these are called the panchāngas (Sanskrit: pancha = five). An explanation of the terms follows.
Vaasara refers to the days of the week and bear striking similarities with the names in many cultures, especially western (Hindi and Englishanalogues in parentheses):
| No. || Sanskrit name of the weekday || English name of the weekday || Celestial object |
| 1 || Ravi vāsara |
| Sunday || Ravi = Sun |
| 2 || Soma vāsara |
| Monday || Soma = Moon |
| 3 || Mangala vāsara |
| Tuesday || Mangala = Mars |
| 4 || Budha vāsara |
| Wednesday || Budha = Mercury |
| 5 || Guru vāsara |
| Thursday || Guru (Brihaspati) = Jupiter |
| 6 || Shukra vāsara |
| Friday || Shukra = Venus |
| 7 || Shani vāsara |
| Saturday || Shani = Saturn |
The term -vaasara is often abbreviated as vaara or vaar in Sanskrit-derived languages. There are many variations of the names in the regional languages, mostly using alternate names of the celestial bodies involved.
The ecliptic is divided into 27 nakshatras, which are variously called lunar houses or asterisms. These reflect the moon's cycle against the fixed stars, 27 days and 7¾ hours, the fractional part being compensated by an intercalary 28th nakshatra. Nakshatra computation appears to have been well known at the time of the Rig Veda (2nd–1st millennium BCE).
The ecliptic is divided into the nakshatras eastwards starting from a reference point which is traditionally a point on the ecliptic directly opposite the star Spica called Chitrā in Sanskrit. (Other slightly different definitions exist.) It is called Meshādi or the "start of Aries"; this is when the equinox — where the ecliptic meets the equator — was in Aries (today it is in Pisces, 28 degrees before Aries starts). The difference between Meshādi and the present equinox is known as ayanāngsha or fraction of ecliptic. Given the 25,800 year cycle for theprecession of the equinoxes, the equinox was directly opposite Spica in 285 CE, around the date of the Surya Siddhanta.
The nakshatras with their corresponding regions of sky are given below, following Basham. As always, there are many versions with minor differences. The names on the right-hand column give roughly the correspondence of the nakshatras to modern names of stars. Note thatnakshatras are (in this context) not just single stars but are segments on the ecliptic characterised by one or more stars. Hence there are more than one star mentioned for each nakshatra.
| # || Sanskrit name |
| Malayalam name |
| Tamil name |
| Western star name |
| 1 || Ashvinī |
| Ashvati |
| Aswini |
| β and γ Arietis |
| 2 || Bharanī |
| Bharaṇi |
| Baraṇi |
| 35, 39, and 41 Arietis |
| 3 || Krittikā |
| Kārttika |
| Kārthikai |
| Pleiades |
| 4 || Rohini |
| Rōhiṇi |
| Rōhiṇi |
| Aldebaran |
| 5 || Mrigashīrsha |
| Makayiram |
| Mirugasīridam |
| λ, φ Orionis |
| 6 || Ārdrā |
| Ātira or Tiruvātira |
| Thiruvādhirai |
| Betelgeuse |
| 7 || Punarvasu |
| Puṇartam |
| Punarpoosam |
| Castor and Pollux |
| 8 || Pushya |
| Pūyam |
| Poosam |
| γ, δ and θ Cancri |
| 9 || Āshleshā |
आश्ळेषा / आश्लेषा
| Āyilyam |
| Ayilyam |
| δ, ε, η, ρ, and σ Hydrae |
| 10 || Maghā |
| Makam |
| Magam |
| Regulus |
| 11 || Pūrva or Pūrva Phalgunī |
| Pūram |
| Pooram |
| δ and θ Leonis |
| 12 || Uttara or Uttara Phalgunī |
| Utram |
| Uthiram |
| Denebola |
| 13 || Hasta |
| Attam |
| Astham |
| α, β, γ, δ and ε Corvi |
| 14 || Chitrā |
| Chittira |
| Chithirai |
| Spica |
| 15 || Svātī |
| Chōti |
| Swathi |
| Arcturus |
| 16 || Vishākhā |
| Vishākham |
| Visakam |
| α, β, γ and ι Librae |
| 17 || Anurādhā |
| Anizham |
| Anusham |
| β, δ and π Scorpionis |
| 18 || Jyeshtha |
| Kēṭṭa (Trikkēṭṭa) |
| Kettai |
| α, σ, and τ Scorpionis |
| 19 || Mūla |
| Mūlam |
| Mūlam |
| ε, ζ, η, θ, ι, κ, λ, μ and ν Scorpionis |
| 20 || Pūrva Ashādhā |
| Pūrāṭam |
| Pūradam |
| δ and ε Sagittarii |
| 21 || Uttara Ashādhā |
| Utrāṭam |
| Uthirādam |
| ζ and σ Sagittarii |
| 22 || Shravana |
| Tiruvōnam |
| Tiruvōnam |
| α, β and γ Aquilae |
| 23 || Shravishthā or Dhanishta |
श्रविष्ठा or धनिष्ठा
| Aviṭṭam |
| Aviṭṭam |
| α to δ Delphinus |
| 24 || Shatabhishā or Shatataraka |
शतभिषक् / शततारका
| Chatayam |
| Sadayam |
| γ Aquarii |
| 25 || Pūrva Bhādrapadā |
पूर्वभाद्रपदा / पूर्वप्रोष्ठपदा
| Pūruruṭṭāti |
| Pūruruṭṭādhi |
| α and β Pegasi |
| 26 || Uttara Bhādrapadā |
उत्तरभाद्रपदा / उत्तरप्रोष्ठपदा
| Uttṛṭṭāti |
| Uttṛṭṭādhi |
| γ Pegasi and α Andromedae |
| 27 || Revati |
| Rēvati |
| Rēvathi |
| ζ Piscium |
An additional 28th intercalary nakshatra, Abhijit (अभिजित्)(α, ε and ζ Lyrae - Vega - between Uttarasharha and Sravana. Last two (third and fourth) Padas of Uttrashada and first two (first and second) Padas of Sravana are considered to be Abhijit. Unless specifically mentioned it is not included in the list of the 27 constellations.
The nakshatra in which the moon lies at the time of sunrise of a day is the nakshatra for the day.
First one computes the angular distance along the ecliptic of each object, taking the ecliptic to start at Mesha or Aries (Meshādi, as defined above): this is called the longitude of that object. The longitude of the sun and the longitude of the moon are added, and normalized to a value ranging between 0° to 360° (if greater than 360, one subtracts 360). This sum is divided into 27 parts. Each part will now equal 800' (where ' is the symbol of the arcminute which means 1/60 of a degree). These parts are called the yogas. They are labeled:
Again, minor variations may exist. The yoga that is active during sunrise of a day is the yoga for the day.
A karana is half of a tithi. To be precise, a karana is the time required for the angular distance between the sun and the moon to increase in steps of 6° starting from 0°. (Compare with the definition of a tithi above.)
Since the tithis are thirty in number, one would expect there to be sixty karanas. But there are only eleven. There are four "fixed" karanasand seven "repeating" karanas. The four "fixed" karanas are:
The seven "repeating" karanas are:
- Vishti (Bhadrā)
- Now the first half of the first tithi (of the bright fortnight) is always Kimstughna karana. Hence this karana is "fixed".
- Next, the seven repeating karanas repeat eight times to cover the next 56 half-tithis. Thus these are the "repeating" karanas.
- The three remaining half-tithis take the remaining "fixed" karanas in order. Thus these are also "fixed".
- Thus one gets sixty karanas from eleven.
The karana active during sunrise of a day is the karana for the day.
|Mesh ||Vasant |
|March/April ||Aries |
|Vrishabh ||April/May ||Taurus |
|Mithun ||Grishma |
|May/June ||Gemini |
|Karkat ||June/July ||Cancer |
|Simha ||Varsha |
|July/Aug ||Leo |
|Kanya ||Aug/Sept ||Virgo |
|Tula ||Sharad |
|Sept/Oct ||Libra |
|Vrishchik ||Oct/Nov ||Scorpius |
|Dhanu ||Hemant |
|Nov/Dec. ||Sagittarius |
|Makar ||Dec/Jan ||Capricornus |
|Kumbha ||Shishir |
|Jan/Feb ||Aquarius |
|Meen ||Feb/Mar ||Pisces |
Months of the lunisolar calendar
When a new moon occurs before sunrise on a day, that day is said to be the first day of the lunar month. So it is evident that the end of the lunar month will coincide with a new moon. A lunar month has 29 or 30 days (according to the movement of the moon).
The tithi at sunrise of a day is the only label of the day. There is no running day number from the first day to the last day of the month. This has some unique results, as explained below:
Sometimes two successive days have the same tithi. In such a case, the latter is called an adhika tithi where adhika means "extra". Sometimes, one tithi may never touch a sunrise, and hence no day will be labeled by that tithi. It is then said to be a tithi kshaya wherekshaya means "loss".
Naming lunar months
There are twelve lunar month names:
- Bhaadra or, Bhādrapad
- Agrahayana or, Mārgashīrsha
Determining which name a lunar month takes is somewhat indirect. It is based on the rāshi into which the sun transits within a lunar month, i.e. before the new moon ending the month.
There are twelve rāshi names, there are twelve lunar month names. When the sun transits into the Mesha rāshi in a lunar month, then the name of the lunar month is Chaitra. When the sun transits into Vrishabha, then the lunar month is Vaishākh. So on.
The Sanskrit grammatical derivation of the lunar month names Chaitra etc., is: the (lunar) month which has its central full moon occurring at or near the nakshatra Chitrā is called Chaitra. Similarly, for the nakshatras Vishākhā, Jyeshthā, (Pūrva) Ashādhā, Shravan, Bhādrapad,Ashvinī (old name Ashvayuj), Krittikā, Mrigashīrsha, Pushya, Meghā and (Pūrva/Uttara) Phalgunī the names Vaishākh etc. are derived.
The lunar months are split into two pakshas of 15 days. The waxing paksha is called shuklapaksha, light half, and the waning paksha the krishnapaksha, dark half. There are two different systems for making the lunar calendar:
- amavasyanta or mukhya mana system - a month begins with a new moon, mostly followed in the southern states
- purnimanta or gauna mana system - a month begins with a full moon, followed more in the North.
When the sun does not at all transit into any rāshi but simply keeps moving within a rāshi in a lunar month (i.e. before a new moon), then that lunar month will be named according to the first upcoming transit. It will also take the epithet of adhik or "extra". For example, if a lunar month elapsed without a solar transit and the next transit is into Mesha, then this month without transit is labeled adhik Chaitra. The next month will be labeled according to its transit as usual and will get the epithet nija ("original") or shuddha ("clean"). [Note that an adhik māsa(month) is the first of two whereas an adhika tithi is the second of two.]
Extra Month, or adhik mas māsa (mas = lunar month) falls every 32.5 months. It is also known as purushottam mas, so as to give it a devotional name. Thus 12 Hindu mas (māsa) is equal to approximate 356 days, while solar year have 365 or 366 (in leap year) which create differece of 9 to 10 days, which is offset every 3rd year. No adhik mas falls during Kartik to Magh.
A month long fair is celebrated in Machhegaun during adhik māsa. It is general belief that one can wash away all one's sins by taking a bath in the Machhenarayan's pond.
If the sun transits into two rāshis within a lunar month, then the month will have to be labeled by both transits and will take the epithet kshayor "loss". There is considered to be a "loss" because in this case, there is only one month labeled by both transits. If the sun had transited into only one raashi in a lunar month as is usual, there would have been two separate months labeled by the two transits in question.
For example, if the sun transits into Mesh and Vrishabh in a lunar month, then it will be called Chaitra-Vaishaakh kshaya. There will be no separate months labeled Chaitra and Vaishākh.
A kshay māsa occurs very rarely. Known gaps between occurrence of kshaya māsas are 19 and 141 years. The last was in 1983. January 15 through February 12 were Pausha-Māgha kshay. February 13 onwards was (adhik) Phālguna.
If there is no solar transit in one lunar month but there are two transits in the next lunar month,
- the first month will be labeled by the first transit of the second month and take the epithet adhik and
- the next month will be labeled by both its transits as is usual for a kshay māsa
This is a very very rare occurrence. The last was in 1315. October 8 to November 5 were adhik Kārtik. November 6 to December 5 wereKārtik-Mārgashīrsh kshaya. December 6 onwards was Paush.
Religious observances in case of extra and lost months
Among normal months, adhika months, and kshaya months, the earlier are considered "better" for religious purposes. That means, if a festival should fall on the 10th tithi of the Āshvayuja month (this is called Vijayadashamī) and there are two Āshvayuja months caused by the existence of an adhika Āshvayuja, the first adhika month will not see the festival, and the festival will be observed only in the second nijamonth. However, if the second month is āshvayuja kshaya then the festival will be observed in the first adhika month itself.
When two months are rolled into one in the case of a kshaya māsa, the festivals of both months will also be rolled into this kshaya māsa. For example, the festival of Mahāshivarātri which is to be observed on the fourteenth tithi of the Māgha krishna paksha was, in 1983, observed on the corresponding tithi of Pausha-Māgha kshaya krishna paksha, since in that year, Pausha and Māgha were rolled into one, as mentioned above. When two months are rolled into one in the case of a kshaya māsa, the festivals of both months will also be rolled into this kshaya māsa.
| Month || Predominating Deity-name of month |
| Agrahayana || Kesava |
| Pausha || Narayana |
| Magha || Madhava |
| Phalguna || Govinda |
| Caitra || Vishnu |
| Vaisakha || Madhusudana |
| Jyeshta || Trivikrama |
| Ashadha || Vamana |
| Sravana || Sridhara |
| Bhadra || Hrishikesa |
| Asvina || Padmanabha |
| Karttika || Damodara |
Year of the lunisolar calendar
The new year day is the first day of the shukla paksha of Chaitra. In the case of adhika or kshaya months relating to Chaitra, the aforementioned religious rules apply giving rise to the following results:
- If an adhika Chaitra is followed by a nija Chaitra, the new year starts with the nija Chaitra.
- If an adhika Chaitra is followed by a Chaitra-Vaishākha kshaya, the new year starts with the adhika Chaitra.
- If a Chaitra-Vaishākha kshaya occurs with no adhika Chaitra before it, then it starts the new year.
- If a Phālguna-Chaitra kshaya occurs, it starts the new year.
Another kind of lunisolar calendar
There is another kind of lunisolar calendar which differs from the former in the way the months are named. When a full moon (instead of new moon) occurs before sunrise on a day, that day is said to be the first day of the lunar month. In this case, the end of the lunar month will coincide with a full moon. This is called the pūrnimānta māna or "full-moon-ending reckoning", as against the amānta māna or "new-moon-ending reckoning" used before.
This definition leads to a lot of complications:
- The first paksha of the month will be krishna and the second will be shukla.
- The new year is still on the first day of the Chaitra shukla paksha. The next paksha-s will be the Vaishākha krishna, Vaishākha shukla,Jyaishtha krishna and so on, till Phālguna krishna, Phālguna shukla and Chaitra krishna, which is now the last paksha of the year.
- The shukla paksha of a given month, say Chaitra, comprises the same actual days in both systems, as can be deduces from a careful analysis of the rules. However, the Chaitra krishna paksha-s defined by the two systems will be on different days, since the Chaitra krishna paksha precedes the Chaitra shukla paksha is the pūrnimānta system but follows it in the amānta system.
- Though the regular months are defined by the full moon, the adhika and kshaya lunar months are still defined by the new moon. That is, even if the pūrnimānta system is followed, adhika or kshaya months will start with the first sunrise after the new moon, and end with the new moon.
- The adhika month will therefore get sandwiched between the two paksha-s of the nija months. For example, a Shrāvana adhika māsa will be inserted as follows:
- nija Shrāvana krishna paksha
- adhika Shrāvana shukla paksha
- adhika Shrāvana krishna paksha and
- nija Shrāvana shukla paksha
after which Bhādrapada krishna paksha will come as usual.
- If there is an adhika Chaitra, then it will follow the (nija) Chaitra krishna paksha at the end of the year. Only with the nija Chaitra shukla paksha will the new year start. The only exception is when it is followed by a kshaya, and that will be mentioned later.
- The kshaya month is more complicated. If in the amānta system there is a Pausha-Māgha kshaya, then in the pūrnimānta system there will be the following paksha-s:
- Pausha krishna paksha
- Pausha-Maagha kshaya shukla paksha
- Maagha-Phaalguna kshaya krishna paksha and a
- Phālguna shukla paksha.
- The special kshaya case where an adhika māsa precedes a kshaya māsa gets even more convoluted. First, we should remember that theĀshvayuja shukla paksha is the same in both the systems. After this come the following paksha-s:
- nija Kārtika krishna paksha
- adhika Kārtika shukla paksha
- adhika Kārtika krishna paksha
- Kārtika-Māgashīrsha kshaya shukla paksha
- Māgashīrsha-Pausha kshaya krishna paksha
- Pausha shukla paksha
followed by the Māgha krishna paksha etc., as usual.
- The considerations for the new year are:
- If there is a Chaitra-Vaishākha kshaya shukla paksha:
- if an adhika Chaitra precedes it, then the adhika Chaitra shukla paksha starts the new year
- if not, the kshaya shukla paksha starts the new year
- If there is a Phālguna-Chaitra kshaya shukla paksha then it starts the new year
It must be noted, however, that none of these above complications cause a change in the day of religious observances. Since only the name of the krishna paksha-s of the months will change in the two systems, festivals which fall on the krishna paksha will be defined by the appropriate changed name. That is, the Mahāshivarātri, defined in the amānta māna to be observed on the fourteenth of the Māgha krishna paksha will now (in the pūrnimānta māna) be defined by the Phālguna krishna paksha.
Correspondence of the lunisolar calendar to the solar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is always a calendar based on the moon's celestial motion, which in a way keeps itself close to a solar calendar based on the sun's (apparent) celestial motion. That is, the lunisolar calendar's new year is to kept always close (within certain limits) to a solar calendar's new year.
Since the Hindu lunar month names are based on solar transits, and the month of Chaitra will, as defined above, always be close to the solar month of Mesha, the Hindu lunisolar calendar will always keep in track with the Hindu solar calendar.
The Hindu solar calendar by contrast starts on April 14–15 each year. This signifies the sun's "entry" into Mesha rashi and is celebrated as the New Year in Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Manipur, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Tripura. The first month of the year is called "Chitterai (சித்திரை" in Tamil, "Medam" in Malayalam and Bohag in Assamese, Baisakh in Bengali/Punjabi and Nepali. This solar new year is celebrated on the same day in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Thailand due to Hindu influence on those countries.
The epoch (starting point or first day of the zeroth year) of the current era of Hindu calendar (both solar and lunisolar) is February 18, 3102 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar or January 23, 3102 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. Both the solar and lunisolar calendars started on this date. After that, each year is labeled by the number of years elapsed since the epoch.
This is a unique feature of the Hindu calendar. All other systems use the current ordinal number of the year as the year label. But just as a person's true age is measured by the number of years that have elapsed starting from the date of the person's birth, the Hindu calendar measures the number of years elapsed. As of May 18, 2010, 5111 years had elapsed in the Hindu calendar. However, the lunisolar calendar year usually starts earlier than the solar calendar year, so the exact year will not begin on the same day every year.
See also: Samvat
Apart from the numbering system outlined above, there is also a cycle of 60 calendar year names, called Samvatsaras, which started at the first year (at elapsed years zero) and runs continuously:
- 1. Prabhava
- 2. Vibhava
- 3. Shukla
- 4. Pramoda
- 5. Prajāpati
- 6. Āngirasa
- 7. Shrīmukha
- 8. Bhāva
- 9. Yuva
- 10. Dhātri
- 11. Īshvara
- 12. Bahudhānya
- 13. Pramādhi
- 14. Vikrama (2000-2001)
- 15. Vrisha (2001-02)
- 16. Chitrabhānu (2002-03)
- 17. Svabhānu (2003-04)
- 18. Tārana (2004-05)
- 19. Pārthiva (2005-06)
- 20. Vyaya (2006-2007)
- 21. Sarvajeeth (2007-08)
- 22. Sarvadhāri (2008-09)
- 23. Virodhi (2009-10)
- 24. Vikrita (2010-11)
- 25. Khara (2011-12)
- 26. Nandana (2012-13)
- 27. Vijaya
- 28. Jaya
- 29. Manmadha
- 30. Durmukhi
- 31. Hevilambi
- 32. Vilambi
- 33. Vikāri
- 34. Shārvari
- 35. Plava
- 36. Shubhakruti
- 37. Sobhakruthi
- 38. Krodhi
- 39. Vishvāvasu
- 40. Parābhava
- 41. Plavanga
- 42. Kīlaka
- 43. Saumya
- 44. Sādhārana
- 45. Virodhikruthi
- 46. Paridhāvi
- 47. Pramādicha
- 48. Ānanda
- 49. Rākshasa
- 50. Anala
- 51. Pingala
- 52. Kālayukthi
- 53. Siddhārthi
- 54. Raudra
- 55. Durmathi
- 56. Dundubhi
- 57. Rudhirodgāri
- 58. Raktākshi
- 59. Krodhana
- 60. Akshaya
Hinduism has of four eras or ages, of which we are currently in the last. The four are:
- Krita Yuga or Satya Yuga
- Treta Yuga
- Dvāpara Yuga
- Kali Yuga
They are often translated into English as the golden, silver, bronze and Iron Ages. (Yuga means era or age.) The ages see a gradual decline of dharma, wisdom, knowledge, intellectual capability, life span and emotional and physical strength. The epoch provided above is the start of the Kali Yuga. The Kali Yuga is 432,000 years long. The Dvāpara, Tretā and Krita (Satya) Yuga-s are two, three and four times the length of the Kali Yuga respectively. Thus they together constitute 4,320,000 years. This is called a Chaturyuga.
A thousand and a thousand (i.e. two thousand) chaturyuga-s are said to be one day and night of the creator Brahmā. He (the creator) lives for 100 years of 360 such days and at the end, he is said to dissolve, along with his entire Creation, into the Eternal Soul or Paramātman.
A samkhya view of the timespan of a yuga is given by Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda. This is detailed in his book, The Holy Science. According to this view, one complete yuga cycle is equal to one complete "precession of the equinox", a period of approximately 24,000 years. The ascending phase consists of a 1200 year Kali, 2400 year Dwapara, 3600 year Treta and 4800 year Krita (Satya) yuga. The descending phase reverses this order, thus both ascending and descending phases equal 24,000 years. According to calculations given in the book, the most recent yuga change was in 1699, when the Earth passed from Kali Yuga (the lowest material age) to Dvāpara Yuga (the second age associated with electrical, atomic and finer forces). We are in an ascending spiral right now, and will pass into the Tretā Yuga in 4100 CE. According to the book, the motion of the stars moving across the sky (a.k.a.precession) is the observable of the Sun's motion around another star. The quality of human intellect depends on the distance of the Sun and Earth from a certain point in space known as the Grand Center, Magnetic Center or Vishṇunābhi Vishnu. The closer the Sun is to it, the more subtle energy the Solar Systemreceives, and the greater is the level of human spiritual and overall development. As the Sun moves around its companion star, it brings us closer to or drives us farther away from Vishnunabi, resulting in the rising and falling ages here on Earth.
Yukteswar tells us that the calendars of the higher ages were based on the Yugas, with each era named after its Yuga. Hence, the year 3000 BCE was known as descending Dwapara 102 (because the last descending Dwapara yuga began 102 years earlier in 3102 BCE). He stated that this method was used up until the recent Dark Ages, when knowledge of the connection with the yugas and the precession cycle was lost; "The mistake crept into the almanacs for the first time during the reign of Raja Parikshit, just after the completion of the last descending Dwapara Yuga. At that time Maharaja Yudhisthira, noticing the appearance of the dark Kali Yuga, made over his throne to his grandson, the said Raja Parikshit. Maharaja Yudhisthira, together with all the wise men of his court, retired to the Himalaya Mountains... thus there was no one who could understand the principle of correctly calculating the ages of the several Yugas". Thus, Yukeswar assumed that Raja Parikshit was not trained in any vedic principles even though he alone ruled the world many years. Thus, he interpreted that Yugas are not calculated correctly. Consequently, he gave the theory that when the Dwapara was over and the Kali era began no one knew enough to restart the calendar count. They knew they were in a Kali Yuga (which is why the old Hindu calendar now begins with K.Y.) but the beginning of this calendar (which in 2006 stands at 5108) can still be traced to 3102 BCE, (3102+2006=5108) the start of the last descending Dwapara Yuga. To this day there is still much confusion why the Kali starts at this date or what the correct length of the Yugas should be. Yukteswar suggests that a return to basing the Yuga calendar on the motion of the equinox would be a positive step.
The Hindu Calendar descends from the Vedic times. There are many references to calendrics in the Vedas. The Vedānga (adjunct to Veda) called Jyautisha (literally, "celestial body study") prescribed all the aspects of the Hindu calendars. After the Vedic period, there were many scholars such as Āryabhata (5th century CE), Varāhamihira (6th century) and Bhāskara (12th century) who were experts in Jyautisha and contributed to the development of the Hindu Calendar.
The most widely used authoritative text for the Hindu Calendars is the Sūrya Siddhānta, a text of uncertain age, though some place it at 10th century.
The traditional Vedic calendar used to start with the month of agrahayan (agra=first + ayan = travel of the sun, equinox) or Mārgashirsha. This is the month where the Sun crosses the equator, i.e. the vernal equinox. This month was called mārgashirsha after the fifth nakshatra (around lambda orionis). Due to the precession of the Earth's axis, the vernal equinox is now in Pisces, and corresponds to the month of chaitra. This shift over the years is what has led to various calendar reforms in different regions to assert different months as the start month for the year. Thus, some calendars (e.g. Vikram) start with Chaitra, which is the present-day month of the vernal equinox, as the first month. Others may start with Vaisakha (e.g. Bangabda). The shift in the vernal equinox by nearly four months from agrahaayana to chaitra in sidereal terms seems to indicate that the original naming conventions may date to the fourth or fifth millennium BCE, since the period of precession in the Earth's axis is about 25,800 years.
The Indian Calendar Reform Committee, appointed in 1952 (shortly after Indian independence), identified more than thirty well-developed calendars, all variants of the Surya Siddhanta calendar outlined here, in systematic use across different parts of India. These include the widespread Vikrama and Shalivahana calendars and regional variations thereof. The Tamil calendar, a solar calendar, is used in Tamil Naduand Kollavarsham Calendar is used in Kerala.
Vikrama and Shalivahana calendars
The two calendars most widely used in India today are the Vikrama calendar followed in Western and Northern India and Nepal, and theShalivahana or Saka calendar which is followed in South India, Maharashtra and Goa.
Both the Vikrama and the Shalivahana eras are lunisolar calendars, and feature annual cycles of twelve lunar months, each month divided into two phases: the 'bright half' (shukla) and the 'dark half' (krishna); these correspond respectively to the periods of the 'waxing' and the 'waning' of the moon. Thus, the period beginning from the first day after the new moon and ending on the full moon day constitutes the shukla paksha or 'bright half' of the month; the period beginning from the day after the full moon until and including the next new moon day constitutes the krishna paksha or 'dark half' of the month.
The names of the 12 months, as also their sequence, are the same in both calendars; however, the new year is celebrated at separate points during the year and the "year zero" for the two calendars is different. In the Vikrama calendar, the zero year corresponds to 58 BCE, while in the Shalivahana calendar, it corresponds to 78 CE. The Vikrama calendar begins with the month of Baishakh (April), or Kartak(October/November) in Gujarat. The Shalivahana calendar begins with the month of Chaitra (March) and the Ugadi/Gudi Padwa festivals mark the new year.
Another little-known difference between the two calendars exists: while each month in the Shalivahana calendar begins with the 'bright half' and is followed by the 'dark half', the opposite obtains in the Vikrama calendar. Thus, each month of the Shalivahana calendar ends with the no-moon day and the new month begins on the day after that, while the full-moon day brings each month of the Vikrama calendar to a close (This is an exception in Gujarati Calendar, its month (and hence new year) starts on a sunrise of the day after new moon, and ends on the new moon, though it follows Vikram Samvat).
In Gujarat, Diwali is held on the final day of the Vikram Calendar and the next day marks the beginning of the New Year and is also referred as ‘Annakut’ or Nutan Varsh or Bestu Varash. In the Hindu calendar popularly used in North India the year begins with Chaitra Shukala Pratipadha (March – April).
National calendars in South and South East Asia
A variant of the Shalivahana Calendar was reformed and standardized as the Indian National calendar in 1957. This official calendar follows the Shalivahan Shak calendar in beginning from the month of Chaitra and counting years with 78 CE being year zero. It features a constant number of days in every month (with leap years).
The Bengali Calendar, or Bangla calendar (introduced 1584), is widely used in eastern India in the state of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. A reformation of this calendar was introduced in present-day Bangladesh in 1966, with constant days in each month and a leap year system; this serves as the national calendar for Bangladesh. Nepal follows the Bikram Sambat. Parallel months and roughly the same periods apply to the Buddhist calendars used in Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Correspondence between calendars
As an indicator of this variation, Whitaker's Almanac reports that the Gregorian year 2000 CE corresponds, respectively with:
- Year 5101 in the Kaliyuga calendar;
- Year 2544 in the Buddha Nirvana calendar;
- Year 2543 in the Buddhist Era (BE) of the Thai solar calendar
- Year 2057 in the Bikram Samvat calendar;
- Year 1922 in the Saka calendar;
- Year 1921 (shown in terms of 5-yearly cycles) of the Vedanga Jyotisa calendar;
- Year 1407 in the Bengali calendar;
- Year 514 in the Gaurabda Gaudiya calendar;
- Year 1176 in the Kolla Varsham calendar.


National Centre for Radio Astrophysics has issued the latest notification for the NCRA recruitment of Engineer Trainee, Scientific Assistant, Work Assistant, Technical Assistant, Technical Trainee 27 Post. To send the NCRA Vacancy offline application form by post or through the NCRA Jobs website apply online from the official website ncra.tifr.res.in and send the application by 31/12/2020.
NCRA Jobs Notification 2020 Application Form Trainee, Assistant 27 Posts
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One must visit place in Egypt is Abu Simbel. If you are planning trips to Egypt, in February or October visit the Abu Simbel Sun Festival.
Abu Simbel is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Egypt. The Temple of the Sun in simple Abu is built by King Rameses II 1250 BC Among the Temple of the Sun, there are two other temples built for the king himself and his wife Queen Nefertiti.
During the Abu Simbel Sun Festival, in February and October, the temple will light up from the inside. The sun lights the entrance corridor of the temple and three of the four statues at the end of the corridor. Only the statue of Phat (the God of darkness) will remain dark.
After seeing the light in the temple, people gather around to celebrate. There will be food, dance and other holidays.
Rameses II designed his temple to ease each year at the same time. Each year will take place on February 22 and October 22.
the original dates were February 21 (RAMSES II The date of the ascension throne and October 21 (his birthday). Given that the temple was moved by the Egyptian authorities in 1964 the data transmitted for one day.
The sun perpendicular to the face of King Ramses II, in a phenomenon repeated twice during the year on October 22 and February 22, in a phenomenon seen by thousands of tourists and Egyptians, and the orthogonal starts after sunrise and continues for 20 minutes, and the strange thing about this phenomenon is that it only occurs on the day of Ramses II’s birth, And the day she crowns her as king over Egypt.
The discovery of the ancient Egyptians is due to the fact that the sun passes this point, twice every year, to a scientific fact, which is that the sunrise from the point of the east completely, and its setting from the point of the west completely, on the day of March 21, then the point of sunrise changes by a quarter of a degree about Every day to the north, where at sunrise, it reaches a point 23 degrees northeast, on the 22nd of June.
The ancient Egyptians are said to have designed the Bossemble plant, building the movement of the astronomy, so that the sun passes its path through a narrowly calculated point, so that if the sun’s rays entered on February 22 and October 22, and fell on the face of the statue, then the next day, it deviates a small deviation of a quarter of a degree, And thus you fall on the wall of the opening and do not fall on the face of the statue.
It is worth noting that he was celebrating this phenomenon before 1964 AD, on October 21 and February 21 of each year, before moving the Abu Simbel campus to its current location, which is 200 meters from its original location, to protect it from drowning due to the construction of the High Dam. The relocation of the temple caused the phenomenon to be delayed by one day, to be on February 22 and October 22 each year.


Stephen hawking is the name which is well known to the people of the whole world for his remarkable achievements throughout the lifetime “presidential medal of freedom” the mentioned awards are the remarkable achievement of stephen hawking. A 'brief history' of stephen hawking we celebrate cambridgeshire's most famous living scientist - with a fact-filled profile, a 'brief history' of his greatest achievements and discoveries, and a stephen hawking. On wednesday, a cosmologist, an astronomer, a mathematician and the author of numerous books, apart from being the world’s greatest living scientist, stephen hawking passed away in cambridge. 2 stephen hawking provided evidence that time travel is impossible back in 2009, hawking hosted a time traveler party, inviting time travelers to join him for a reception to celebrate their achievements. Stephen hawking is a well known name in the scientific community some of the notable stephen hawking achievements are ones that he has earned. Stephen hawking is a british theoretical physicist, he was born on january the 8th, 1942 hawking has made many important contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity he is also well known for his bestselling book ‘a brief history of time. Stephen hawking was one of the most famous scientists of the last century gain greater insight into stephen hawking's mind at howstuffworks. While his scientific accomplishments alone would suffice to ensure an enduring legacy, stephen hawking also became one of the world’s most successful popularizers of science.
Life and achievements of prof stephen hawking april 13, 2012 by lalit kumar 7 comments take a journey through the life and achievements of prof stephen hawking. Stephen hawking was an achievement in himself apart what all he did there are a few biggest life achievements of him read about it in this blog 10 major accomplishments of stephen hawking. Stephen hawking is a well known name in the scientific community he has made some astounding observations and has turned the scientific world upside down on numerous occasions some of the notable stephen hawking achievements are ones that he has earned throughout his lifetime. Stephen hawking (1942 – 2018) is an english theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author he is best known for his attempts to explain in clear terms the origins of the universe and some of the most complicated aspects of the cosmos and physics. Easy science for kids stephen hawking and his achievements - learn fun facts about animals, the human body, our planet and much more fun free stephen hawking and his achievements activities.
Stephen hawking biography - affair, divorce, ethnicity, nationality, net worth, height | who is stephen hawking stephen hawking was an english theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is recognized to be one of the greatest scientists. Stephen william hawking he was a fellow of the royal society and a member of the us national academy of science stephen hawking is regarded as one of the most.
Special-education-degreenet stephen hawking: famous actor stephen hawking, brilliant scientist us/stephen-hawking-by-charlie/home/accomplishments. Watch video scientist stephen hawking is known for his groundbreaking work with black holes and relativity, and is the author of several popular science books including 'a brief history of time. Professor stephen hawking has been announced as one of the winners of the fundamental physics prize, the most lucrative prize ever established in science the award was set up in july 2012 by the russian internet tycoon yuri milner with the aim of rewarding achievements in fundamental physics. Stephen hawking: a quest for a theory of the universe new york: f watts, 1991 henderson, harry stephen hawking san diego, ca: lucent books, 1995 mcdaniel, melissa stephen hawking: revolutionary.
Renowned cambridge cosmologist stephen hawking has been called a “fool” by notorious creationist ray comfort despite the scientist’s groundbreaking achievements in physics and. Five stephen hawking achievements jump to media player a few of the things prof stephen hawking has achieved. What has stephen hawking done for science some of the physicist's greatest hits – from singularities in gravitational collapse to a quantum theory of gravity.
Stephen hawking was born in 1942 despite being physically handicapped,stephen hawking is one of the most famous scientist in the world todaymost people. Great scientist stephen hawking has died at the age of 76 hawking's contribution to space sciences is very significant achievements of stephen hawking.
Brief biography professor stephen professor stephen hawking worked on the determined by the laws of science towards the end of his life, stephen was working. Stephen hawking, in full stephen william hawking, (born january 8, 1942, oxford, oxfordshire, england—died march 14, 2018, cambridge, cambridgeshire), english theoretical physicist whose theory of exploding black holes drew upon both relativity theory and quantum mechanics he also worked with space-time singularities. On march 13, 2018, the world lost one of the most recognized and great men that science has had: stephen hawking in his 76 years of life not only did he battle against a complicated disease, but he also made contributions to science and the theory of the universe with a passion that is rarely found. Stephen hawking was born on january 8, 1942, in oxford, england, to frank and isobel hawking his father was a medical researcher he. Physicist stephen hawking sits on stage during an announcement of the breakthrough starshot initiative with investor yuri milner in new york april 12, 2016.


SURPRISE - Spatial light modulators for space applications
Applications for the Mobility sector - Space
Earth observation data is becoming increasingly important for our understanding of the planet and for addressing socio-ecological challenges – for example, in environmental monitoring. Methods for data acquisition and processing from space are currently limited by long acquisition times (up to several days per measurement), low spatial resolution (about 1 km), and the usable spectral range (primarily in the visible). Novel camera systems based on spatial light modulators can provide a remedy here. These are being realized and tested for the first time within the EU project SURPRISE. Fraunhofer IPMS contributes with its long-standing expertise with spatial light modulators and plans to develop a spatial light modulator suitable for space applications.
The main goal of the project is to develop a demonstrator. Core parameters include spectrally broadband operating range – in the visible (VIS), near-infrared (NIR), and mid-infrared (MIR) – improved performance in terms of ground resolution, and innovative on-board data processing and encryption functionality. Innovative Compressive Sensing (CS) technology is used for this purpose. It allows a two-dimensional image to be captured using a single-pixel detector. This is particularly interesting for the mid-infrared because no suitable 2D detectors are available in this spectral range. Compressive Sensing also offers advantages in processing large amounts of data as well as native data encryption.


REX3_U9_Walking in Space
Reading Explorer 3, Unit 9: Walking in Space
Narrator: From planetary orbit the Earth and heavens look serene, but the vacuum of space is a hostile environment, lacking oxygen and permeated by radiation.
Since the advent of manned spaceflight in the 1960s, humankind has been exploring this inhospitable realm from the relative safety of spacecraft. But occasional extra-vehicular activities have lead astronauts to leave these confines and explore the unknown.
In order for astronauts to survive in space, spacesuits provide a self-contained environment. Their tough material, along with heating and cooling elements, protect astronauts from extreme temperatures, ranging from around 250 degrees Fahrenheit to minus 250 degrees. The suits are pressurized with pure oxygen, allowing astronauts to breathe, and keep their blood from boiling in the vacuum of space.
The first venture outside a spacecraft was made by Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov in 1965, lasting only 12 minutes. This feat was duplicated a few months later by American astronaut Edward White during the Gemini 4 mission.
Although these excursions were meant to test the feasibility of humans to exist outside of spacecrafts, spacewalks have become a relatively common part of missions in the space shuttle era.
On spacewalks, astronauts have performed vital tasks that could not be accomplished from inside the shuttle. They’ve been able to recover lost satellites, restoring them to their proper orbit. They’ve serviced orbiting bodies like replacing the solar panels on the Hubble Space Telescope. And they’ve become the construction crew for the International Space Station.
Conducting spacewalks is dangerous, and astronauts work in pairs, tethered to the spacecraft for safety. Working in these spacesuits is not as easy as it seems. The thick pressurized gloves make grasping tools difficult, while the weightlessness of space creates its own issues.
To ensure spacewalk missions are successful, astronauts practice their planned excursions at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Immersed in a tank of water, the astronauts neither sink nor float, creating a sensation close to weightlessness. For every hour a task is scheduled on a mission, up to 10 hours is spent practicing underwater.
As NASA moves forward on maintenance and construction of the International Space Station, spacewalks will continue to be vital to the process.
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Wait for it.... pic.twitter.com/rchTE7Zh4b
— Fascinating Videos (@FascinatingVids) April 8, 2016
Amazing. Reminds me of trail cams of a bobcat taking down a deer.
Must have considerable jaw power!
Went to that Web site and looked at a few more videos. Most are interesting, However, I'll call your attention to the one the commenters there called The Solar System. It's cute but as a representation of the solar system it's wrong in almost every respect. Here's one example. "Neptune," the outermost planet, has an actual orbital period around the Sun of 165 Earth years. Consequently, in a single run of the video clip, during which time "Neptune" is shown to make one revolution around the "Sun", the innermost third ball representing the "Earth" would have to circle the "Sun" 165 times, whereas it is shown doing it fewer than 10 times. Also, of course, the distances of the planets from the Sun follow Bode's Law of 1766 and are not evenly spaced as is shown. I concede, however, such artistic license is okay.
Hey, Don, did you watch the one that shows the evolution of the Mustang?
Missed it. I'll have to delve into that


Its mountains are said to be made of water ice.
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) says that:
The close-up of the icy world’s rugged equatorial terrain was captured when the New Horizons spacecraft was about 47,800 miles (77,000 kilometers) from the surface, 1.5 hours before its closest approach. Rising to an estimated 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) the mountains are likely composed of water ice. Suggesting surprising geological activity, they are also likely young with an estimated age of 100 million years or so based on the apparent absence of craters. The region pictured is near the base of Pluto’s broad, bright, heart-shaped feature.
Do yourself a favour and save the Astronomy Picture of the Day to your browser favourites.


Our vision presents six (6) destinations for us to colonize. At each destination will use the EarthSeed methodology and techniques to establish our foothold.
Our first destination is our Moon. The southern pole offers a plateau on the edge of Amundsen Crater that is promising for its location, smaller shadowed craters, shallow enough for reasonable landings, yet deep enough for radiation shielding.
Our second destination is Mars. The Northern polar region offers an exposed canyon with a sizeable landing area, cliffs, all near the ice cap. Boreum Cavus is the central section of canyon bounded by Chasma Boreale on the downhill end, and Tenuis Cavus on the uphill end.
Our third destination is a waypoint at Ceres in the asteroid belt. A much smaller body than a moon, Ceres will require a different approach to build our habitat cave. The dwarf planet offers the opportunity to establish a transport hub within the asteroid belt.
Our fourth destination is Jupiter’s moon Callisto. Located just outside Jupiter’s main radiation belt, offers some small reduction in the radiation environment of the gas giant. Small, bright patches of pure water ice are intermixed with patches of a rock–ice mixture suggest the possibility of access to water, and some other compounds conducive to habitat life. Additionally, recent research suggests that there may be a deep, saltwater ocean beneath the crust.
Our fifth destination is another of Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede. Ganymede is Jupiter’s largest moon, though it lies within the gas giant’s radiation field. This moon is composed of approximately equal amounts of silicate rock and water ice. The Galileo craft discovered its underground ocean and magnetic field.
Our sixth destination is the large moon Titan of Saturn. It is the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth where clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found.
While these destinations are no more hospitable than the frozen arctic or antarctic in the dead of winter, the reality is that these present our best hope for leaving our nest that is Earth. A frontier is always challenging, and deadly. The EarthSeed Vision recognizes this, and offers a single methodology to meet the challenges of each of these destinations … and beyond.
Is it really inconceivable to suggest that by the time we reach Titan, we might have a viable star-drive in testing?


Join Bonnie J. Buratti, a leading planetary astronomer, on this personal tour of NASA's latest discoveries. Moving through the Solar System from Mercury, Venus, Mars, past comets and asteroids and the moons of the giant planets, to Pluto, and on to exoplanets, she gives vivid descriptions of landforms that are similar to those found on Earth but that are...
With the discovery of planets beyond our solar system 25 years ago, exoplanet research has expanded dramatically, with new state-of-the-art ground-based and space-based missions dedicated to their discovery and characterisation.
Galaxies - the Milky Way's siblings - offer a surprising variety of forms and colours. Displaying symmetrical spiral arms, glowing red nebulae or diffuse halos, even the image of a galaxy can reveal much about its construction.
Fully updated and expanded, this new edition presents a cutting-edge summary of planetary rings, including results from Cassini's Saturn System, Equinox and Solstice missions, and the New Horizons flyby of Jupiter.
Planetary rings are among the most intriguing structures of our solar system and have fascinated generations of astronomers. Collating emerging knowledge in the field, this volume reviews our current understanding of ring systems with reference to the rings of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and more.
Modified gravity models play an important role in contemporary theoretical cosmology. The present book proposes a novel approach to the topic based on techniques from noncommutative geometry, especially the spectral action functional as a gravity model.
This second edition of Introduction to Cosmology is an exciting update of an award-winning textbook. It is aimed primarily at advanced undergraduate students in physics and astronomy, but is also useful as a supplementary text at higher levels.
An invaluable resource for working programmers, as well as a fount of useful algorithmic tools for computer scientists, astronomers, and other calendar enthusiasts, The Ultimate Edition updates and expands the previous edition to achieve more accurate results and present new calendar variants.
Ongoing advances in Solar System exploration continue to reveal its splendour and diversity in remarkable detail. This undergraduate-level textbook presents fascinating descriptions and colour images of the bodies in the Solar System, the processes that occur upon and within them, and their origins and evolution.
How did life on Earth begin? How common is it elsewhere in the Universe? Written and edited by planetary scientists and astrobiologists, this undergraduate-level textbook provides an introduction to the origin and nature of life, the habitable environments in our solar system and the techniques most successfully used for discovery and characterisation of...
Are we alone in the Universe? Was there anything before the Big Bang? Are there other universes? What makes stars shine? Where does Earth's water come from? Why is the night sky dark? Was there ever life on Mars? How do telescopes work?
Describes and explains the causes and consequences of supernovae (exploding stars).Presents a broad survey of modern supernova research and a guide to the current literature.Explains the applications of supernovae to astrophysics and cosmology.
The second edition of this popular text provides undergraduates with a quantitative yet accessible introduction to the physical principles underlying the collection and analysis of observational data in contemporary optical and infrared astronomy.


CAREERS CONTACT HOME
MOST, CANADA’S SPACE TELESCOPE, CELEBRATES
Dubbed the “Humble” space telescope, the MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of Stars) microsatellite was launched June 30, 2003 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome with a 12-month mission to study the vibration of distant stars and draw inferences about their hidden composition - a technique called asteroseismology.
Although just eight years old and entering grade three in human terms, where most students are expanding their writing skills, MOST has been expanding the knowledge of scientists around the world as it continues to deliver startling results to the astronomic community regarding the makeup and origins of the universe.
From its original goal of studying the behaviour and physical characteristics of stars in our galaxy with a precision not possible from even the largest earth-bound telescopes, Dr. Jaymie Matthews, MOST’s Mission Scientist, and his global team of scientists have extended the capabilities of MOST to explore exoplanets - mysterious worlds around other stars – to try to shed light on the nature of their existence.
Although well into middle age for a microsatellite, MOST continues to exceed performance specifications. The operations team at MSCI for MOST constantly monitors the health of the spacecraft. Operational adjustments are made from MSCI’s facility in Mississauga, Canada to counter the inevitable degradation from the harsh environment of space. Dr. James Wells, head of MSCI Systems Engineering and lead engineer on MOST, observes that “…along with the scientific data, we are extracting a wealth of operations data enabling us to track every facet of spacecraft performance – key information that we are using to improve the design of NEOSSat, our current microsatellite program”.
“As well as its immense contribution to the world body of astronomic knowledge, MOST is an unbelievable engineering resource to the NEOSSat team,” explains David R. Cooper, President & CEO, MSCI. “I know of no other team that has an operational spacecraft to leverage its design expertise. Where others have to rely on simulations and models, we have a live test-bed. This enables us to tailor our designs and product assurance approach, especially in the area of radiation tolerance, to real, not hypothetical conditions. This brings tremendous value to our customers as it reduces our development time and costs, while testifying to our reliability.”
“Our unprecedented insight into building cost effective satellites that work in LEO space, is the foundation of MSCI’s latest initiative to build a constellation of polar orbiting satellites for business communications called COMMStellation™,” says Justin R. Phillips, Vice President, Marketing, MSCI “The continuing success of MOST and soon-to-be-launched NEOSSat provides tremendous credibility to MSCI’s capabilities and enables the COMMStellation™ business case.”
For more information about MSCI, please visit www.mscinc.ca. Additional product-specific information about MSCI’s MicroWheel (reaction wheel) attitude control systems can be found at www.reactionwheel.ca, and COMMStellation™ at www.commstellation.com.
For more information, please contact:
|Copyright © 2013 MSCI. All rights reserved|


This past weekend I did some refresher training to keep my paramedic rating. The training was in Waterloo, but I stayed with my folks down in Cedar Rapids.
Saturday night, after eight hours of classes, my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew took me to the Eastern Iowa Observatory out by Palisades park. The night was overcast and cold, so we thought we'd just be attending a lecture.
The lecture was really cool though, and I learned a few things too. As the speaker was talking about distances between stars and distances from our planet, he would say things like,
"So at the speed of light, that star is only 10 gazillion light years from us, which is remarkably close..."
And my mind was boggling at just how big the universe really is. Looking up into the night sky is literally looking across time. Light from our own sun takes eight minutes to get here, so when we watch the sun set, it actually went below the horizon eight minutes ago. Sirius is the brightest star for our viewing pleasure, and we are seeing light from it almost nine years later! Canopus is the next brightest star, and if it exploded tonight, we wouldn't see it here for 74 years! It's a huge understatement, but there is no other way to say it... Space is BIG!
Nearing the end of the presentation, another volunteer came in and told the speaker that the skies had cleared and the telescopes would be set up for viewing.
This was very exciting, as they have a few pretty sizable scopes! They've got a 16" telescope under an observatory dome, and a 24" scope that was donated by the U of I when they upgraded. Both scopes were trained in on the Orion Nebula, located on the sword of that famous constellation. I went out to get the binoculars Dad had loaned us from the car, and as I was passing the 16" dome, I noticed that there was nobody there to look at it except the guy setting it up. So I wandered over and was able to step right up to the view piece. It was awesome. There was the trapezium, a cluster of four stars surrounded by the glow of the nebula. A line was forming, so I ran for the binocs. Then we lined up for the 24" scope. Thanks to the bitter cold, the line was very short. But the view was spectacular! It defies words really. Even with Dad's 10x50 binocs, I could make out the glow of the nebula and the trapezium. It was a very enjoyable night.Orion Nebula photo by Anthony over at www.adventuresinastrophotography.com
I know there are places on the Internet where I can find instructions for building a telescope. I've looked at them occasionally over the last few years. I think that building one may just be in my future.
Looking at the stars that night, and the many hours I had to think while driving home the next day, helped to put things in perspective again. Life is short. I really don't have time for some of the drama that is going on in my life right now. I'll be glad when I can be done with that stuff and get back to what is really important. My family and friends. Doing things that I enjoy. Learning new things. Everything else is pretty irrelevant!


4 Interesting Facts about Solar Energy
According to the researchers, the sun produces nearly 430 quintillion joules of energy each hour, more than double the energy that humans consume each year. Another interesting fact about solar energy in Dubai is that it travels fast. It can cover 90 million miles in a matter of ten minutes. That is impressive and shows the potential of solar energy for our planet.
1: The solar energy industry is rapidly expanding in size and scope and has a promising future. By 2050, the world will have its first solar power station. A solar array of satellites covered with solar panels will be able to generate 2,000 GW of energy. At the same time, the biggest solar farm on earth can produce 1.8 GW. As you can see, there are plenty of benefits to installing a solar panel system in your home.
2: Another interesting fact about solar energy is that there is lighter than we can use in an hour. Our Sun delivers 430 quintillion joules of energy to earth every hour. Our planets are orbiting the sun, and because the earth is small, it needs a lot of sunlight to stay in orbit. A single hour of sunlight hits the earth. As a result, more light falls on earth than humans need for one year. The energy we produce comes from the sun’s natural resources.
3: The sun gives out a lot of energy. The energy sends into the atmosphere powers the water cycles on earth and heats the land. There are over 170 petawatts of energy hitting the earth’s atmosphere at any one time. We could generate the equivalent of a billion watts of electricity in a single year using solar power. That’s an incredible amount of energy. And it’s free. You can’t beat that.
4: The sun’s gravity is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It pulls the earth toward the sun. As a result, it’s possible to harness this energy and use it for your home. Moreover, the benefits of solar power are plentiful. The department of energy estimates that 173,000 terawatts of solar energy hit the earth every hour. That’s more than ten times as much as we use all other types of energy combined.


From The Nation today. I don’t endorse everything in their article, but the information about the sun recalls what was once widely accepted but is lately strangely disregarded: the sun powerfully controls the climate.
The sun will go into “hibernation” mode around 2030, and it has already started to get sleepy. At the Royal Astronomical Society’s annual meeting in July, Professor Valentina Zharkova of Northumbria University in the UK confirmed it – the sun will begin its Maunder Minimum (Grand Solar Minimum) in 15 years. Other scientists had suggested years ago that this change was imminent, but Zharkova’s model is said to have near-perfect accuracy.
– h/t Leonard G. Mills


At school we learn Euclidean geometry, usually starting with a planar surface with x-y coordinates.
But Earth is not a planar surface, it is a spherical surface. We need a spherical geomety to more accurately describe movements on Earth.
In the same way maybe the Universe is not a x-y-z Euclidean orthogonal space. Maybe it is a 4-dimensional sphere
What happens in that case?
On Earth if you travel to any direction, eventually you will go round the entire planet and be back to the starting point.
In the same way in a 4-dimensional sphere if you travel to any direction, eventually you will go round the entire Universe and be back to the starting point from the opposite direction.
On Earth (which is a spherical surface) if you travel to any direction eventually you will reach the other extreme of the planet, the exact opposite point on Earth from the starting point.
In the same way in a 4-dimensional spherical space, if you travel from Earth to any direction in space, eventually you will reach the other extreme of the Universe, the exact opposite point in the Universe from Earth.
It means that no matter which direction you look in the sky, you are actually looking at the exact same point in the Universe, you are looking at the exact opposite point in the Universe from Earth.
But why the sky looks different at every direction? Because we are looking at the same point FROM different directions.
A cross-section of a sphere is a circle. In the same way the cross-section of a 4-dimensional sphere is probably a 3-dimensional sphere, I think....
One consequence of this is the concept of distance. What is the distance between 2 points? It is the lenght of a straight line between these 2 points. But on Earth you cannot have a straight line between 2 points, since we can only travel on the spherical surface of the Earth.
But what if you could travel in a straight line by drilling a giant tunnel that connects 2 points on the surface of the Earth directly? It would be a shorter route.
If the Universe is a 4-dimensional sphere it could be possible to drill a tunnel that connects 2 points directly, thus having a shorter route.
I am not talking about wormholes, black holes or anything like that. I am not talking about Einstein's theory of relativity in which time is considered the fourth dimension.
I am talking pure geometry. Just suppose the Universe is a 4-dimensional sphere. Period. What would happen then?
What is a 4-dimensional sphere? How do you build it?
Think about a sphere. How do you build a sphere from a planar surface? By folding the surface and connecting all the edges to a single point. In this case I mean a topological folding, i.e. you can stretch or compress the surface at will.
In the same way how do you build a 4-dimensional sphere from a 3-dimensional object, let's say a cube? By folding the cube and connecting all extenal faces and edges to a single point. This folding is only possible in the 4th dimension.