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tjj T
tjj Jan 11, 2010 21:41:20
Replying to gjrk

gjrk wrote:
Hi George. Meant to get back to this sooner. For anyone who's wondering what this issue is about, and please correct me if I'm getting anything wrong -'cos my knowledge of these monuments is fairly fragmentary- George has calculated that the WKLB was constructed in a position which aligns, within the decade of its construction, with the rising full moon nearest the spring equinox. This is important in its own right, i.e. the establishment of the likelihood of an exact lunar orientation for a major Neolithic monument, rather than "in the general direction of", but this same event, that the monument is aligned with, also has conjunction with Jupiter and Saturn and has a reasonably high chance of a lunar eclipse; a red moon. For example of the preceding...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080211133105.htm

Red light travelling up the passage, if you want to think of it in terms of Newgrange.

I was wondering, rather than Europe-wide, what the local counterpart would be and found the following in Burl's Prehistoric Avebury (p111). Again, I should say that I've never seen any of these in the flesh, but I assume that he knows what he's on about ;)

"Before its blocking the shallow crescentic forecourt at West Kennet was probably used for open-air ceremonies.../ At Wayland's Smithy...stones almost as high as West Kennet curve outwards on either side of the entrance, marking out a shallow forecourt.../ A crescent-shaped forecourt may also have existed at the ruined Devil's Den.../ the destroyed Old Chapel...had a very deep forecourt...semicircle of great stones..."

Reaching, but tempting?

Hope you don't mind me commenting as I would really like to get my head around this concept. I do now recall the occasional sighting of a 'red moon' (and saw a rainbow 'halo' around the full moon for a few minutes just recently).
You must have explained the above very well Gordon because I almost understand what you are saying.

This was also helpful in understanding the phenomenon of why a red moon occurs - http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_causes_a_red_moon

From here on the calculations concerning WKLB are too difficult for me to get a handle on but I am following the debate from the back of the class - and am paying attention.

tjj

T tiompan
tiompan Jan 11, 2010 22:14:32
Replying to tjj

I was probably too flippant with my original explanation June see if this makes sense . One aspect of the equinoxes is that the sun and moon get closer to each others setting and rising points .When there is a full moon just before and just after the equinoxesif circumstances are right it will appear red and have a 30% chance of eclipsing that night .Visually the moon would be sun like , full and red then possibly disappearing , far more striking than major or mainor standstill moons which are often not even seen , it could also be seen as the lunar marking of the mid way point of the solstices .WKLB points to the part of the horizon where that would have taken place within a decade of the build date , it is not a regular event .The same moon but necessarily red and eclipsing is used to calculate Easter .Unfortunately it is a bit convoluted .Hope that helps .Come to think of it Gordon just explained the last bit far more clearly