Solar Pashes
Sun path: The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, nothing incredible, but it you could process the path that the sun follows every day of the year, you would see that it is progressively changing.
Why it change: Its trajectory ascends in the celestial vault and then descends again, repeating this process every year, this is a consequence of the Earth revolving around the Sun while its axis is tilted, if it werent, we would see the Sun always trace the same path.
Seasons: This tilt has an impact on Earths climate, because of it one hemisphere is always receiving more light than the other, and more light meand higher temperature, when the Sun is at it’s highest point in the sky its summer and when is it at its lowest point it is winter.
4 Phases: This ondulation of the Sun has 4 significant points, the extremes when the sun traces its lowest and highest path and the two intermediate points.
Soltices
Soltices: The days when the extremes occur are the solstices, from the latin “Sol” and “Statum”, Sun and still, since around these days the trajectory did not change much because it was peak of the wave.
Longest and shortest night: At the summer solstice, when the sun is at its highest point, it is the day with the shortest night of all, while at the winter solstice it is the opposite, the day with the longest night.
Celebrations: This day the Romans celebrated the Dies Natalis Solis Invictis, the festival of the birth of the invincible sun, because from that day the sun would gradually rising the night. The solstices are always linked to celebrations in many cultures around the world, in many pre-roman cultures thoose pagan celebrations were adapted and remixed with the cristianity.
Equinoxes
Equinoxes: The other two points, the intermediate ones, since are in the middle of the longest night and the longest morning, these are days in which both has the same amount of time, the Romans called exactly Equal Night, Aequinoctium, the equinoxes
Seasons: The two equinoxes and the two solstices mark the beginning and end of four seasons of the year with different temperatures and amounts of light, this is the origin of the four seasons
Why it's important: Knowing precisely when these changes occurred was vital to know when to plant, when to harvest, when to count and ration if necessary, when certain meteorogical penomena were going to repeat themselves, controlling the sky, in this case the Sun, was having control of time, that’s why it’s no surprise that they devoted resources on i
Sunset Phases:
Sunset: The exact moment the sun’s upper edge drops below the western horizon, creating bright red, orange, and yellow colors.
Civil Twilight: It is still bright outside to the people stay outside and they don’t need artificial lights.
Nautical Twilight: The sky gets darker, the “blue hour” begins, and you need outdoor lights, the first stars of the night appear. The name comes from when sailors could still see the line of the sea on the horizon and also the stars.
Astronomical Twilight: The sun hide enough and the sky reaches full darkness, allowing faint stars to appear before night allowing us to start practice astronomy
The zodiacal light:
Wait for the light: If you wait long enough, and your sky is exceptionally dark on the sunrise and sunset, on this light will appears a diffuse glow.
What it is: You are at the correct angle to recive sunlight reflected off the dust orbiting the solar system.
Sunset for orientation: if you have seen the sun set over the horizon you can identify the west, know that the south is behind you and, the west on your left and the east on your right
Moon phases:
Phases: The eight moon phases are the new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter, along with four intermediate phases. This cycle takes about 29.5 days to complete as the moon orbits the earth and reflects sunlight.
Why we should know: They way that the moon reflects the sunlight during the month also affects how we see the sky, that’s why it’s important to know how the phases change the sky:
Full: This phase is good to appreciate how it rise in the horizon, take landscape photos, night hiking, however It outshines the other stars, it is not recommended to look at it with a telescope or binoculars as it dazzles the eyes and cannot be appreciated well at this phase
Wanning: It is present in the second half of the night, that is, it rises after midnight, so if you want to see the sky during a waning moon it is advisable to go before midnight
Waxing: It is present in the first half of the night, that is, at 10/11 pm it will be in the sky, however from midnight onwards it will no longer be there.
New: It is not present in the sky, so this will be the best time to observe the sky without worrying about the time.