The San Miguel Beer Sundial
Dear Shadow Watchers, We were travelling on the London Underground this week and were astonished to see an advertising poster for San Miguel beer, supposedly depicting a sundial! The glass acts as the gnomon but the real horror was when I looked at the numerals, going clockwise from I to XII, so midday was at VI. As I did not have a camera I have tried to find a copy on the Internet and a poor resolution version is all that I found: www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/87971# A copy is attached of the sundial picture - sorry, rather blurred. In my searches I also found a short movie of a sundial in San Francisco: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq8AX0btApw Regards, Mike Cowham attachment: San Miguel Sundial.jpg--- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
moon shadows
I dug a hole in my backyard and filled it with concrete and shoved a pipe in it and pointed it the sun at solar noon on an equinox so it cast no shadow. Very simple thing to do. I can use it as a calendar by marking the noon shadows. I can use it as compass to find true north, south east and west. When I measure the angle of the pipe from the ground I can determine my latitude. I have been watching moon shadows recently and noticed that at solar midnight (12 hours after solar noon?)on the first day of fall the moon appears to be in the same alignment with my pipe as the solar equinox and casts no shadow. I suppose now I can also use the pipe and moon shadows to make a moon calendar, moon compass and also determine my latitude by moon light. I haven't looked into it but I'm guessing first day of fall and first day of spring are something like lunar equinoxes? Sorry if I use the wrong terms, I have never studied any of this. brent --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: moon shadows
In general the full moon is directly opposite the sun, both in longitude and declination. It is 12 hours, 180° out of phase and the sign of the declination is reversed The sun, moon and planets generally follow a path through sky called the ecliptic as this is where eclipses happen. This is the general answer. The specifics are quite different. First this opposition only occurs when the moon is truly full, and not for the other phases. Second, the orbital plane of the moon is tilted with respect to the orbital plane of the earth so the ecliptic path is 11° wide. The planets vary some are very close to the earth, others quite different, like Pluto at 17°. The eccentricity of elliptical orbits is another detail that make things interesting. There is a lot that we and ancient astronomers have learned from the shadow of a stick in the ground. Regards, Roger Bailey Walking Shadow Designs -- From: Brent bren...@verizon.net Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 8:05 AM To: Sundial sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: moon shadows I dug a hole in my backyard and filled it with concrete and shoved a pipe in it and pointed it the sun at solar noon on an equinox so it cast no shadow. Very simple thing to do. I can use it as a calendar by marking the noon shadows. I can use it as compass to find true north, south east and west. When I measure the angle of the pipe from the ground I can determine my latitude. I have been watching moon shadows recently and noticed that at solar midnight (12 hours after solar noon?)on the first day of fall the moon appears to be in the same alignment with my pipe as the solar equinox and casts no shadow. I suppose now I can also use the pipe and moon shadows to make a moon calendar, moon compass and also determine my latitude by moon light. I haven't looked into it but I'm guessing first day of fall and first day of spring are something like lunar equinoxes? Sorry if I use the wrong terms, I have never studied any of this. brent --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Beer sundial
I have an interest in sundials used in Beer advertisement. I made a place-mat for an advertiser in 2000 for a limited circulation. (see below) In trying to find more about the San Miguel ad I found an amusing Alan Wake sundial at http://adsoftheworld.com/media/outdoor/xbox_alan_wake_sun_dial attachment: sundial small.gif--- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: moon shadows
Hello, I am afraid that if you wanted to make the sort of observations that you suggest to any accuracy then the gnomon set up that you have used is incorrect. It should be set to point to true north (not compass north) and be at an angle to the horizontal which is equal to your latitude. The sun is due South at solar Noon and is not (generally) at an altitude equal to your latitude at noon during an equinox. Regards Patrick Hi patrick; I have seen the type of gnomon dial you refer to. I think they call it an equatorial dial. Mine is the opposite, mine points due south since I am in the northern hemisphere. And it does give me an accurate reading of my latitude. I don't think it is coincidence. When you point a gnomon at the sun at noon on the equinox the gnomon is essentially in the same plane as the equatorial plane as the sun is directly above the equator on equinox days. So I think you can determine your latitude anywhere on earth by using the same method. Correct me if I am wrong. As far as the moon shadows; I guess now if the moon was in the exact same position as the sun was 12 hours earlier on an equinox that would mean they are in the same plane and we would have had an eclipse. However, I still find it fascinating that I had that big bright harvest full moon so closely aligned with my pipe at solar midnight. brent --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: Beer sundial
Hi Claude, Do you have a larger image of the place-mat sundial, it would be good to be able to read the writing. Roderick Wall. -- From: Claude Hartman sunlightdesi...@cs-collectibles.com Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2010 3:46 AM To: sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: Beer sundial I have an interest in sundials used in Beer advertisement. I made a place-mat for an advertiser in 2000 for a limited circulation. (see below) In trying to find more about the San Miguel ad I found an amusing Alan Wake sundial at http://adsoftheworld.com/media/outdoor/xbox_alan_wake_sun_dial --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.856 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3155 - Release Date: 09/24/10 04:34:00 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
RE: Beer sundial
Dear Claude, I also collect sundials used in advertisements and have a number used in beer and whisky ads. Is the attached gif the San Miguel ad you mention or is it the placemat you created? The image was too pixilated to tellbut it's great. Sara Sara J. Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science, Harvard University Science Center 251c, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 | Fax: 617-496-5932 | sche...@fas.harvard.edu http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hsdept/chsi.html -Original Message- From: sundial-boun...@uni-koeln.de [mailto:sundial-boun...@uni-koeln.de] On Behalf Of Claude Hartman Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 1:47 PM To: sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: Beer sundial I have an interest in sundials used in Beer advertisement. I made a place-mat for an advertiser in 2000 for a limited circulation. (see below) In trying to find more about the San Miguel ad I found an amusing Alan Wake sundial at http://adsoftheworld.com/media/outdoor/xbox_alan_wake_sun_dial --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
RE: moon shadows
Hi Brent, It is only a coincidence that the full moon/ lunar opposition happened so close to the equinox this year, AD 2010. It could happen any of the 14.5 days around the equinox, so roughly September 5 to October 5. Last year the closest lunar opposition to the equinox was October 2 (or 3 depending on where you live). Ross Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:46:50 -0700 From: bren...@verizon.net To: sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: Re: moon shadows Hello, I am afraid that if you wanted to make the sort of observations that you suggest to any accuracy then the gnomon set up that you have used is incorrect. It should be set to point to true north (not compass north) and be at an angle to the horizontal which is equal to your latitude. The sun is due South at solar Noon and is not (generally) at an altitude equal to your latitude at noon during an equinox. Regards Patrick Hi patrick; I have seen the type of gnomon dial you refer to. I think they call it an equatorial dial. Mine is the opposite, mine points due south since I am in the northern hemisphere. And it does give me an accurate reading of my latitude. I don't think it is coincidence. When you point a gnomon at the sun at noon on the equinox the gnomon is essentially in the same plane as the equatorial plane as the sun is directly above the equator on equinox days. So I think you can determine your latitude anywhere on earth by using the same method. Correct me if I am wrong. As far as the moon shadows; I guess now if the moon was in the exact same position as the sun was 12 hours earlier on an equinox that would mean they are in the same plane and we would have had an eclipse. However, I still find it fascinating that I had that big bright harvest full moon so closely aligned with my pipe at solar midnight. brent --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: moon shadows and Pluto
Hi Jim, For me, Pluto is a planet. This is based on what led to its discovery, not the rewriting of science and history by the the new generation that knows everything and values nothing. For a while I was on the advisory board for the Lowell Observatory. My mountaineering friend, William Lowell (Bill) Putnam is the trustee of the Lowell estate, a huge funder of their astronomical research and probably the most interesting character I have met. While on the board I had the opportunity to meet the Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker, John Spencer and Mark Buie, among others great astronomers. The Shoemakers are best known for discovering with the Canadian comet hunter David Levy, Shoemaker-Levi 9, the comet that hit Jupiter. Gene's ashes are on the moon, a fitting tribute by NASA for the pioneer in planetary geology. Marc Buie is the foremost Pluto expert and John Spencer wrote the book on the Great Comet Crash. I was a few years too late to meet the early Lowell astronomers, Clyde Tombaugh who discovered Pluto or Vesto Melvin Slipher who discovered the distance to galaxies before Hubble. Slipher studied the Andromeda Galaxy that show a blue rather than red shift as it is a member of our local group and is not receding but coming towards us. The Nobels gave no credit to the pioneering stellar spectrographer who discovered blue shift when awarding the prizes. The effete intellectual astronomical elite continues to denigrate the accomplishments of an privately funded observatory that continues to be at the forefront of astronomical science. I continue to believe in the nine discovered planets, as in Man Very Early Made Jars Stand Up Nearly Perpendicular. Of course, Pluto is a Kuiper Belt object captured by the sun. There are many like it now being found and some are bigger. This takes nothing away from the history of Percival Lowell, an rich astronomy dilettante and Clyde Tombaugh, a simple farm boy who discovered astronomy, telescopes and the PLANET PLUTO. Regards, Roger Bailey -- From: J. Tallman jtall...@artisanindustrials.com Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 12:07 PM To: Roger Bailey rtbai...@telus.net Subject: RE: moon shadows Hi Roger, I thought Pluto was not a planet anymore! Jim Tallman www.artisanindustrials.com jtall...@artisanindustrials.com 513-253-5497 This message is being sent remotely as I am currently out of the studio. Please excuse any further delay in response. -Original Message- From: Roger Bailey rtbai...@telus.net Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 11:58 AM To: bren...@verizon.net; Sundial sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: Re: moon shadows In general the full moon is directly opposite the sun, both in longitude and declination. It is 12 hours, 180° out of phase and the sign of the declination is reversed The sun, moon and planets generally follow a path through sky called the ecliptic as this is where eclipses happen. This is the general answer. The specifics are quite different. First this opposition only occurs when the moon is truly full, and not for the other phases. Second, the orbital plane of the moon is tilted with respect to the orbital plane of the earth so the ecliptic path is 11° wide. The planets vary some are very close to the earth, others quite different, like Pluto at 17°. The eccentricity of elliptical orbits is another detail that make things interesting. There is a lot that we and ancient astronomers have learned from the shadow of a stick in the ground. Regards, Roger Bailey Walking Shadow Designs -- From: Brent bren...@verizon.net Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 8:05 AM To: Sundial sundial@uni-koeln.de Subject: moon shadows I dug a hole in my backyard and filled it with concrete and shoved a pipe in it and pointed it the sun at solar noon on an equinox so it cast no shadow. Very simple thing to do. I can use it as a calendar by marking the noon shadows. I can use it as compass to find true north, south east and west. When I measure the angle of the pipe from the ground I can determine my latitude. I have been watching moon shadows recently and noticed that at solar midnight (12 hours after solar noon?)on the first day of fall the moon appears to be in the same alignment with my pipe as the solar equinox and casts no shadow. I suppose now I can also use the pipe and moon shadows to make a moon calendar, moon compass and also determine my latitude by moon light. I haven't looked into it but I'm guessing first day of fall and first day of spring are something like lunar equinoxes? Sorry if I use the wrong terms, I have never studied any of this. brent --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
