Eichholz wrote: > > _ I that rather held it better > men should perish one by one, > Than the earth should stand at gaze > like Joshua's moon in Ajalon!_ > > I can't figure the meaning of this, and don't get the (astronomical?) > reference to "Joshua's moon in Ajalon." > > Dear George > > It is possible, that the shadow of a sundial stands still and goes in the > opposite direction. This is mentioned in the Bible as the Sundial of Achas: > 2. Kings 16, 10-11; 20, 9-11; Isaias 38, 8 and Sirach 48, 22-24. > I give some of the literature and thesis about this subject. > > Mayer, G. U. (1610) > De Sole tempore Hiskiae retrogrado., Wittenberg. > > Karl, Bernard Peter (1700 ???) > De miraculo solis vel umbrae in Ezechiae Horologio > dissertatio, cum mantissa de sole et luna a Josua consistere > jussis., Bremen. > > Stuart, Bernard (1735) > Ephemeris ecclestica, astronomica-astrologica., Salzburg. > > Sachse, Julius F. (1895) > Horologium Achaz (Christopherus Schissler, Artifex). Proc. > American Philosophial Society (NR. S. 21-30. > > Elsner, Walter (1989) > Die Sonnenuhr des Achas - Das Raetsel der Schattenumkehr - > biblisches Wunder oder Spiel der Natur?. SFAU (NR. S. > 149-156. > > Thank you for your answer. Is there anybody who has other literature??? > > Klaus Eichholz > Arbeitskreis Sonnenuhren > Zum Ruhrblick 5 > D-44797 Bochum > > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dear Klaus, About the retrogradation is written by M.J. Hagen in Bulletin 85.3 of De Zonnewijzerkring (Dutch Sundial Society). For an horizontal plane between lat -23.5 and +23.5 this retrogradation is easy to see for some days in a year. Make an analemmatic dial for such a latitude and you will see that the gnomon has to be placed outside the ellipse for certain days. On such days the shadow of the gnomon shows the retrogradation. Fer de Vries Netherlands.
