John's question is a good one. Accurate determination of the solstice would have been difficult for ancient cultures due to the low rate of change of the declination and sunrise azimuth. The techniques suggested will work but they require repeated observations under difficult conditions. Clear skies to the horizon are rare these days.
But they did it! With stone circles, tunnels, and observation monuments, our forbearers fixed the day of the winter solstice. Determining that the sun had stopped its descent and had started to return with its life giving light, heat and energy was a critical event in most cultures. It is unfortunate that this has been lost in our modern cultures although solstice festivals still exist. How many realize that the lights, stars, trees, greenery, etc are all cultural residues of solstice celebrations. . We have gotten away from the real and significant event, start of the new solar year and now focus on festivals that have co-opted the theme. The constants in all these festivals are light, renewal, salvation, rebirth, whether it is Christmas, New Years, Epiphany, Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, St Lucia, Chanukah, Mother Earth etc. All celebrate the return of the sun. The current dates for these festivals reflect the difficulty in accurately determining the date and the calendar in vogue when the date was set. Saturnalia was a 10 day festival, Chanukah 7 and Christmas 12. Let's enjoy the whole solstice season and celebrate the return of the sun. Happy Solstice Roger Bailey Walking Shadow Designs -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of John Schilke Sent: December 18, 2001 3:26 PM To: Sundial Mail List; Judy Young Subject: Fw: Query about solstices Greetings! It occurred to me today that I probably do not fully understand something that would be of interest to the List. Granted the difficulty of determining the equinox, using only a dial or a Stonehenge-like ring (mainly because of the rapid change in solar declination), I thought about the opposite problem. How does one, using either of these tools only, determine the time (i.e., epoch) of the solstice, since the declination of the sun changes very little over several days -- only a couple of minutes of arc daily. I've pencilled out some intriguing possibilities, but they all depend on 19th and 20th century math and astronomy. How did the ancients do it? I'm probably looking right at the answer and shall feel quite silly when it is shown to me, but I still will ask. Thanks for the help. John F. Schilke, MD Oregon City, Oregon, USA 122W36, 45N21
