Tomorrow, January 19, the Sun will enter constellation Capricornus.
See the end note about enlarging illustrations.
You can’t see the Sun below the horizon, nor the constellation boundaries in the sky, and you are unlikely to see the faint stars of Capricornus that are still above the horizon for a while after sunset. But the few brighter stars that do show through twilight give clues as to where Capricornus is, if you have some grasp of the map of the sky.
Ancient people did, hence their knowledge of the Sun’s movement and its yearly cycle. But in ancient times, because of the slow change called precession, the Sun was, at this time of year, farther east along the ecliptic. It was entering Aquarius. So astrology still says that the Sun enters, on January 20, the “sign” Aquarius. (More explanation, and helpfully colored diagrams, in our page about “The Sun entering signs and constellations.“)
Corrections to the Bible department
An article about an Irish law giving adoptive children the right to know who their true parents are caused me to remember the Biblical story of the judgment of Solomon. (It’s in chapter 3 of the first book of Kings.) It’s supposed to illustrate the wisdom of Solomon, but it’s a ghastly story and cannot really have happened. Even the false mother would not have accepted her “share” of a dead baby cloven in half.
A better version – and perhaps what actually happened – is that the dispute was over twins. Solomon says: “I will divide them: one baby to each of you.” He then knows the false mother because she agrees, and the true mother because, weeping at the thought of the siblings being separated, she says “No, let her have both!”
__________
ILLUSTRATIONS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format. You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor. One way: right-click, and choose “View image”, then enlarge. Or choose “Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it. On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers). Other methods have been suggested, such as dragging the image to the desktop and opening it in other ways.
Sometimes I make improvements or corrections to a post after publishing it. If you click on the title, rather than on ‘Read more’, I think you are sure to see the latest version.
This weblog maintains its right to be about astronomy or anything under the sun.
Ghastly stories happen all the time, Guy. Your emendation has nothing to offer except kowtowing to chronological snobbery on the assumption that “modern” values best all prior ones. You would not so treat the Syrian situation, I’ll wager. The story as it stands challenges many assumptions but is firmly rooted in human behaviors.
Either the story happened as told, or it was an instance of the wisdom of Solomon, but not both.
It’s certainly true that ghastly stories continue to happen. In September 2009 elections were held in Afghanistan, and a peasant, determined to play his civic part by casting his vote, set off walking to the distant town. He was intercepted by Taliban fanatics, who cut off his ears and nose. I wrote to the correspondent who reported this in the Independent, asking whether there was any way of contributing to aid for this man, but got no reply.
Re the woman in the Book of Kings: her reaction has never struck me as unrealistic. She’s clearly one of those ultra-vindictive types…”if I can’t have the child then nobody can”. I’ve come across more than enough of the “cut off my nose to spite my face” types to know that they’re well represented among the population.
Scholars suggest that the story is an instance of a folk tale reworked in a literay source.
Reading the interwebs suggest that the story is entirely probable within the present day and the wisdom of Solomon is sorely needed – … MOM : https://www.mbc-law.com/blog/2015/june/mother-accused-of-killing-2-children-embroiled-i/ … and DAD : https://pix11.com/news/father-two-children-dead-after-fathers-day-after-custody-dispute/ . Folk tale hardly does justice to the human condition revealed in the biblical incident recounted. An assumption purported as a fact remains an assumption, especially when attributed to “the assured results of biblical criticism” since the days of Julius Wellhausen and changed with every social fad of each day since the first such claim.