this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2024
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[–] Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca 31 points 3 months ago (12 children)

Lined up with Orions Belt is that great little sprinkle of wild, flailing outrage that makes no sense whatsoever.

How could ancient people, with their better visibility of the stars and greater common understanding and reliance on their position for navigation, place things on the ground to match stars?!

But also, Orions Belt is 3 randomly bright stars in a line, not at all nearby to each other in space, that arc across the night sky every evening and change position in the night sky throughout the years. Aligned how?

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Would the stars in Orion's belt even be in the same positions relative to our perception 4000-5000 years BP? I don't know enough about the astronomy side of things, but I know stars generally don't stay at a static position in the sky long-term.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

That's correct. The positions can be simulated, and IIRC, they do match from the time of their construction.

Of course, that just means they mapped out some stars and stuck the buildings in the same relative positions.

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

How could they match? Star positions in the sky are dependent on Earth's orbit and wobble. Their height to and from the horizon changes from Earth's tilt and position across the sky from Earth's rotation. The only constant (ish) stars are like Polaris and Little Bear because they're at the celestial poles, so appear in the same spot. Orion appears to move all over the place relative to time of day and time of year.

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