Copernicus and Sundials, the Spinning Earth, North Pole(s), and Colours

Click here to go the section on Rainbows and Colours

Click here to view an animated spinning globe. Can be stopped and reoriented using your mouse or your fingers. Click refresh to reactivate, with thanks to www.amcharts.com

Image below (with earth's spin skewed right) is obviously **not to scale. In the Northern Hemisphere where 88% of the world live, the sun always travelled "clockwise" east to west on the sundial from its 6:00 am rising to its 6:00 pm setting, while reaching its highest point in the south at mid-day. In the southern parts of Africa and South America, it appeared to travel counter-clockwise, towards the north. A mid-point when time was equidistant day and night was the "aequator", first spoken in Latin about the late 14th century.

Copernicus (1473-1543) published his "radical" theory in 1543 in the last year of his life. Although he couldn't prove it, obviously, in a "new cosmology" he proposed that the earth spun counter-clockwise daily on its axis, while travelling counter-clockwise yearly around the sun, with an axis tilt creating the seasons. He was contradicting laws set out by Aristotle, and particularly Claudius Ptolemy ca. 150AD. But proved definitively with the space-flights of the past century.

Many consider Copernicus's doctrine today as supremely logical, but even he had difficulty answering the question "but why do objects always fall down" (in fact they accelerate as they do so) if, according to his proposal, the earth was rotating at hundreds of metres per second. At the equator the earth's spin was 500 metres per second. Even more "unanswerable" was the speed of the earth's journey around the sun at 30 kilometres per second, that's 35 times faster than the fastest bullet. The concept of "gravity", a word coined in 1620, was followed by laws of gravitational pull (and acceleration) as defined by dear Isaac Newton 1642-1727.

**Sun-Earth-Moon System to Scale

Earth to Moon

Sun, Earth, and Moon, all to scale
[tomroelandts.com]

Compared with the earth the sun is

Upon the earth the sun appears roughly the same size as the moon, but that's because its radius and diameter are 400 times that of the moon. Incidentally, while the diagram is obviously 2D, for those interested the formula for the sun (radius 696,000kms), earth (radius 6,371kms), moon (radius 1,737kms) 3D spherical area is about 4*Pi*r2, volume is about 4*Pi*r3/3, where Pi equals 3.1415...

Re solar eclipses Rotation and movement of the earth, and movement of the moon, mean a full solar eclipse should never last more than about 6 or 7 minutes.


Earth's spin skewed left.
Click here for this article.

Note too the two passovers, the Exodus from Egypt Exodus 10:21-23 and the crucifixion of Christ Luke 23:44-45. As the moon is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun during a full moon, an eclipse is only possible if an all-powerful Father is allowing his passion, also his coming judgment, be known.

North Poles (actually, there are three)

  1. The Geographic North Pole (often called "true north") is always 90 N latitude, 0 longitude,
    with the South Pole 90 S latitude, 0 longitude. Both have 6 months with sun up all day 21Mar Nth. 21Sep Sth.

    It's based on the axis of earth's daily rotation with its direction wobbling slightly, we see the sun shift one degree "backward" every 71 years or so. Due to the volume of icy water and sludge at the northern site there is no station, and its exact point changes a few metres. At the geographic south pole in Antarctica which is a solid mass of ice, national flags have been set up to mark the spot.

  2. By Jonathan Corum | Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
    The North Magnetic Pole is where the compass ceases to rotate horizontally, and if able to rotate vertically, its north-facing point will dip vertically towards the ground. At the South Magnetic Pole its south-facing point will similarly dip vertically towards the ground.

    On this image, since 1590 it appears to have "wandered" around northern Canada. Two locations of the North Magnetic Pole were measured in 2001 and 2007. The most recent survey determined that the Pole is moving approximately north-northwest at 55 km per year. If this continues it could reach Russian Siberia by 2025.

    In 2020 the location of the north magnetic pole was 86.50 N and 164.04 E (about 500kms from the geographic North Pole), and the South Magnetic Pole was 64.07 S and 135.88 E (about 2,858kms from the geographic South Pole).

  3. Location in 2017. Source: wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp
    The Geomagnetic Poles are lined up as two points in the north and south which are "antipodean" i.e. directly opposite each other by employing a magnetic dipole at the centre of the earth.

    In 2020 the North Geomagnetic Pole is at 80.65 N latitude and 72.68 W longitude (at Ellesmere Island in northern Canada) and the South Geomagnetic Pole is at 80.65 S latitude and 107.32 E longitude, with the axis of the dipole currently inclined at 9.41 to the Earth's rotation axis.

    Although the geomagnetic poles are theoretical and cannot be located directly, their model best describes the magnetic field at Earth's surface determining for example where auroras can be observed.


Rainbows (and rain)

No mention is made of rain on the earth until the Flood and Noah (Gen 2:5-6 Gen 7:4,12 Gen 9:13) Colours: crimson grub

Colours: Crimson (kermes), purple and blue

Aurora Australis, captured by amateur aurora chaser Peter Sayers in Tasmania. Picture: Peter Sayers
Click image for a larger map
 

The Bureau of Meteorology says auroras are caused by charged particles ejected from the sun (alpha particles i.e. two protons and two neutrons, and single proton and electron particles) that are deflected by Earth's magnetic field, and interact with the atmosphere at the poles – usually oxygen and nitrogen atoms that emit light when they are excited.

Peter Sayers, a Devonport-based amateur astronomer who has been chasing auroras for 35 years, said "you've got to be really lucky to see it. A lot of times I'm disappointed at not seeing it because of cloud cover. When you do see it, it's absolutely amazing."

"The colours can be various as well – all the colours of the rainbow. Typically, they're green or yellow, but they can be purple, red, all sorts of different colours and shapes. Every aurora is different."

Click here for the whole article.

Click here for the rainbow's spectrum (400-790THz), its three primary colours RGB, and its seven (modern day) acknowledged colours Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Violet.

Isaiah 1:18 Come (Walk with me) now, and let us reason (be corrected) together, says the LORD, though your sins be like scarlet (like crimson) they shall be as white as snow, though they be red i.e. "adam" like that worm, they shall be as wool.

Psalm 22:6 But I [am] a worm, and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Chatting this morning (Wed April 9 2014) about the Crimson worm (or its scientific name Kermes insect) , found on oak trees in Israel, used in ancient times to dye the garments of the High Priest, how the female in its death naturally stains both the wood of the tree as well as the baby grubs feeding on it underneath with its red dye - Jesus shedding his precious blood on the cross — and over us — I do vaguely remember hearing some of this from a teacher long ago back at Sunday School, anyway, here's a great web page, with a picture of the worm, that the Alpha & Omega Institute popped together

www.discovercreation.org

Three days after it dies, the mother's body loses its crimson colour and turns into a white wax which falls to the ground like snow. Can be harvested and used to make shellac, a preservative. The crimson worm is also, apparently, very fragrant when crushed, and can be used to make medicine. Great pictures.

Update in December 2022

Blue, Purple, and Scarlet as used in Israel's Sanctuary

  1. The word "Blue" in Hebrew "techelet" with respect to its use in the Tabernacle, the colour of Aaron's ephod (apron) that he wore, see Exodus 39:22, and the blue covering over the ark as it was carried by the Levites in the wilderness, see Numbers 4:5-6, is written 49 times in the Old Testament.

    According to Josephus, also used in the Septuagint, it was the colour of the hyacinth flower.
    The colour of the sky as blue waves of light are "scattered" by transparent molecules of air. The colour of the sea as blue waves of light are reflected ("bounced") by transparent molecules of water. The colour of God's Home (Heaven).


    Natural Form

    Delft Blue

    Hyacinthus orientalis, the common hyacinth, native to southwestern Asia, southern and central Turkey, northwestern Syria, Lebanon and northern Israel from Wikipedia.

     

  2. Tyrian purple (the colour of royalty)   used to clothe Jesus in mockery at his crucifixion. Extracted from sea snails, and used by kings and the wealthy, from Wikipedia

     

  3. Wool dyed with the scale insect kermes (man sinful, now redeemed) from Wikipedia

Blessings all Steve

Stephen Williamson Computing Services Pty Ltd

Man's Timeline: www.swcs.com.au/timeline.asp

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