12/03/2021 – Ephemeris – Learn about the astronomy of the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, December 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours even, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:03. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 8:33 tomorrow morning.

This evening yours truly will present one of my annual holiday programs starting at 8 p.m., at the monthly meeting, via Zoom, of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. The talk is a new one: The ancient astronomy of the Egyptians and Babylonians. It’s amazing how these ancient astronomers devised accurate calendars and eclipse predictions and even helped develop our alphabet, through the study of the heavens. If clear, we’ll have a virtual star party starting around 9 pm. Instructions and a link is on gtastro.org by 7 pm. Our binocular comet Leonard is still approaching the Sun in the morning sky. Tomorrow morning it will be a bit less than the width of a fist held at arm’s length above and a bit to the left of the bright star Arcturus in the eastern sky.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Egyptian used the heliacal rising of Sirius as a signal that the flooding of the Nile was imminent, starting their agricultural year. The Greeks called the star Sothis, while the Egyptians themselves called it Sopdet, a goddess, and consort of the god Sah, our Orion. Part of my presentation.