Philosophy
OBSERVATORIES in Britain, France and the United States, a Pharaonic temple in Egypt, a 3000-year-old pillar in China and a 1920s tower in Berlin have been inscribed on a UN-backed heritage list for astronomy, unveiled on Friday.
August 25, 2012
The Australian
The Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy...aims to give astronomical sites the same place in public awareness as UNESCO's World Heritage List does for places of historical importance.
The website was launched on the sidelines of an International Astronomical Union (IAU) meeting in Beijing on Friday, the IAU said in a press release.
It is being backed by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The portal has a preliminary listing of around three dozen sites, ranging from prehistoric caves to 20th-century observatories, but should expand swiftly in the coming months, the IAU said.
Among the first entries are Stonehenge, which is aligned along the axis of the midwinter sunset and midsummer sunrise, and the Dengfeng Observatory in Henan, China, where Tang Dynasty astronomers used a pillar to measure the Sun's shadow and thus calculate the length of the year.
There are also the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Meudon Observatory in France, the Mount Wilson Observatory in California and the 1920s "Einstein Tower" in Potsdam, all sites where important contributions were made in the era of modern science.
Eventually, the portal will not only feature sites and monuments, but also other types of astronomical heritage such as portable instruments and intangible cultural practices, as well as "dark-sky" locations, meaning places where the night sky can be viewed without pollution from man-made light.
"A lot of our most precious astronomical heritage - both ancient and modern - is under threat. If we don't act to try to protect and preserve it, we run the risk of losing it," said the IAU's Clive Ruggles, a professor of archaeoastronomy at Britain's University of Leicester.
Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy
- Summer Solstice
An excuse to drink and get naked. "New Agers, neo-pagans see Stonehenge solstice" Thousands wait for dawn at the Heel Stone, a pillar just outside the circle, which aligns with the rising sun. June 21st, 2010 latimes.com Thousands of New Agers and neo-pagans...
- December 21st At About 8am...salisbury, England...see Ya There
Gather 'round ye pagans and Druids...or just the curious, for Monday the 21st of December around 8.09am for the Winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge in Salisbury, England. Festivities abound and nudity for the hardy--NOT. "Astronomers celebrate...
- 6 Years Later And Mount Stromlo Observatory Reopens
Perhaps you remember the terrible Australian fires of 2003 that demolished most of the Mount Stromlo Observatory complex. On July 13th, 2003 Penny Sackett, Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, wrote: The fires destroyed much...
- Digital Library For Physics And Astronomy--"ads"
Another useful database. The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a Digital Library portal for researchers in Astronomy and Physics, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) under a NASA grant. The ADS maintains three bibliographic...
- Lamost Ushers In "year Of Astronomy"
I have not heard of China's new telescope--the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope [LAMOST]. The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is a meridian reflecting Schmidt telescope. Using active optics...
Philosophy
Astronomy portal
"UN launches 'Heritage of Astronomy' portal"
OBSERVATORIES in Britain, France and the United States, a Pharaonic temple in Egypt, a 3000-year-old pillar in China and a 1920s tower in Berlin have been inscribed on a UN-backed heritage list for astronomy, unveiled on Friday.
August 25, 2012
The Australian
The Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy...aims to give astronomical sites the same place in public awareness as UNESCO's World Heritage List does for places of historical importance.
The website was launched on the sidelines of an International Astronomical Union (IAU) meeting in Beijing on Friday, the IAU said in a press release.
It is being backed by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The portal has a preliminary listing of around three dozen sites, ranging from prehistoric caves to 20th-century observatories, but should expand swiftly in the coming months, the IAU said.
Among the first entries are Stonehenge, which is aligned along the axis of the midwinter sunset and midsummer sunrise, and the Dengfeng Observatory in Henan, China, where Tang Dynasty astronomers used a pillar to measure the Sun's shadow and thus calculate the length of the year.
There are also the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Meudon Observatory in France, the Mount Wilson Observatory in California and the 1920s "Einstein Tower" in Potsdam, all sites where important contributions were made in the era of modern science.
Eventually, the portal will not only feature sites and monuments, but also other types of astronomical heritage such as portable instruments and intangible cultural practices, as well as "dark-sky" locations, meaning places where the night sky can be viewed without pollution from man-made light.
"A lot of our most precious astronomical heritage - both ancient and modern - is under threat. If we don't act to try to protect and preserve it, we run the risk of losing it," said the IAU's Clive Ruggles, a professor of archaeoastronomy at Britain's University of Leicester.
Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy
- Summer Solstice
An excuse to drink and get naked. "New Agers, neo-pagans see Stonehenge solstice" Thousands wait for dawn at the Heel Stone, a pillar just outside the circle, which aligns with the rising sun. June 21st, 2010 latimes.com Thousands of New Agers and neo-pagans...
- December 21st At About 8am...salisbury, England...see Ya There
Gather 'round ye pagans and Druids...or just the curious, for Monday the 21st of December around 8.09am for the Winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge in Salisbury, England. Festivities abound and nudity for the hardy--NOT. "Astronomers celebrate...
- 6 Years Later And Mount Stromlo Observatory Reopens
Perhaps you remember the terrible Australian fires of 2003 that demolished most of the Mount Stromlo Observatory complex. On July 13th, 2003 Penny Sackett, Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, wrote: The fires destroyed much...
- Digital Library For Physics And Astronomy--"ads"
Another useful database. The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a Digital Library portal for researchers in Astronomy and Physics, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) under a NASA grant. The ADS maintains three bibliographic...
- Lamost Ushers In "year Of Astronomy"
I have not heard of China's new telescope--the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope [LAMOST]. The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is a meridian reflecting Schmidt telescope. Using active optics...