A weather and forecast conjunction alignment provided a cloudless sky for the first Kirkstallhenge unveiling, as the last post in the mistYmuse 20/21 encores.
The sunrise was a bit more northern than I thought, rising behind the second building, but that provided a nice shot as our planet span around a bit more, positioning our view of the sun between the buildings.
You’ve been a great crowd, and I’m sure the ancestors would be proud.
Low cloud on the horizon spoilt the central sunrise, but the sun did pop through the POP clouds a little afterwards. There’s always tomorrow… and the weather forecast’s good!
The ‘sunrise’ did make it just between the two buildings this morning, but should be more in the middle on Sunday and Monday, when it moves a degree from 71 to 70 ° ENE. it stays on 71 tomorrow.
With the sunrise scheduled for 6.03 (it would be 5.03 without BST), I thought it was rising behind the building it just got inside, as it was 6.15 when it appeared, and it had been lighting up the city centre buildings for a few minutes… reminding me of the now long ago mistYmuse mornings!
Three days ago it was at 73 ° ENE.
Nine days ago it was at 77 ° ENE.
The March equinox was yesterday and today is the end day of mistYmuse 20/21: four months after mYm 20/21 started, and five months after False Dawn Week! I hope it helped you through the traditionally toughest four or five months in the UK and northern hemisphere year.
This is one of three posts I hope to bring you today, bringing the biggest mistYmuse ever to a fireworks finale!
Ancient Astronomy Angle
I wasn’t awake for this morning’s sunrise, but wasn’t too bothered, as was for last year’s, and can see from this 20/3/20 photo how much the sun is further along the horizon from the three buildings it rose near on March 12th this year (as seen in photo below it).
March 20th:
March 12th:
On March 6th (last year), for the most iconic of mornings, the sun rose the other side of the three buildings:
On February 28th, this year, those three buildings are nearly out of the photo, and the hospital (circle above) becomes the next landmark;
On the 17th of February (last year) the sun was over the city centre, with the hospital (circled) nearly out of the photo. That tree has now been cut, exposing the pylon behind it.
A week earlier (on February 10th this year), it rose near the pylon, between the city centre and the south of the city across the River Aire:
On January 29th it had been below the city centre altogether.
A year ago yesterday the photos below were taken, and comparing them to photos earlier in the week started the ancient astronomical angle to the mistYmuse.
These three photos were taken over six minutes, and show how our planet’s spin gives us our day: of light and dark. While it looks as if the tower has laid an egg, and left it behind; or sent it rolling up the hill, in fact it is our planet spinning around, with this location now facing the sun giving it ‘morning’.
Last month, I saw Jupiter and Saturn ‘drop into the horizon’ after their conjunction; which was again because of our planet spinning. They were both only visible for a short time then, just above the horizon; and didn’t take long at all to ‘drop out of the sky’ behind some trees.
After Saturn (looking fainter as smaller and farther away) had been at 10 o’ clock to Jupiter all year; if Jupiter was the middle of the ‘clock face’; in December Jupiter overtook Saturn as it is on the inside in the solar system, and so Saturn then looked at 4 o’ clock.
Jupiter’s orbit is 11.86 years and Saturn’s is 29.46 years.
Comparing today and Monday’s photos you can see how the sun has moved north on the horizon, as it appears to us, into the centre of the two buildings it was previously to the right of, as we look at them; but apparently it’s because of our Earth’s axis tilt and orbit of the sun allowing us to see it earlier: ten minutes earlier, from 06.51 to 06.41.
mistYmuse 