Latest news with #Ptolemy
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Starwatch: Boötes, the herdsman ploughing the heavens
This week, we track down another prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's spring night sky: Boötes, the herdsman. Listed as part of the 48 constellations described by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, it is now one of the International Astronomical Union's 88 official constellations. Although known as the herdsman, some stories associated with the constellation depict him as more of a ploughman, driving the constellation of Ursa Major, the great bear, around the pole. In these stories, Ursa Major is changed into an oxen and plough. The nearby constellation of Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs, is also said to be associated with Boötes. On many old star maps, he is depicted as holding these dogs on a leash. The chart shows the view looking south-east from London at 22.00BST on 19 May, although the view will remain essentially unchanged all week. The brightest star in Boötes is the red giant star Arcturus, which is the fourth brightest star in the night sky. Although it has about the same mass as our sun, it has swollen to 25 times its size and now pumps out around 170 times more light. Boötes is also visible from the southern hemisphere, where it will appear quite close to the northern horizon.
Middle East Eye
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Persian or Arabian Gulf? A brief history
Not content with trying to rename one body of water, Donald Trump may be planning to rename another. Fresh from unilaterally changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, the US president has now turned his attention to a naming dispute in the Middle East: the Persian Gulf or Arabian Gulf? Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he would make a decision during an upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE on how the US would refer to the sea going forward. It followed reports citing US officials that Washington was set to begin using Gulf of Arabia or Arabian Gulf, rather than Persian Gulf. Trump would not the first to insert the word Arabia into the name: every country in the Gulf Cooperation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - uses the term Arabian. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters But the internationally recognised name, used by the International Hydrographic Organization, the global body for marine navigation, and the United Nations, is the Persian Gulf. The debate around the name has been a source of geopolitical tension between Iran and its neighbours across the Gulf for more than six decades. Middle East Eye takes a look at the history of the naming dispute. 'Persian Gulf' used for more than 2,500 years The body of water between Iran and the Arabian peninsula that connects the Gulf of Oman and the Shatt al Arab river delta has been known by a number of names throughout history. The oldest and most frequently recurring name is the Persian Gulf - or some iteration of it. In April 2006, the UN's group of experts on geographical names met to discuss the validity of the term Persian Gulf, producing an eight page document. It found that during the Achaemenid Persian empire, between 559 and 330 BCE, the name Pars Sea was widely used in written texts, denoting Persian influence over the area. In that period, both the names Persian and Arabian Gulf appear in texts. However, the latter referred to an area that roughly equated to the Red Sea. The world maps of the Greek historians and geographers Hecataeus (472 to 509 BCE) and Herodotus (425-484 BCE) both referred to the Red Sea as the Arabian Gulf. Several Greek and Roman geographers thereafter, including Ptolemy in the second century, referred to the Persian Gulf or Persian Sea. While no Greek manuscripts of Ptolemy's atlas Cosmographia survive, reconstructions of his maps from the 13th century onwards consistently refer to Sinus Persicus (Persian Gulf in Greek). A 1467 reconstruction of Ptolemy's Map VI from "Cosmographia" shows Sinus Persicus (Persian Gulf) and Sinus Arabicus (Red Sea) (Wikimedia) After the spread of Islam in the seventh century, many Arabic speaking communities moved from the coasts of the Red Sea to the areas around the Iranian plateau. As they moved into the Persian world, Arab geographers continued to refer to the Persian Gulf. UN experts analysed more than 30 books by Muslim geographers, scholars and scientists, all of which refer to the Persian Gulf or Sea. They include the works of Ibn Khordadbeh, Estakhri, al-Tabari, Mohammad Ibn Omar and dozens of others. During the Islamic Golden age, scholars such as al-Masudi and Ibn Khaldun referred in Arabic to Khalij Fars (Persian Gulf), while Estakhri and al-Muqaddasi used Bahr Fars (Persian Sea). 'Britain Sea' fails to catch on In the 16th century, Portugal briefly captured Hormuz island in the Persian Gulf. Around that time, Portuguese maps and letters show references to Mare de Persia, Persico Sinus, mar Persiano, Persischer Golf and other iterations referencing Persia. The UN's working group found that in a total of 6,000 historical maps dating up to 1890, just a handful refer to the body of water as the Basra Gulf, Qatif Gulf or Arabic Gulf. The first two names refer respectively to the major Iraqi city and the eastern province in modern-day Saudi Arabia. The experts wrote: 'It is obvious that the promotional use by the Arabs of the three aforementioned maps, whose identity and originality are not clear, in comparison with 6,000 maps and more than 200 historical and tourism books from Irastus to Herodotus to Estakhri and Ibn Houghal, who have all called the water body Persian Gulf, shall lack any value.' In the 18th and 19th centuries, when Britain expanded its global influence and dominance around the Indian Ocean, it also referred widely to the Persian Sea. The UN experts found at least 16 official British maps from the period that used the term. Britain tried to seize control over the body of water in the late 1830s. Consequently, in 1840, London's Times Journal referred to the Gulf as 'Britain Sea' - a name that never caught on. A rare map from 1626 refers to the Persian Gulf as the "Sea of Qatif" (Wikimedia) Following the Iranian nationalisation of the British-owned Anglo-Persian oil company in 1950, relations between Iran and the UK rapidly declined. It was in that context that British sources began to rename the Gulf. Charles Belgrave, a UK official with a focus on the Persian Gulf area, published a book in 1955 that first referenced the 'Arabian Gulf'. In the 1960s, Iran and Egypt fell out over the Iranian Shah's support of Israel, while pan-Arab and Arab nationalist sentiments spread through large parts of the region. Amid that backdrop, the name Arabian Gulf was increasingly catching on in Arab circles. Following the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979 and the increasing divergence between Iran and its neighbours across the Gulf, tension over the name intensified. Iran seeks to ban use of 'Arabian Gulf' Since the turn of the millenium, Iran has strongly fought back against any efforts to use alternative names. In 2004, National Geographic provoked an Iranian backlash after printing the word 'Arabian Gulf' in parentheses under Persian Gulf. The magazine and its journalists were subsequently banned by Tehran. Two years later, the Economist was banned from the country after it simply used 'the Gulf', leaving out the word Persian. 'The Gulf' has become a common term used by many media outlets since. A dangerous mind: The legacy of Bijan Jazani and Iran's 1975 Evin executions Read More » The fallout has gone both ways: in 2010, the Islamic Solidarity Games, run by Saudi Arabia but due to have been held in Iran, were called off because logos and medals were to bear the name 'Persian Gulf'. That same year, Iran warned that any foreign airlines that failed to use the term Persian Gulf would not be allowed to use Iranian airspace. It followed an incident during which a Greek flight attendant was deported from Iran after a dispute broke out with passengers over his use of Arabian Gulf. In 2012, Google Maps decided to avoid naming the body of water altogether - leaving the name blank. Iran threatened to sue Google over the move. As of today, Google Maps uses both Persian and Arabian Gulf. To emphasise the importance of the matter, Iran has established Persian National Gulf Day, which occurs on 29 or 30 April each year and involves ceremonies centred around the coastal cities. That date was chosen as it marks the anniversary of when Abbas the Great, the fifth Safavid shah, drove the Portuguese out of the Strait of Hormuz in 1622.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
May skygazing: Meteors, a floral moon, and cosmic beehive
During March and April, those of us given to gazing at the heavens found the universe grinning back at us. That won't be the case this month, but that doesn't mean that the cosmos has nothing to show us: May brings the spectacular delights of the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower, along with seasonal delights like a floral full moon and a celestial beehive. And for anyone in Hawai'i, there's also the first Lāhaina Noon of the year–the phenomenon whereby, just for a moment, all shadows are banished from the world. The first week of May will find the Red Planet drifting slowly across the face of the cluster of stars that go by the official designation M44 and the unofficial nickname 'The Beehive.' M44 is visible to the naked eye on a dark night, and has been studied since ancient times, with its diaphanous appearance attracting names like 'Little Cloud,' 'Star Cloud' and 'The Ghost'. Less poetically, Ptolemy called it 'a nebulous mass in the breast of [the constellation] Cancer. Today, we know that M44 contains about 1,000 gravitationally bound stars, and that it's about 577 light-years away from Earth. Mars will appear in front of M44 throughout the first week of May, and the Farmer's Almanac suggests that May Day will offer the best view. May is a reasonably quiet month as far as celestial pyrotechnics go, but there's one exception: the Eta springtime meteor shower is predicted to peak on the evening of May 5 and early hours of May 6. As per NASA, stargazers can expect to see about 10 meteors per hour, but up to 50 per hour at the shower's peak, all rocketing through the sky at 40 miles per second. But, you might ask, these fiery interlopers: where do they come from? Oh boy, do we have answers for you. [ Related: Halley's comet is on its way back towards Earth. ] May's full moon is the Flower Moon, a name that alludes to the flowers that burst into bloom throughout the northern hemisphere as spring arrives in earnest. As per the Farmer's Almanac, the moon will reach peak brightness at 12:56 p.m. EDT. You can also consult their handy moonrise and moonset calculator to figure out the best viewing times near you. There are many other native American names for this month's moon, a large number of which also allude to the arrival of spring: in the Anishinaabemowin language of the Ojibwe, it's the 'Flowering Moon'; in both Cherokee and the Mahican Dialect of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Wisconsin May's full moon is the 'Planting Moon'; and to the Tunica-Biloxi of Louisiana and the Seneca, it's the 'Dancing Moon.' However, the Catawba nation of South Carolina uses a slightly more ominous name: the 'Snake Moon.' Interestingly, in the language of the Inupiat tribe of Alaska's north slope, there's no messing around with spring. They call this month's moon the 'Summer Moon.' We often talk about the sun being 'overhead' during the day, but in fact, this is almost never the case. At any given moment, there will be one and only one point on the planet where the sun is directly overhead, so that its rays strike this point at a perfect 90° angle. At this point, objects cast no shadow; for a moment; the world looks like it's been lit by an immense flash bulb. The point always falls between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, and for two fortnight-long periods each year, it traces a path across Hawai'i. These periods are referred to as 'Lāhaina Noon,' and the first one of 2025 begins on May 14. The Bishop Museum publishes a helpful guide of where and when the sun will pass directly overhead, letting you know exactly where and when to be if you want to bear witness to this rather eerie phenomenon. It should go without saying, but don't look at the sun during Lāhaina Noon (or, indeed, at any other time.) And as far as looking at the night sky goes, you'll get the best experience if you get away from any sources of light pollution—and make sure to check out our stargazing tips before you head off into the darkness. Until next month!
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch unique sky event from your backyard as planet passes through a cosmic beehive
Down on Earth, it is about to look as though a reddish star in the Beehive star cluster is moving. The reality is it's not a star, it's Earth's neighbor, Mars. Between May 1 and 6, Mars is expected to make its approach through the Beehive star cluster, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. Mars infrequently passes through the star cluster once every year, either in the spring or in the fall, as it did in December 2024, BBC Sky at Night reported. The best night to see Mars make its passage is May 2, two hours after sunset, the space website When the Curves Line Up wrote. The moon's illumination should be over 30%, which could wash out the naked-eye view of some of the cluster's stars. Scientifically designated as Messier 44 and located in the constellation Cancer, the Beehive is made up of around 1,000 stars loosely connected by gravity, NASA stated. It is best seen in the spring night sky and covers a part of space large enough to fit about three full moons. Mars should be seen making its way through the star cluster with a pair of binoculars, When the Curves Line Up wrote. This star cluster is unique for being positioned along the elliptic, the invisible plane in which all the solar system's planets line up as they orbit around the sun. Though Mars resembles a star in the night sky, it's far closer than the stars that make up the Beehive. The star cluster is 600 light years away, according to NASA, while the space agency reports that Mars is 142 million miles from Earth. While second-century astronomer Ptolemy noted the cluster as 'the nebulous mass in the breast of Cancer,' Galileo made the first telescopic view of the star cluster in 1609, when he counted 40 stars, EarthSky wrote. Here are 10 photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope after 35 years in space Why won't you be able to see the closest supermoon of 2025? This newly found green comet may not have survived its trek past the sun Here's what a Beatles song and a fossil have to do with a NASA mission to study asteroids 4 planets align in early-morning sky: How and where to spot them
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Our brightest star can lead us to Orion's hunting dog
This week we will use the brightest star in the night sky to find a less than obvious constellation. Canis Major, the Great Dog, was included in Ptolemy's 2nd-century list of 48 constellations in his great work Almagest. This became the standard reference work for astronomy for a millennium, providing the basis on which the northern and equatorial skies are still divided into constellations. The Almagest also championed the idea that Earth, not the sun, was the centre of the solar system, so it was not perfect. The chart shows the view looking south-south-west from London at 2030 GMT on 17 March, although the view will be essentially the same all week. Orion's belt points to the brilliant dog star, Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. From there, the rest of the dog's shape can be traced using the fainter stars in the constellation. A dark sky will be useful for this. Canis Major, and the nearby constellation Canis Minor (not shown on the chart), are Orion's hunting dogs. From the southern hemisphere, Canis Major rides high in the sky during the evening at this time of year. Face north-west and look for it, up near the zenith.
