CONVERSATIONS WITH UNCLE MELVYN
CRYSTAL SHERES
R. Uncle Melvyn?
M. Mm?
R. Why do stars twinkle and planets don’t?
M. Because you have to see the stars through the crystal spheres that the planets run on.
R. Come on, Uncle Melvyn! Nobody believes in crystal spheres.
M. Pythagoras did. How else would the heavenly bodies hang in the sky as they travelled round our earth?.
R. Our teacher told us that the planets are really trying to get away, but they are held onto us by invisible strings called gravity.
M. And you believe that?
R. Of course I do!
M. I suppose it makes a kind of sense.
R. And you have a better idea?
M. I’ll tell you something else the ancients thought. Since (unlike the planets) the stars never move or change, God must live up there, because He is the same for ever. They thought that nothing beyond the moon ever changed.
R. But some stars do change. Meteors move slowly across the sky, and meteorites whiz down.
M. That’s why they thought meteors were a different kinds of star, and they must be between us and the moon, where things change and move.
R. But they aren’t; they are miles away!
M. You know that and I know that, but the ancients didn’t. Not ‘till Galileo got hold of a telescope. But it’s true that things on earth are changing all the time. We are born and die. Churches and mountains crumble. But there’s something else that’s always changing between us and the moon….. The weather.
R. But the weather is meteorology!
M. Funny that we still call it that, isn’t it? Anyway everything went wrong when Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter, and some new stars called novas appeared.
R. Why?
M. Because new stars are a change and the spheres couldn’t be crystal as Jupiter’s moons would break his sphere.
R. What a pity. The spheres were beautiful. But you still haven’t told me why planets don’t twinkle.
M. I suppose it’s because their light doesn’t have to travel anything like so far.
R. So you don’t really know!
M. I think it’s time for a marmalade toastie…..
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Saturday, 3 October 2009
On Stars
Rachael and Melvyn
3. ON STARS
R. Uncle Melvyn?
M. Mm?
R. Do you ever read your stars in the paper?
M. Sometimes, but only if it’s good news.
R. Don’t you believe in it, then?
M. I don’t believe the movement of the planets, sun and moon against the zodiac of the fixed stars influences things on earth.
R. How about if people react according to the planets? Then they are having some effect.
M. Interesting point. But the planets can’t predict anything.
R. What about the birth of Jesus, when the star stood still over Bethlehem?
M. the things that you’re li’ble to read in the Bible; they ain’t necessarily so.
R. So it’s just a pretty story then?
M. No. I think it relates to a real event.
R. But if the star stood still, the earth must have stopped going round and everyone would fall over.
M. It depends on what you mean by ‘stopped’. The Magi were Zoroastrian astrologers, who had seen an unusually bright heavenly body and were looking for a precise spot on earth to which it related. Bright stars are so rare that they thought it must mean something tremendous.
R. Seems fair enough. But how did they do it?
M. All heavenly bodies appear to move from East to West.
R. OK….
M. Each one reaches its zenith, that’s it highest point, as it crosses the North/South meridian.
R. Hang on …….Yes. Got that.
M. Kepler reckoned there was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the house of Pisces at that time; that would have been doubly bright.
R. So when these bright planets crossed the meridian, they would have been over a particular point on earth, for an instant!
M. What’s more, any star stands still for a moment, between rising and falling again, so you wouldn’t need to know the time, or the direction of south.
R. You could just sit on your camel and look?
M. You might get a crick in your neck, because when you had found the spot, the ‘star’ would be directly overhead.
R. So they just had to ride on until they were right underneath this bright star as it reached it’s highest point in the night sky?
M. You’ve got it.
R. Wow! That deserves a marmalade toastie.
M. And a mug of tea.
3. ON STARS
R. Uncle Melvyn?
M. Mm?
R. Do you ever read your stars in the paper?
M. Sometimes, but only if it’s good news.
R. Don’t you believe in it, then?
M. I don’t believe the movement of the planets, sun and moon against the zodiac of the fixed stars influences things on earth.
R. How about if people react according to the planets? Then they are having some effect.
M. Interesting point. But the planets can’t predict anything.
R. What about the birth of Jesus, when the star stood still over Bethlehem?
M. the things that you’re li’ble to read in the Bible; they ain’t necessarily so.
R. So it’s just a pretty story then?
M. No. I think it relates to a real event.
R. But if the star stood still, the earth must have stopped going round and everyone would fall over.
M. It depends on what you mean by ‘stopped’. The Magi were Zoroastrian astrologers, who had seen an unusually bright heavenly body and were looking for a precise spot on earth to which it related. Bright stars are so rare that they thought it must mean something tremendous.
R. Seems fair enough. But how did they do it?
M. All heavenly bodies appear to move from East to West.
R. OK….
M. Each one reaches its zenith, that’s it highest point, as it crosses the North/South meridian.
R. Hang on …….Yes. Got that.
M. Kepler reckoned there was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the house of Pisces at that time; that would have been doubly bright.
R. So when these bright planets crossed the meridian, they would have been over a particular point on earth, for an instant!
M. What’s more, any star stands still for a moment, between rising and falling again, so you wouldn’t need to know the time, or the direction of south.
R. You could just sit on your camel and look?
M. You might get a crick in your neck, because when you had found the spot, the ‘star’ would be directly overhead.
R. So they just had to ride on until they were right underneath this bright star as it reached it’s highest point in the night sky?
M. You’ve got it.
R. Wow! That deserves a marmalade toastie.
M. And a mug of tea.
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