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Summer Solstice
(I'm feeling impressed)
SOURCE: http://www.umass.edu/sunwheel/pages/sunnews.html">http://www.umass.edu/sunwheel/pages/sunnews.html">http://www.umass.edu/sunwheel/pages/sunnews.html
Happy Midsummer one and all. Here is a wonderful project conceived by Professor Judith S. Young, Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Location: The UMass Sunwheel is located south of McGuirk Alumni Stadium, just off Rocky Hill Road. The Sunwheel can easily be reached from the center of Amherst, following Amity St. to the west, on the right hand side of the road about 1/4 mile after crossing University Drive.
This year, the instant of the Summer Solstice is 1:46 a.m. EDT early on June 21. For those interested in learning about the sky, there will be a presentation which will include the significance of the solstices & equinoxes, the cause of the seasons and phases of the Moon, the story of building the Sunwheel, and discussion of other calendar sites around the world, including Stonehenge & Callanish. There will also be an explanation of the Moon's 18.6-year cycle, also called the Major Lunar Standstill. Bring your questions, your curiosity, and be prepared for cool temperatures wet ground. The gatherings typically last 1 hour, and are held in all weather except rain.
The famous red-winged blackbird arrives to sit atop the Summer Solstice Sunrise stone just before sunrise on the Summer Solstice. This is the 7th year in a row, starting when the tall stones were first placed at the Sunwheel, that a red-winged blackbird has been present for Summer Solstice Sunrise sitting atop the sunrise stone at the Sunwheel. At the Autumnal Equinox, even though red-winged blackbirds are still in the area, they do not sit atop the East stone or the Solstice Sunrise stone. Very intriguing!! June 21, 2007. (Photo by Will Fischer)
The Sunwheel, seen from the West looking toward the center. The Sun is rising in the sky toward the Northeast, and creating crepuscular rays near the ground where a light fog is rising, June 21, 2007. (Photo by Will Fischer)
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