PC-Sky
Scenario: Chinese Calendar Conjunction
It took more than 2000 years, but
Kevin Pang of JPL and John Bangert of the US Naval Observatory
discovererd the long sought solution to the mystery of the
ancient Chinese calendar. The search began in the 13th century
BC when Chinese astronomers started looking for the fabled
moment when the sun, moon, and five planets all lined up in the
sky at dawn. A conjunction of all the known heavenly-wanderers
would form the perfect basis for the beginning of the
calendar--the start of all celestial cycles.
The key to solving the mystery
was contained in a passage written by Hong Fan Zhuan in the 1st
century BC. "The Ancient Zhuanxu calendar (known to have
begun around 2000 BC) began at dawn, in the beginning of the
spring, when the sun, new moon, and five planets gathered in the
constellation Yingshi (Pegasus). A search of all conjunctions
near this time yielded only one match: March 5, 1953 BC.
You can
experience this spectacular conjunction by entering the
information below into the Scenario window. All five of the
planets that were known at the time can be seen near the eastern
horizon within the field of view of a pair of binoculars. Try
time stepping backwards to February 27th when mercury, venus,
mars, and saturn could all be seen within the same one-degree
telescope field. Now that would have been something to see! To
see how the alignment came about, enter the telescope view on a
planet and click on "More" to bring up an overhead
view of the solar system.
Scenario: Chinese Calendar
Location: Beijing China
Date: March 5, 1953 BC
Time: 6:20
Setting: Desert/Mountain
Precession: Rigorous
Time Step: 23.9625 hours
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