Re: VMs: Pleiades Occultation Further Date Refinement

[Pamela Richards <spirlhelix@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, Dennis

I'm not sure if your suggestion is entirely serious,
but for a moment I will consider it for the sake of
objectivity.

I have had the misfortune of experiencing visual
migraines; unless this person had entirely atypical
ones, the pattern is a shimmering (sometimes described
as "sawtooth") that shifts over the visual field in
the space of about a half-hour or 45 minutes,
spreading outward from the one side of the field until
it eventually clears the field entirely.

I don't know how one would determine which "stars"   
to focus upon in such an image.  Imagine looking at a
television screen full of "snow".  In a constantly
shimmering image, with continuous flashes constantly
shifting to a different part of the field and each
lasting no longer than a fraction of a second, where's
the "constellation"?  

Stars don't tend to act this way, (at least, that we
can observe--there are eclipsing binaries, but their
"blinks" require days, not fractions of a second) and
that is why we are able to observe them as
constellations.

Here's a little article on the subject of visual
migraines from this source:

www.eyemdlink.com/Condition.asp?ConditionID=505

Visual Migraine
Visual Migraine is a condition of temporary visual
disturbance caused by vascular spasm in the brain,
without the headache. In this case, the vascular spasm
results in decreased blood flow to the occipital
cortex, or that portion of the brain associated with
vision. This is often associated with the sensation of
a "shimmering light" in the peripheral vision, blurred
or distorted vision, or flashing and pulsating lights
in the peripheral vision. Because this condition is
not associated with disabling headaches, it is not
usually treated.

Having experienced visual migraines, I do not feel
this hypothesis offers much in the way of an
explanation.


PS.--Forgive me for taking you seriously if you were
joking.  

Warmly,

Pam


--- Dennis <tsalagi@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 	Thanks, Robert.  Would Florence or Venice give
> dates much 
> different?
> 
> 	These are mostly within the current consensus range
> of 
> dates, which suggests that there is something to
> this and it 
> merits further investigation.
> 
>     However, I am wondering whether the star
> patterns have 
> any meaning at all.  Most of them don't seem to, the
> 
> Pleiades pattern being about the only exception.   
> This 
> lends support to the idea that the stars are from
> migrainous 
> imagery, where one sees stars in random patterns,
> just as 
> with a blow on the head.
> 
> Dennis
> 
> Robert Teague wrote:
> 
> > Thanks again to Ken Walczak for noticing my error.
> > This time I used Prague as a observation location.
> > 
> > 12/22/1414
> > 
> > 12/17/1428
> > 12/07/1429
> > 12/15/1431
> > 
> > 12/07/1448
> > 12/15/1450
> > 
> > 12/27/1465
> > 12/07/1467
> > 
> > 12/08/1486
> > 
> > 12/25/1506
> > 12/15/1507
> > 
> > 12/15/1545
> > 
> > 12/27/1560
> > 12/07/1562
> > 
> > 11/30/1579
> > 
> > 11/30/1599
> > 12/17/1600
> > 
> > Robert
> > 
> > "Drop the hot sauce, and step away from the nose!"
>  --Shego
> > 
> >
>
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>
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=====
"I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing, than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance."

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