Re: VMs: Pleiades Occultation Further Date Refinement

[Rene Zandbergen <r_zandbergen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Robert,

--- Robert Teague <rteague@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Rene wrote:
> 
> > [RZ:] Robert suggested that there should be no
> > major planets near the Moon/Pleiades, but for
> > me it is quite possible that the big 'star'
> > drawn in the same figure is actually one of
> > the planets.
> 
> [RT] Well, any time the sun is depicted, it is
> drawn with the wavy lines eminating from it.
> Any time the moon is shown, it is in a waxing
> gibbous phase.

No doubt about this.

> On the folios with planets, they are drawn as
> circles.
> No such circles are present. If you observe the star
> field, it is clear the large star near the
> Pleiades is Aldebaran.

Here is where I would be careful. I agree that it
is the 'best guess' that the star is Aldebaran,
but it is not at all so clear, particularly since
there is not at all a clear match of the other
groups of (2, 3 and 4) stars with the skies.

Obviously, any arbitrarily draw set of stars can
be matched with a patch of the sky somewhere.

Also, I am not so sure that there are any drawings
in the VMs where one can say that planets have
been drawn.

> The Author wasn't much of an artist,
> but he did observe celestial events accurately.

Also of this I am not so sure...

I am not at all challenging your numbers, but want
to remind people that they are valid for a number
of assumptions - a numbers of 'ifs' if you will - 
and we can't be all that sure aboute several of 
them.
And yes, I am quite favourable of the idea that
the moon occulting the Pleiades is intended to
be shown in this illustration.

Cheers, Rene



		
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