People are very interested in Stonehenge, which is one of those famous landmarks. It is very clear that it lines up with the sun at the solstices, but no one is sure what the monument is for. But over the next few months, scientists will look at a different kind of alignment: some stones may be lined up with the lunar standstill.

In the sky, things move around. The sun moves around during the year because the planet is tilted with respect to its orbit. This means that the times when it rises and sets are often different. Stonehenge is set up so that the first rays of dawn on the summer solstice and the last rays of sunset on the winter solstice both pass through the middle.

But outside the stone circle are the so-called station stones, whose purpose is unknown. They don’t seem to be linked to the sun, but to the moon. The position of the moonrise and moonset changes because the moon’s orbit is tilted relative to the earth. This is similar to how the sun moves. But it doesn’t happen every year. The cycle goes around and around for 18.6 years.

When the Moon is at the fullest point of its cycle, it moves from 28.725 degrees north to 28.725 degrees south in just one month. The next one won’t happen until January 2025. This time is called the major lunar standstill (lunistice). So, scientists will be going to Stonehenge several times over the next few months, even during the major standstill, to figure out how the monument might line up with our natural satellite.

Talked to Heather Sebire, senior property curator at Stonehenge. “I think the moon in general would have been very important to them.” “And you know, maybe they could do things they couldn’t do other times when there was a full moon because there was more light.”

“They think the lunar standstill might have something to do with this because there are four rocks out in the middle of the ocean that are called “station stones.” Only two of them have been found so far. Together, they form a rectangle, which some people think may have something to do with the setting outside the circle.

When the Moon is in a minor standstill, its distance from the Earth is between 18.134° north and south. It will happen again in 2034.

As archaeologists continue to look into this interesting alignment, Stonehenge wants everyone to join in the fun. As usual, people will be able to enter the circle for the solstice, which this year is the earliest since 1796. However, the next day will be all about the lunistice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the moon rises, the lunar standstill event can only be seen online. You can watch the livestream from the comfort of your own home and wonder with the researchers if this great monument was also lined up with the Moon.

 

Some of the diagrams and animations that show how the planets move around the sun are not quite accurate. To be more precise, they are making the planets’ orbits easier to understand so that teachers don’t have to explain barycenters to kids who are still getting used to the idea that Earth isn’t the only planet in the universe.

Most of the time, the way you learn about how planets move around the sun looks like the video below.

But this version is easier to understand. The Sun has about 1,048 times the mass of Jupiter, making it the largest object in the Solar System. However, gravity works both ways. For the same reason that the Earth pulls on itself, you pull on the Earth as well, though it is much smaller.

“Kepler’s third law describes the relationship between the masses of two objects mutually revolving around each other and the determination of orbital parameters,” NASA says.

“Think about a small star that circles a bigger star. The two stars actually move around the same mass center, which is called the barycenter. That’s always the case, no matter how big or heavy the things are. Using a massive planet to measure how fast a star moves around its barycenter is one way that planetary systems linked to faraway stars have been found.

To keep things simple, we say that the planets go around the Sun. But because the Sun has the most mass, the barycenter of the Solar System’s objects is usually close to it. However, because of Jupiter and Saturn’s orbits and effects, it is almost never inside the Sun. The paths look a bit more like the video below, which was made by planetary astronomer and science communicator James O’Donoghue.

Because of this, the Earth is not orbiting a point inside the Sun right now because the barycenter is not there. We are not going around the sun, but that point in space.

“Planets orbit the Sun in general terms,” O’Donoghue says on Twitter, “but technically, they don’t orbit the Sun alone because the gravitational influence of (mainly) Jupiter means planets must orbit a new point in space.”

“The planets do orbit the Sun, of course; we are just being pedantic about the situation,” he said. “The natural thinking is that we orbit the Sun’s center, but that very rarely happens, i.e., it’s very rare for the solar system’s center of mass to align with the Sun’s center.”

Things that are smaller, like planets and their moons, are the same way. The Earth and Moon go around a point about 3,100 miles (5,100 kilometers) from the Earth’s center. This path changes as the moon moves farther away from the earth.

Solar Cycle 25 is decidedly more turbulent than its predecessor. The Sun is currently experiencing heightened activity, characterized by solar storms, coronal mass ejections, and geomagnetic storms of unprecedented intensity in recent years. Currently, the sun has emitted its most powerful solar flare to date during this particular cycle.

The flare was quantified as an X8.7, indicating a considerably higher strength compared to the flares emitted last week. The event emitted highly energetic light in the extreme ultraviolet range, which resulted in the ionization of the uppermost layer of the atmosphere. Consequently, a radio blackout occurred over the Americas, adversely impacting aircraft and vessels that depend on signals with frequencies below 30 MHz.

Ionization of the atmosphere causes an expansion, resulting in increased drag on satellites in low Earth orbit. They will require strategic maneuvering to be moved away from Earth. Solar flares have the potential to interfere with satellite communications.

Sunspot AR 3664 is where it comes from. Last week, several strong flares were seen coming from this area, including the second strongest of this cycle at the time. The Sun also sent out a number of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which hit Earth and caused the beautiful auroral display we saw last weekend.

Back then, the sunspot was right on the side of the Sun that could be seen, and anyone could see it. It’s sixteen times wider than Earth! As the Sun turns, the spot is now on its side, so we can only see it from the side. We might have seen a bigger flare if it had happened last week.

“Another X-ray flare was made by Region 3664 as it moved past the western solar limb!!” It was an X8.7 flare this time, the biggest of this solar cycle! NASA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said in a post that any coronal mass ejection (CME) linked to this flare “likely WILL NOT have any geomagnetic effects on Earth due to its location.” “As always, please check our website for news!”

Today, as the CME moves past Earth, there may be a small rise in auroral activity. It’s too bad that nothing as exciting will happen as last Friday.

The solar cycle has a high point and a low point every 11 years. Around the peak, which could happen at any time, the most intense events tend to happen, but every once in a while, there are exceptions. There have been 10 times as many powerful flares this century.