Patterns in the sky.

This is the solar Analemma. If you take a photo of the Sun over the period of a year it will make a shape like the infinity symbol.


This is the Venus pentagram and rose which happens over an 8 year period.

a reply to: Paradeox

Um... Your point being?...

This is basic astronomy. The sun describes an apparent infinity symbol because of the Earth's inclination. Venus describes a flower relative to Earth because of her different orbital period relative to Earth's.

Track your own position on Earth and you will most likely find that you are describing helicoidal trajectories yourself in the solar system, just by standing still on the surface of this planet.

a reply to: Paradeox

Irregardless of relevancy, I like it! Interesting human-symbolization examples. Thanks for the sharing and a well-presented OP.

a reply to: Aleister

The quicker the orbit of the inner planet is, relative to the outer planet, the more "petals" the flower will have.

The closer the planet's equator gets to the ecliptic, the flatter the "infinity" shape will be.

This applies to any planets, regardless of human presence or not.

Sure, it's an interesting correlation. But correlation is not causation.

a reply to: swanne

Never hinted at causation. But it's a good look at how people formulate symbols, and then find them in nature (even in time-lapse views of nature). The history of humans as symbolizing animals contains much of civilization's beginnings and growth, cooperation (speech and writings as symbols), and tens-of-thousands of other lineages (in fact, if you graph them all out, they form the face of Pluto, the dog ironically featured on the planet).

a reply to: swanne
Just sharing.

a reply to: Aleister
No problem. Thanks.

I love learning about things like this and think it's so cool, so just posting for anyone who doesn't know.

a reply to: Aleister

I do believe it is nature who has taught mankind.

Burdock inspired velcro. Amber gave electricty. Combustion formed the heart of engines.

I guess my point is... Humans love to interpret; but perhaps the universe is already beautiful as it is, without the need for human symbolic interpretations.

For instance: this is Laniakea:



This is a chunk of the universe, it contains our galaxy, our supercluster and a whole lot of other superclusters. Some say it looks like a tree, others say it looks like nerves... Who cares what it "looks like"? It is Laniakea, and it is beautiful as it is.

a reply to: Paradeox

Simply celestial poetry in motion. Us humans are the ones that assign meaning to the spectacular natural patterns, nothing more, nothing less.

Humans love seeing patterns in things and assigning them some significance. This, as I see it, helped us in our evolutionary history from humanoid apes to what we are now.

But a more prosaic outlook is that the universe, while being full of random and chaotic stuff, obeys some simple rules that turn that chaos into beautiful and ordered structure.

Do yourself a favour and watch the BBC documentary called "The Secret Life Of Chaos". www.dailymotion.com...

a reply to: Paradeox
Cyclical movements will, over time, trace out circular and looping patterns. Think of the old 1960s and 1970s toy "spir-o-graph".

The universe is pretty.

Understanding how it works is cool...

...but it's still pretty.

originally posted by: Paradeox
This is the solar Analemma. If you take a photo of the Sun over the period of a year it will make a shape like the infinity symbol.

It looks more like a bowling pin with a thin neck to me, because it's a little too lopsided for an infinity symbol which should be symmetrical.

This is the Venus pentagram and rose which happens over an 8 year period.

Isn't that diagram mis-labeled "Venus "rose" pattern as seen from Earth"? We don't see that "rose" pattern from Earth, that looks like it's a hypothetical perspective seen above the ecliptic many millions of miles from both Earth and Venus.

Here's what one cycle of retrograde motion looks like from Earth:

originally posted by: wildespace
Humans love seeing patterns in things and assigning them some significance.

Yes I love seeing patterns, but I'm a little annoyed that this box still looks surprised.

Shouldn't it be less surprised by now, years after I first startled it? Same with the moon pattern, get over the surprise already!