Solstice The Sky at Night


Solstice

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Hello! Welcome to The Sky at Night.

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This month's programme is coming from Stonehenge,

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where we've joined the crowds to celebrate the summer solstice.

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In just a few hours' time,

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the sun will rise in a very special location

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over the heel stone.

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People have argued about the significance of this place

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and its connection to astronomy for more than 100 years.

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We've looked at the connection between these magnificent stones

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and the skies above our heads,

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particularly at the moon.

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The creation of Stonehenge by our Neolithic ancestors

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still inspires us, thousands of years later.

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Why was it built? What was it for?

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And is the controversial link with the moon real or imaginary?

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Stonehenge still perplexes us today.

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It was around 5,000 years ago

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that the first architects on this site built the grass bank and the ditch

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with 56 post holes around the inner ring.

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Then came the stones.

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The blue stones are thought to have come from west Wales,

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a feat that still impresses.

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These stones have been rearranged many times

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in what some speculate was an attempt

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to chart the celestial calendar.

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The striking Sarsen stones are from closer to home.

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They're from Marlborough, just 20 miles away.

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But this is our idea of how Stonehenge would have looked

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in its prime.

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Professor Clive Ruggles is a world expert in the study of astronomy in ancient civilisations.

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Clive is going to help The Sky at Night pin down the link between Stonehenge, astronomy,

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and in particular, the moon.

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The first mystery to solve is that of The Avenue,

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a track in the landscape

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which lines up on its approach to Stonehenge

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with the solstice sun.

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Clive, you've brought us to a field, which I'm assured is very important for Stonehenge.

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There's a feature here called The Avenue.

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But I'm finding it hard to sense this feature. Tell me about it.

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You don't see a lot in the long grass. You're standing in it.

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Chris is standing in a ditch on one side of it,

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the other ditch is over there.

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So it's a long avenue that led straight up to Stonehenge in this direction.

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This clearly was the way you'd come on important occasions.

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I should say you don't see much here,

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but if you look at it from an aerial photo, you see it very clearly.

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The Avenue, far from being created just anywhere,

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is based on a natural feature.

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Recent excavations have shown it to follow

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the line of a channel carved by glaciers.

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It's this natural alignment that first connected this landscape

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with the summer and winter solstice suns

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and it might even be the reason that Stonehenge was here in the first place.

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If you're somewhere in this landscape, hundreds of years before there's anything here,

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and you see these striations and you see the sun on the shortest day of the year setting in line with them,

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surely that to you is going to make it a special place. It's going to be a sacred place.

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Because it's already lined up to this feature that we care about.

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To us, it's a coincidence of nature,

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but to them, what more can you ask for,

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to show that this is a really special place.

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Perhaps that's why Stonehenge is where it is,

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because this is a place that acquires that significance

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to do with the sunset all through.

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And then gradually people build things. A ditch, a bank, some timber things,

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and then eventually it gets enhanced and turns into what we now see.

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The Sky at Night has been to Stonehenge before.

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Hello to the first ever Sky at Night from Stonehenge.

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It is, in fact, midsummer morning.

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There are a great many people here

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and in a few moments, the druids will begin their main procession.

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SINGLE DEEP HORN NOTE

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In 1972, Sir Patrick Moore investigated the link

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between Stonehenge and the moon.

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Patrick wanted to know if the monument could be used

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to chart the lunar calendar.

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Patrick also saw a magnificent sunrise the day before the summer solstice.

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Through that great arch, the heel stone in the distance,

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the alignment absolutely perfect

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as the sun comes up to its rising point over the top of the stone.

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And there it is. There are very many people who've never actually seen this.

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I've never myself seen it before. It really is a superb sight.

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In fact, the sunrise over the heel stone can be seen for a couple of days either side of the solstice.

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So you don't have to join the druids on the day itself!

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Radio astronomer Professor Gerald Hawkins

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was one of the advocates of the idea that Stonehenge could be used to chart eclipses

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and the movements of the moon.

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The Aubrey Holes. 56 of them. A significant number?

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Very, very, of course.

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The most critical number for the moon.

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It's three nodal revolutions of the moon's orbit.

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When the Stonehenge people came here,

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they started with these holes, the ditch of the bank and this circle.

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Because of the 56 Aubrey holes

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and because of the alignments here at Stonehenge,

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it could be said to be more a moon observatory

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than an observatory for the sun.

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And just as the sun rises over the heel stone at midsummer,

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the moon rises over the heel stone at midwinter.

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If this theory is true,

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then the builders of Stonehenge

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would have achieved a remarkable degree of astronomical sophistication.

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After all, the moon's hard to pin down.

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Its movements seem to have a touch of lunacy about them

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and that's because of its orbit.

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Well, if bits of Stonehenge really are aligned with the movements of the moon,

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then the builders must have understood some quite complex geometry.

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Let's see if we're as good as they were!

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I've got here the Earth. We'll need the orbit of the moon.

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Here's the orbit of the moon.

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It's slightly tilted in respect of the Earth's orbit around the sun,

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which is very ably held by Clive over there.

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We'll exaggerate that tilt for the purposes of this demonstration.

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I'm going to bring in the moon and put it directly opposite the sun

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so that it's in the full moon phase.

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Now, the moon takes 27 days to do one complete lap of the Earth

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and ends up where it started, back at full moon.

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But, of course, while the moon's been doing that, we've all moved relative to the sun.

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So we're over here by now.

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And that means that the moon is no longer in the full moon phase

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when it's at this point. It has to move on a couple of days

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to be aligned with the sun.

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If that was all that was going on, building Moon-henge would be easy,

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because the moon would rise and set at the same points on the horizon every single month.

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So you'd only need a couple of stones and the job would be done.

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But things are more complicated than that.

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The complication is something called procession,

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and that makes this experiment a little more cumbersome!

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So I'm going to get out the way

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and hold the Earth from down here.

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All procession is is a wobble.

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That means that the moon's orbit, which is tilted, moves around,

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and the position of full moon gradually sinks lower.

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It takes years for this to take place.

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But then it gets to its lowest point and then gets higher again and eventually returns to there.

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That's why it takes almost 19 years

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for the full moon to appear in our sky in the position where it started.

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The rising and setting of the moon

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seems to be unpredictable and unintuitive.

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It pops up all over the place!

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And that's because of its complex orbit.

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But we can chart the moon's movements

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and it seems there might just be a connection to Stonehenge.

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Clive is going to help us map out what the moon is doing

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over the course of its 19-year cycle.

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But to set the scene, we first have to explain

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what the sun is doing.

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Clive, we're on the most important part of Stonehenge,

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-at least...

-On the axis.

-Exactly.

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So why is this axis important? Why is this line important?

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Because when you look along the axis,

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that's where the sun is rising on midsummer's day.

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Just over this heel stone.

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And that happens around midsummer, it'll happen tomorrow.

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-It happens around the summer solstice, exactly.

-What about the rest of the year?

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Well, if you were to come here every morning and look,

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you'd start to see the sun rising just a little to the south every morning.

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And then further and further to the south.

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And then it starts to get going faster!

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-So by the time you get towards the equinox...

-Mid-September.

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It's rattling along the horizon day by day.

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As we approach December, we slow down again

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-and we're right here.

-And we meet the mid-winter sun.

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Thank you, Paul. If you were here any midwinter,

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you'd see sunrise in this position.

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Yes. Any time in the year, you'll see sunrise somewhere on this arc of the horizon.

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So in any given year,

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the sun has two extreme positions.

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Its summer sunrise and its winter sunrise.

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The moon does something similar,

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but it takes 27 days, the lunar monthly cycle.

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We're going to mark out the extremes of moonrise over the course of a month.

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Pete is holding one lunar position, and Chris is holding the other.

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But the complexities of the lunar orbit means these points change position

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over the course of that 19-year cycle.

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OK, so that's moonrise now,

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but over the course of a month, the moon rises at different positions.

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Exactly. You'd see it moving up and down an arc on the horizon,

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just like the sun, but doing it up and down in 27 days.

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And it would reach all the way to Pete,

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the most northerly extent of moonrise up there.

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But that's true now,

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but of course because of the complexities of the moon's orbit,

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we need to move Chris and Pete again.

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Yes, because with the moon, these limit positions every month

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change gradually.

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So if we now roll the time forward

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to eventually 2015, that's enough,

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then we're going to reach a position here

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and so by 2015, you'll find the moon is only going up and down between these upper limits.

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But then it starts to come back again

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and if you both move out, and we go over another almost ten years...

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Past the point of midwinter sun...

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..right out the same distance in the other direction,

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this is where the moon is going up and down in 2025.

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It's called a major standstill year.

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And in that time, there are certain times every month

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when the moon is going to be rising extremely far south,

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much further south than the sun ever rises, and also much further north.

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And those are the things that we think there might be alignments from Stonehenge.

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That's where some things do appear to be aligned at Stonehenge.

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Let's go into the centre of the circle and look at those alignments.

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Once every 19 years,

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the moon will rise at its most southerly position.

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Just over nine years later,

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the moon will set at its most northerly position,

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in exactly the opposite direction.

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The question is, did Neolithic Man use Stonehenge

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to mark these points?

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This reconstruction of Stonehenge

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shows four stones around the edge.

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Called the station stones,

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these seem to mark the limits where the most southerly moonrise

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and the most northerly moon set occur.

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Today, two of those stones are missing,

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so we've sent The Sky at Night team to mark the places where they once stood.

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So those are the station stones. What exactly are they lined up with?

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Most importantly, they're lined up with the axis of the monument.

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That makes us think generally - we don't know exactly -

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it makes us think they're put there much the same time as the big stones.

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So how does that get us to the moon?

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The other way, they're pointing in two of these lunar directions,

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give or take a degree or two.

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So to the north-west, they're pointing very closely to where the moon theoretically would set

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as far north as it ever sets.

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To the south, a bit closer to where the moon rises at its furthest south.

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The station stones do stand out.

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It's intriguing that they do have this lunar direction to them.

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-People talk about a Neolithic observatory.

-Right.

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Is that justified? Can we go that far?

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I don't like the word observatory

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because that implies that people built this for astronomy,

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and that that was its exclusive or main purpose.

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I'm sure that wasn't the case. But neither did it have nothing to do with astronomy.

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Clearly this solsticial axis meant something.

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I don't think they were using it to time the longest and shortest day accurately in our terms at all.

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But I do think they were timing seasonal ceremonies, festivities, other activities,

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which in their way of thinking of things

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would have been absolutely essential to keep all the seasonal things functioning.

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Ancestral spirits could be used to help regenerate crops

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or whatever needed to be done to bring things about

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successfully in the next year.

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It's seven o'clock now, and they've just opened up the site

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to all the excited visitors.

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And also, the sun's come out, and the moon is rising behind us.

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When you're in a landscape like this,

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it's hard not to think about what's happening in the sky relates to us here on Earth.

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For some, the moon rising or setting over the station stones

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is just an intriguing coincidence.

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Simon Banton is a keen amateur astronomer

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who dresses as a druid, but only to impart cosmic wisdom.

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..the centre of The Avenue is looking to the north-east in that direction...

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Simon has studied the moon's movements at Stonehenge

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and for him, the coincidences add up to something more.

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But he's still got to convince Pete and Paul, who are a little sceptical.

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You believe there's an association with lunar astronomy,

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you're not quite convinced.

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I'll tell you why I'm not convinced. Because...

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the way the sun comes up every day, and the way it moves across the horizon, is intuitive.

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-But the moon isn't. The moon is a tricky devil to predict.

-It hops about.

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It hops about a lot. So I have a great deal of difficulty

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with a culture that is trying to get all the details of the moon

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-and they can't write anything down. It's all by word of mouth!

-Yes.

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Firstly, I think you underestimate the capability of oral tradition

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to transmit knowledge effectively.

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And I did stand here on the north barrow in 2006

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at the greatest southerly moonrise

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and watched the moon rise over the station stone that Hawkins identified

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as being a marker for that event.

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The problem is the markers are marking the positions

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where the moon goes to its maximum extent and then back again.

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It's important to say "roughly".

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The precision aspect of it may sometimes get overburnt.

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So that's a watch for at least 18.6 years

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and probably for several of those cycles.

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It is important to note, though,

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that if you do watch the moon rise over the hills there,

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it can rise in a range that's to the right of it and to the left of it.

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And when it rises over the heel stone in the same way that the sun does,

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then there will be an eclipse either of the moon that night, the full moon,

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or two weeks later of the sun.

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-It's quite incredible, really.

-Now, I don't say that it's planned,

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but to notice that.

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To notice it and then go, "That's interesting! Let's count."

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Because these people have got counting. They're not idiots.

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There are no written records from the people who built Stonehenge

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and who worshipped here.

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But they did leave behind their burial mounds, called barrows,

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which contain some of the objects they treasured.

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At Stonehenge, Bush Barrow contained a truly amazing find

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which shows that when Stonehenge was less than 1,000 years old,

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the people who lived here understood mathematics and geometry.

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Chris North has gone to the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes

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in search of the gold lozenge.

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The Wiltshire Museum is full of artefacts found in ancient barrows.

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200 years ago, well-meaning amateur archaeologists

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dug into the Bush Barrow,

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just half a mile from Stonehenge.

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Inside, they found some remarkable objects

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which have challenged our perception of early Bronze Age people.

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Museum curator David Dawson looks after the objects

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and has a new exhibition opening this October.

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They've carefully recreated the grave site,

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showing how all the objects were laid out.

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This is the centrepiece of our display.

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This is a reconstruction of a burial at Bush Barrow.

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He was a man who was stout and tall.

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He's buried with an axe at the top, two daggers,

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a dagger fitting, and most important, the gold lozenge

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that was on his chest.

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The fact that he was buried with such artefacts

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and the daggers and axes and so on,

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he was an important chap in their society.

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Absolutely. He must have been the top of the tree

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as a chieftain, a warrior. We call him the Bush Barrow Chieftain.

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And he was buried in this prominent place

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so that when they returned to Stonehenge

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for hundreds or thousands of years afterwards, they'd still see his...

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His descendants would see him and say, "On the hillside, that's where our ancestors are buried."

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Upstairs, David has a special treat for us.

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The real 4,000-year-old gold lozenge.

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This is rather special!

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That is...absolutely astonishing!

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This is 4,000 years old?

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-Right.

-Thereabouts. This looks like a solid piece of gold.

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Actually, it's not. It's less than a millimetre thick.

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It's been very carefully smoothed and thinned out.

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It was mounted on a wooden backing plate.

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Today it's perspex. But see that tiny piece of gold there?

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See the way the edges are lapped over?

0:19:140:19:18

It's just like wrapping a Christmas present.

0:19:180:19:20

But much more expensive!

0:19:200:19:23

-Much more expensive, and rather better than I can manage!

-Yes!

0:19:230:19:26

But the amazing thing is you can see the lines.

0:19:260:19:29

-Look how straight they are.

-Dead straight.

0:19:290:19:31

And the zig-zags in between.

0:19:310:19:33

Clearly whoever laid the design out knew about geometry.

0:19:330:19:37

It had to be made out using three concentric circles.

0:19:370:19:41

Then the straight lines are tangents.

0:19:410:19:43

A bit like a Venn diagram.

0:19:430:19:46

So to get those triangles, the four zigs along one straight line,

0:19:460:19:50

-you'd need an understanding of geometry.

-Geometry and mathematics.

0:19:500:19:55

And the fact that this is so intricate

0:19:550:19:57

it says it was far more...

0:19:570:19:59

Far more sophisticated. It seems a very peaceful society,

0:19:590:20:03

very stratified. Everyone knew their place.

0:20:030:20:05

These precious clues from objects thousands of years old,

0:20:070:20:10

paint a picture of a long-dead society

0:20:100:20:13

which was sophisticated, orderly and intelligent.

0:20:130:20:17

And capable of feats which are still impressive today.

0:20:170:20:21

CHANTING

0:20:210:20:24

We're just having the opening ceremony right now.

0:20:290:20:32

One of the leading druids has started the celebrations, as you can hear.

0:20:320:20:36

It's a bit like church service I went to as a kid.

0:20:360:20:38

We've had communal singing, a bit of a sermon,

0:20:380:20:41

and everyone's happy to be here.

0:20:410:20:42

And it's not raining, so maybe there's something in it.

0:20:420:20:45

Every aspect of Stonehenge has attracted attention over the years.

0:20:500:20:54

And that includes its sound.

0:20:540:20:56

Dr Rupert Till has created a model of Stonehenge

0:20:560:21:00

as it was when it was complete.

0:21:000:21:02

CHANTING CONTINUES

0:21:020:21:04

He says the sound inside the circle would have reverberated and echoed,

0:21:040:21:09

being amplified by the stones and drawing everyone in.

0:21:090:21:13

Paul is finding out how noisy Stonehenge can get.

0:21:150:21:18

Rupert, here we are on a lovely summer solstice evening, outside Stonehenge.

0:21:180:21:22

And the one thing that strikes you

0:21:220:21:24

is the beats coming out of there. The acoustics are good.

0:21:240:21:27

This is what you've been investigating, isn't it?

0:21:270:21:29

My background is sound,

0:21:290:21:31

so what struck me immediately about this space was how it sounded inside.

0:21:310:21:34

We wanted to model that sound to hear what it might have sounded like 5,000 years ago.

0:21:340:21:39

So you've developed a time machine, if you like,

0:21:390:21:42

that allows people to go back what, 5,000 years or so?

0:21:420:21:44

About then, to when Stonehenge was first built.

0:21:440:21:47

And possibly to look at how it changed over time

0:21:470:21:50

and also where the sun rose might change slightly in terms of where the stones are.

0:21:500:21:55

So we can see that with our model.

0:21:550:21:57

Presumably, sound was quite different if there were many more stones?

0:21:570:22:00

Yes, it really encloses you.

0:22:000:22:03

When you go inside, you can't really see out. You can't see in.

0:22:030:22:06

And the sound is the same.

0:22:060:22:08

It's kept inside the space.

0:22:080:22:09

Sound would have been part of the ritual

0:22:140:22:16

in the way it is in most cultures.

0:22:160:22:18

It's not all about sound. It's one piece of a jigsaw.

0:22:190:22:22

PEOPLE CHEER AND SHOUT

0:22:220:22:24

Some of the revellers are settling down for the night,

0:22:400:22:43

but all the time, people are streaming into the site.

0:22:430:22:46

The estimate is that more than 20,000 people will be here for sunrise.

0:22:460:22:50

It's very lively, but it's friendly

0:22:520:22:55

and I think it's not too far from how our ancestors would have celebrated their solstice.

0:22:550:23:00

Right now, the sky is looking good.

0:23:020:23:04

The moon is out and it's only a few days away from being full.

0:23:040:23:08

Pete, Lucie and I find a quiet spot away from the crowds.

0:23:090:23:12

This month, we're launching our latest observing challenge.

0:23:120:23:16

And it's all about Sir Patrick Moore's favourite object -

0:23:160:23:19

the moon.

0:23:190:23:21

Called The Moore Moon Marathon,

0:23:230:23:25

we want it to be something everyone can take part in.

0:23:250:23:28

Pete, you've devised some real treats for us. What's in store?

0:23:290:23:33

The moon is one of the loveliest things we can see in the night sky.

0:23:330:23:37

I hope I've put together something which makes it very accessible for people.

0:23:370:23:41

This is the nice thing about looking at the moon.

0:23:410:23:44

-Finding the moon is the easiest astronomical task!

-Absolutely.

0:23:440:23:47

There are things you can notice even with the naked eye.

0:23:470:23:49

So we start off in the first of the sections with the lunar seas.

0:23:490:23:54

You can see them just with the naked eye.

0:23:540:23:55

That's right. The lunar seas are easy to pick out.

0:23:550:23:58

Then we progressively move on.

0:23:580:24:01

We move into crater territory on the next section.

0:24:010:24:03

And then into what I call shaded craters.

0:24:030:24:06

The ones you can see close to the terminators.

0:24:060:24:09

The first ones are easy. You can pick the first ones out on a full moon.

0:24:090:24:12

Give us a flavour. What are some of your favourite objects in there?

0:24:120:24:16

I've had a bit of fun at the end of the marathon.

0:24:160:24:19

I've got what I call lunar specials.

0:24:190:24:21

Things like the basketball player in the moon.

0:24:210:24:24

I've never seen the basketball player!

0:24:240:24:28

The lunar seas, when you look at them, you can make shapes out of them.

0:24:280:24:31

-It's like seeing faces in clouds.

-Like the man in the moon?

-Right.

0:24:310:24:34

Basketball player is there,

0:24:340:24:36

and he's throwing a ball - that's the Mare Crisium.

0:24:360:24:39

Oh, off on its own? OK.

0:24:390:24:41

Once you've seen these things, you can't stop seeing them.

0:24:410:24:45

If you'd like to get involved, just go to our website:

0:24:450:24:47

Download the forms, give it a go, and see how far you get!

0:24:510:24:54

Already the night is almost over.

0:25:030:25:05

We're joining the throng back at Stonehenge

0:25:050:25:08

for sunrise.

0:25:080:25:10

I'm going to try and get inside the circle

0:25:100:25:12

with the drumming druids!

0:25:120:25:14

RHYTHMIC DRUMMING AND CLAPPING

0:25:140:25:16

From out here, we can't even see the heel stone.

0:25:160:25:19

The sun will rise over there in about 20 minutes.

0:25:190:25:23

But it's only people on the axis, the very middle of the monument,

0:25:230:25:27

that actually get a good look.

0:25:270:25:28

Lucie and the rest of the team have bagged a safer spot,

0:25:340:25:38

away from the more "enthusiastic" celebrants!

0:25:380:25:41

So we're here, waiting for the sunrise.

0:25:410:25:44

Only about 20 minutes to go, now,

0:25:440:25:46

and the excitement in this area is really picking up!

0:25:460:25:49

It's heaving, isn't it?

0:25:490:25:51

It's remarkable how quickly the sky has brightened in the last ten minutes.

0:25:510:25:55

Yeah. You did wonder if the sun was going to appear! I still wonder that!

0:25:550:26:00

It's so murky!

0:26:000:26:02

-It's very cloudy.

-It's been a good evening.

0:26:020:26:05

On the whole, a good session here.

0:26:050:26:06

-The whole atmosphere is really most interesting.

-It really was.

0:26:060:26:10

It's just a couple of minutes before sunrise.

0:26:130:26:15

The focus is still on the circle.

0:26:150:26:17

But we're where the action is, with the heel stone right behind us.

0:26:170:26:20

Well, I'm afraid there are no breaks in the cloud.

0:26:360:26:39

It's another damp, drizzly, summer solstice sunrise!

0:26:390:26:43

-Now, Clive, I think you know what I'm going to say, don't you?

-I do know what you're going to say!

0:26:430:26:48

So the sun has risen, but there was almost no response from the crowd. Why is that?

0:26:480:26:54

Well, does it surprise you? There was no sun!

0:26:540:26:57

People are looking to actually see the sun

0:26:570:26:59

and if you don't see the sun, they don't cheer!

0:26:590:27:01

People in the Neolithic, I'm sure, were the same.

0:27:010:27:04

This is why Stonehenge wasn't a calendar, in our sense,

0:27:040:27:07

because any day around what we know to be the solstice would have done.

0:27:070:27:11

When they actually saw the sun, when the weather was good,

0:27:110:27:14

that would be the day of celebration.

0:27:140:27:16

So it really is just about the celebration.

0:27:160:27:18

In fact, it feels to me a bit like an endurance event.

0:27:180:27:21

It's about staying up all night!

0:27:210:27:23

Are you dedicated enough to stay up all night and stay there for the sunrise,

0:27:230:27:27

and if you are, you've done your celebration and you've paid your respects to the rising sun?

0:27:270:27:32

I think you're too negative.

0:27:320:27:34

I think it's enjoyment! It's about enjoyment!

0:27:340:27:37

Sharing this often absurd, but still entrancing event

0:27:420:27:46

with 20,000 people has been quite an experience.

0:27:460:27:49

It's one I will not forget.

0:27:490:27:51

And I might well come back.

0:27:510:27:53

The moon's role at Stonehenge will always provoke debate

0:27:570:28:01

and speculation.

0:28:010:28:03

After all, we'll never really know whether the position of the stones

0:28:030:28:06

was deliberate or just a coincidence.

0:28:060:28:09

But I hope whoever put them there

0:28:090:28:12

would at least be pleased that we're still arguing about them

0:28:120:28:15

all these thousands of years later.

0:28:150:28:17

In next month's programme, we celebrate a very special birthday

0:28:200:28:24

as NASA's Curiosity Rover reaches its first anniversary on Mars.

0:28:240:28:29

-And so, until next month, from The Sky at Night, goodbye.

-Goodbye!

0:28:290:28:33

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0:28:510:28:55

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