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APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:05 am
by APOD Robot
Mars over Duddo Stone Circle
Explanation: Why are these large stones here? One the more famous stone circles is the
Duddo Five Stones of
Northumberland,
England. Set in the open near the top of a modest incline,
a short hike across empty fields will bring you to
unusual human -sized stones that are unlike anything surrounding them. The grooved, pitted, and deeply
weathered surfaces of the soft
sandstones are consistent with being placed about 4000 years ago -- but placed for
reasons now unknown. The featured image -- a composite of two consecutive images taken from the same location -- was captured last October under a starry sky when the
Earth was passing near Mars, making the
red planet unusually large and bright.
Mars remains
visible at sunset, although increasingly
close to the horizon over the next few months.
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:55 am
by De58te
These human shaped stones kind of remind me of the Easter Island statues except that the face looks more like a snake's face instead of a dude's.
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:26 am
by Knight of Clear Skies
There are about 1,300 surviving stone circles in the British isles, dating from about 3,300 BC onwards, along with
countless other megaliths. We know very little about how they were used but astronomical alignments are suspected, possibly they were used as calendars as well as ceremonial sites. Some stones may have been aligned to mark the rising or setting of bright stars at particular times of the year. In most cases precise alignments have been lost. Over time weather and animals using them as rubbing posts tends to topple the stones, most we see today have been re-erected sometime over the last couple hundred years.
One thing we can be certain of, the night sky would have played a prominent role in the lives of ancient people.
Here's the Milky Way above
the Hurlers on
Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. I must go back sometime and have a go at a timelapse.
With lockdown, I've been exploring the moors more and keep blundering into archaeological sites. Sometimes I only notice when I check my position on the google maps satellite view, some features are much easier to make out
from the air.
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:58 am
by JohnD
The greatest stone ring structure in the UK, Stonehenge, continually puzzles and surprises us.
It has long been known that the 'bluestones' that make up the circle of smaller monoliths within the extraordinary Sarsen ring were cut from the Preselli Hills in South Wales, nearly 200 miles away, and across the Bristol Channel.
But recently it's been shown that they were first erected to form the Waun Mawn ring, which is now only known by traces. The whole ring of stones were dug up again and moved, in an age without metal tools or wheeled transport. Conquest, religious change - we have no ideas! See:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/22 ... -monument/
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 1:00 pm
by orin stepanek
Nice view of Mars and visit of Duddo Stones!
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:48 pm
by johnnydeep
You'd think for something billed as a circle of stones I'd be able to find an aerial shot somewhere. But no. I had to resort to google maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Duddo ... 125724,86m
![Duddo Five Stones.JPG (81.52 KiB) Viewed 4794 times Duddo Five Stones from Google Maps](./download/file.php?id=39055&t=1&sid=fa17b954880be93616e5c37429fbb9c6)
- Duddo Five Stones from Google Maps
And here you can plainly see the vacant space for the other two stones.
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:51 pm
by johnnydeep
De58te wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:55 am
These human shaped stones kind of remind me of the Easter Island statues except that the face looks more like a snake's face instead of a dude's.
Human shaped? Shaped by humans, yes, but I don't see anything resembling a human form or even a human part, except maybe upright clenched fists. And a snake's face? Where?
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 2:38 am
by RichC
johnnydeep:
search: Duddo stone circle - zxc.wiki
(de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Steinkreis_von_Duddo)
Click on aerial views
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:24 am
by alter-ego
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:51 pm
De58te wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:55 am
These human shaped stones kind of remind me of the Easter Island statues except that the face looks more like a snake's face instead of a dude's.
Human shaped? Shaped by humans, yes, but I don't see anything resembling a human form or even a human part, except maybe upright clenched fists. And a snake's face? Where?
My first thought was they looked like bad teeth.
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:59 am
by Ann
Knight of Clear Skies wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:26 am
There are about 1,300 surviving stone circles in the British isles, dating from about 3,300 BC onwards, along with
countless other megaliths. We know very little about how they were used but astronomical alignments are suspected, possibly they were used as calendars as well as ceremonial sites. Some stones may have been aligned to mark the rising or setting of bright stars at particular times of the year. In most cases precise alignments have been lost. Over time weather and animals using them as rubbing posts tends to topple the stones, most we see today have been re-erected sometime over the last couple hundred years.
One thing we can be certain of, the night sky would have played a prominent role in the lives of ancient people.
Here's the Milky Way above
the Hurlers on
Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. I must go back sometime and have a go at a timelapse.
With lockdown, I've been exploring the moors more and keep blundering into archaeological sites. Sometimes I only notice when I check my position on the google maps satellite view, some features are much easier to make out
from the air.
Love that starry sky over the Hurlers! I can see the Double Cluster, the Andromeda Galaxy and Cassiopeia!
Ann
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 9:11 am
by Knight of Clear Skies
Ann wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:59 am
Love that starry sky over the Hurlers! I can see the Double Cluster, the Andromeda Galaxy and Cassiopeia!
Ann
Thanks, think this was just a 30 second snap with a wide angle lens, with a little light-painting on the foreground. Not much light pollution up on the moors. I now use
Sequator for easy stacking of fixed tripod shots, making it possible to get a lot more colour and detail on
the Milky Way.
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 2:45 pm
by johnnydeep
RichC wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 2:38 am
johnnydeep:
search: Duddo stone circle - zxc.wiki
(de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Steinkreis_von_Duddo)
Click on aerial views
Thanks! Those are great. Now, why didn't they turn up in my searching? (rhetorical question...)
Re: APOD: Mars over Duddo Stone Circle (2021 Mar 23)
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 2:45 pm
by johnnydeep
alter-ego wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:24 am
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:51 pm
De58te wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:55 am
These human shaped stones kind of remind me of the Easter Island statues except that the face looks more like a snake's face instead of a dude's.
Human shaped? Shaped by humans, yes, but I don't see anything resembling a human form or even a human part, except maybe upright clenched fists. And a snake's face? Where?
My first thought was they looked like bad teeth.
Yeah, that works even better.