This implies that the Mayan must have been recording the positions of the planets with great accuracy over a rather long period of time, probably spanning several generations.
* The current date in the 365-day solar calendar (18 months of 20 days + 5 extracalendrical days)
* The current date in the 260-day ritual calendar (13 "months" of 20 days, the months don't work like regular months we're used to)
* The "long count" date, i.e., the number of days elapsed from August 11, 3114 BC in proleptic Gregorian
* A 9 day cycle (roughly equivalent to our weekday)
* The date of the current lunar month
* The length of the current lunar month (29 or 30 days)
* A counter to keep track of where the lunar month is in terms of 29 or 30 day months
* The 819-day cycle, discussed in this article.
That is a sheer amount of information to be repeated (dates were the first aspect of Maya script to be deciphered, simply because a very large fraction of the text on stelae at Mayan are just these dates), and probably one of the reasons for this complexity is a way of showing off astronomical prowess (there are actually a few different correlations to lunar months in use at the same time, depending on which major polity's tables you wanted to follow).
Of particular note is that the main long-distance counting is the Long Count, which is a literal count of days elapsed since creation. There's no evidence of regnal dating system, which is very unusual compared to Eurasian calendars where maintaining dates across different kings is more of an occasional pastime rather than common dating format. This counting of days makes it extremely easy to work out long-distance periodic relationships. Given that we already have hundreds of years of date keeping being recorded before the 819-day cycle appears (IIRC, it's a late innovation in Classic Maya), it's virtually certain that reliable records spanning centuries could have been collected by the Classic Maya.
He was captured by the Mayans in the jungles of Guatemala:
“[...] Then an idea flourished that he considered worthy of his talent, his universal culture and his arduous knowledge of Aristotle. He recalled that that day a total eclipse of the sun was expected. And he decided, in his innermost thoughts, to use that knowledge to deceive his oppressors and save his own life.
“If you kill me,” he said, “I can make the sun darken in its height.”
The natives stared at him and Bartholomew noticed the disbelief in their Eyes. He saw that a small council had formed, and so he waited in confidence, though not without some disdain.
Two hours later, the heart of Brother Bartolomé Arrazola dripped its vehement blood on the sacrificial stone (bright under the opaque light of the eclipsed sun), while one of the natives without any inflection of voice, without hurry, recited one by one the infinite dates of solar and lunar eclipses. All of which the astronomers of the Mayan community had foreseen and written down in their codices, without the valuable help of Aristotle.”
https://spanishtextstranslated.wordpress.com/augusto-monterr...
https://ojalart.com/associate-editor-pamelyn-castoa-featured...
https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-tra...
https://www.academia.edu/29162442/Case_Study_The_Eclipse_by_...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1504_lunar_eclipse#Obs...
Unlike with almost all other ancient calendars, the alignment of the Mayan calendar to our own is known quite exactly. Scholars have compiled lists with all the eclipses, astronomical records, etc. known from the Mesoamerican writings. There's only one correlation that makes sense, and it aligns with basically everything. Lunar phase, planetary locations, recent eclipses, even the records carved in wood which can be radiocarbon dated (carved on wood that died within the years expected for what's written on it).
We can, of course, never really be certain, but it's likely correct that Pakal the Great died on 9.12.11.5.18 -- in August 683, probably on the 29th.
With Ancient Egypt, the window of uncertainty with dates in the Middle Kingdom, is about 20 years, and closer to 100 with the Old Kingdom. Nor do we know precisely when Nineveh fell, and that event is recorded in the records of multiple cultures.
That distinction must go to Tycho Brahe, who made all his astronomical observations without any telescope (Galileo started using a telescope in 1609, while Brahe died in 1601).
[1] Of course, Mayan people still exist (and continue to carry their culture), but this is about the civilization.
All but Neptune* can be seen by the naked eye.
(Shamelessly abusing the classification of Pluto as a dwarf planet here to exclude it from the conversation).
Uranus: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/07/starwatch-op...
Source: Years of observations from bortle 1 skies when I knew exactly where to look.
The closest dark sky place I can find on their map is about 2,630km (or 63h drive according to Google Maps) away from me.
The last time I saw the milky way, I was in a cheap campsite near the ocean in Ireland, which (of course) isn't recorded on the site.
Hopefully you have good dark sky closer than 63h drive away!
There's probably a space somewhere in Malaysia that's dark, or I could take a cruise ship out to the ocean, if you go by absolute distance.
By convenience, it's probably easiest to take a plane somewhere.
Edit: I'm wrong, Mont-Megantic is the first International Dark Sky Reserve - they worked to get it protected federally because they research telescope design. Dang - I think they are quite rare.
Maybe you can send an email to your local university's Astronomy department? I'm sure they'll be able to direct you to a good spot!
I just found this, shows light pollution. Crazy how the East is much worse. Also Alberta?!?
If you stare up long enough, you notice the rotation of the Earth with the cosmos seemingly revolving around you. And fuck me, you'll stare up long enough.
I grew up out in the country, and the night sky instilled a love of astronomy from an early age. If all you can see is a handful of stars, it's easy to forget what's above your head.
I would mostly agree with you.
Thanks for the chuckle.
I don’t think there are many alternatives. Counting backwards would either mean diving into negative numbers or postponing that by starting at an arbitrary high number.
“In the x-th year of ruler Y” plus a knowledge of the succession of rulers is awkward for recording over centuries. I expect that has been used almost everywhere before history (in the meaning of ‘after prehistory’ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory) began, but as far as I know, where written records exist, countries that used it such as Japan also had another system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calendar)