Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered - Sir Norman Lockyer

Fig. 34.—Declinations of Northern Stars from 250 A.D. to 2150 B.C.

Which of these stars, then, must we consider?

Obviously those most conveniently situated for enabling the time to be estimated during the night, or those which could have been used as warning stars.

[Larger diagram]

Fig. 35.—Declinations of Southern Stars from 250 A.D. to 2150 B.C.

α Ceti, α Aquarii, β Orionis, α Capricorni, α Canis Majoris, α Scorpii, α Columbæ, α Pisces Austr., η Argûs, α Centauri, α Argûs, α Crucis, α Gruis, and α Eridani.

The warning stars can be conveniently picked up by using a precessional globe. From it we gather that about 1900, 1400 and 800 B.C. they were as follows for the critical times of the May year, i.e. May, August, November, February:—

	1900 B.C.		1400 B.C.		800 B.C.
May	Castor rising	N. 41° E.	Pleiades rising	N. 77° E.	Pleiades rising	N. 71° E.
May	Antares setting	S. 75° W.	Antares setting	S. 72° W.
August	Arcturus circumpolar.		Arcturus rising	N. 17° E.	Sirius rising	S. 63° E.
	With hill 3′ high:—Rising.
	Date 2170 B.C.	N. 11°15′ E.
	Date 2090 B.C.	N. 14°18′ E.
	Date 1900 B.C.	N. 18°44′ E.
November					Betelgeuse setting	N. 87° W.
February	Capella rising	N. 36° E.	Capella rising	N. 28° E.	Capella rising	N. 21° E.

For the solstices, that is, June and December, the following stars might be used as warners:—