Sirius

Link: Athenaeum Boekhandel | De oude Schröder en zijn nieuwe boek, een inleiding Allard Schröder is romancier, dichter, essayist, vertaler, recensent, schrijver van hoorspelen, verhalen, novellen, en scenario's. Zijn schrijversleven is te verdelen in de periode voor de roman Raaf (1995), waarvan de werken nauwelijks meer te verkrijgen zijn, en die van daarna, waarin hij een groeiende schrijversroem genoot die een tussentijdse bekroning kreeg met de AKO-prijs voor de roman De Hydrograaf (2002). De tweede periode is zijn tijd bij De Bezige Bij-dat maakt de scheiding tussen wat eerder en later kwam absoluut. Maar bovenal is Schröder een oeuvrebouwer geworden, met een stapel van inmiddels zo'n veertien romans (het eerdere werk meegerekend), waarvan er vier een opvallend sterke samenhang vertonen. Er zijn de reguliere romans, en dikke romans, van het laatste type is Sirius de zesde. Daar gaan we het even over hebben. N.B. Dit is Burgersdijks inleiding bij de SPUI25-bijeenkomst rond Sirius-die hier te bekijken is. https://youtu.be/LoiVVdx5UrA Hallucinerende trips Eerst het verhaal. In een proloog ('Wat vooraf gaat') wordt, in 1984, een zesjarige jongen in zijn droom bezocht door een figuur die zegt zijn latere ik te zijn. In deel 1 (gesitueerd in 1999) worden de belangrijkste personen van het verhaal geïntroduceerd, van wie Etzel Aksma de spil is. Het dorp E*** waarin hij woont krijgt twee nieuwe bewoners die een oude directeurswoning betrekken. Ze blijken broer en zus te zijn, Gundula en Balder Ingelant. De zus is een rijzige elegante gestalte die buitenshuis steevast door haar twee honden wordt vergezeld. Balder is een geschiedenisstudent aan de universiteit, die zich altijd zelfverzekerd in regenjas in het dorp vertoont. Tussen Balder Ingelant en Etzel Aksma ontwikkelt zich een verborgen jaloezie, en naar Gundula koestert Etzel een heimelijk verlangen, dat belemmerd wordt door een onoverkoombaar ontzag. Etzel zet een discotheek op in een oude lijnwerkplaats, die nog allerlei spoorlijnen en treinwagons om zich heen herbergt. Dit wordt een ontmoetingsplaats voor de jeugd rond E*** en de naburige grotere stad H***. Er worden veel hallucinerende trips ondernomen, die een centrale rol in het verhaal gaan vervullen, omdat deze de personages naar ongeziene verten meenemen. Maar niet alleen de trips. Ook het zogenoemde Elzenbos leidt tot hallucinerende vergezichten, waarin lang vergeten figuren de nog levende soortgenoten adviseren, bespelen en verwarren. De trips leiden uiteindelijk tot de dood van Ingelant, die in een lege vuilnistrein wordt gegooid en op een vuilnisbelt de dood vindt. Of toch niet? Na omzwervingen komt hij na een bezoek aan een oude wijze kater terecht bij een vreemd wezen:

La notion grecque d’opora contient en elle toute l’ambiguïté de l’automne, saison de passage et de devenir. Corne d’abondance antique, elle connote l’épanouissement vital des productions de Déméter, dans la sèche chaleur de l’été, tout en annonçant dans le fruit trop mûr qui se détache de la branche le pourrissement inhérent à toute vie terrestre, dans la froide humidité de l’hiver (to\ met-o/pwron). Aussi n’est-il pas surprenant que le terme d’opora caractérise à la fois la brûlure de la vieillesse et l’éclat de la jeunesse. En effet, les limites qui séparent les saisons en occident ne sont pas marquées de façon aussi nette dans la pensée grecque qui, en tout temps, chante la vie dans son jaillissement, son épanouissement et son endormissement, prélude à une renaissance victorieuse. Tel est le sens des mythes de la végétation, comme ceux de Déméter ou d’Adonis, marqués par une catabase infernale commencée en automne et continuée en hiver, puis par une anabase vitale vers la lumière, poussée de la sève et triomphe de la vie en été, l’été qui porte déjà en lui les stigmates de l’automne. Cette conception cyclique du temps donne à l’opora grecque une riche ambiguïté que les poètes sauront exploiter, en particulier Théocrite, à la fin de son Idylle VII, dont Claudel fera une relecture chrétienne, enrichissant ainsi le concept grec d’opora d’une dimension ontologique et théologique.

The introduction to this book is a particularly good place to establish some of the well-known facts regarding Sirius. Of all the fixed stars in the night sky, Sirius is by far the brightest—almost twice as bright as its nearest rival, the star Canopus, which resides too far south to be viewed over much of the northern hemisphere. Only the sun, the moon, and at times the planets Venus, Jupiter, and on rare occasions Mars, appear
brighter. Sirius, with its flashing brilliance, is a striking feature of the northern winter sky and has understandably drawn the attention of observers of the heavens for thousands of years. Sirius can be easily seen over most of the surface of the earth, except for a zone north of the Arctic Circle, where it never rises. Every year Sirius emerges from the glare of the sun in late July, and by year's end it hangs on the meridian at midnight. In late May it disappears from view, rejoining the sun for a period of slightly over two months. It was around this annual coming and going that certain ancient cultures and civilizations organized their religious year, and synchronized their calendars with the agricultural cycles. It was also surrounding Sirius that a host of elaborate legends and beliefs came into being.

Öz: Yaratılışından itibaren insanoğlu, varoluşunu ve evreni anlayabilmek adına sürekli gözlemde bulunmuştur. Gökyüzü, onun gözlem yapabilmesi ve bir şeyleri anlamlandırabilmesi için sonsuz bir kaynak oluşturmuştur. Birtakım benzetmeler ile başarılı tespitler, önemli hesaplamalar yapan insan toplulukları, var oldukları dönemin en büyük medeniyetlerini kurmaya da vâkıf olmuştur. Sirius çift yıldızı, medeniyetlerin gökyüzü ile ilgili benzetmelerine, anlatmalarına ve hesaplamalarına en çok konu olan yıldızlardandır. Bu çift yıldıza medeniyetler gizemli bir şekilde önem vermiştir. Bu makale, bu gizemin ortaya konulması ve Türklerin de bu gizeme sahip anlatmalarının tespit edilip değerlendirilmesi ile ilgilidir. Siriusyen kültür için önemli semboller olan gök tanrı, ışık, yıldız, ok ve yay ile kurt ve köpek unsurları, dünya mitolojilerinde ve Türk mitolojisinde paralellik gösteren örnekleri ile bu makalede incelenmiştir.
Anahtar sözcükler: Sirius, gök tanrı, ışık, yıldız, ok-yay, kurt-köpek

Astract: Since the time of creation, mankind has been constantly observing in order to understand its own existence and the universe. The sky has provided an endless source for them to be able to observe and understand the surrounding. Human societies made succesful findings and crucial calculations by using metaphors and as a result, they managed to establish the greatest civilizations of their time. Sirius  is one of those stars that has always been the main subject of metaphors, narratives and calculations of different civilizations. Almost all civilizations have mysteriously attached ultimate importance to this pair of stars. This article aims to present this mystery through identifying and evaluating Turkish narratives that contain it. The crucial symbols for sirius culture such as; sky god, light, star, arrow, bow, wolf and dog and which are similar in Turkish and World mythologies have been studied in this article.
Keywords: Sirius, sky god, light, star, arrow-bow, wolf-dog

Recorded dates of heliacal risings of the star Sirius as reported from ancient Egypt have been used for chronological purposes for more than 100 years. This paper presents new calculations of heliacal risings and settings of Sirius for different places in Egypt and discusses the influences of various parameters and their uncertainties on the results. Comparison with ancient Egyptian observations gives a mean value for the arcus visionis of Sirius of about 10°, with plausible values between 9° and 11° depending on the transparency of the atmosphere. This means that a date of a heliacal rising or setting of Sirius, which was recorded in the Egyptian calendar, can pin down the absolute dating of the observation to 12 years, if one assumes that the place of observation is known and if no further infor- mation, e.g. lunar data, is available. All results of the calculations are accessible online.

A new interpretation of sole novo at Aen. 7.720 (frequently flagged as confusing by commentators). I propose it refers to the action of Sirius, based on various parallels referring to Sirius as "doubling" the sun and scorching crops, as well as on contextual parallels between this and nearby similes in Vergil's catalogue of Italian allies and their model similes in Homer's Catalogue of Ships. Following this reading, the referent of the simile becomes not (exclusively) the immense number of Sabines, but their destructive potential. Accordingly, I also propose punctuating with a comma, not a period, at the end of 7.721.

The article deals with Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, and its supposed connection with the period of summer heat, known as dog days, which started after the star’s heliacal rising. It was believed that Sirius, known by the Greeks and Romans as the Dog or Dog Star, caused the heat by inflaming fire of the Sun and had other baleful effects on plants, humans and especially dogs. Therefore ancient poets, starting with Homer, gave the star epithets such as fiery, flaming, parching, dry, sultry, thirsty, etc. The Dog was used more frequently as its nickname and was so ancient that nobody knew where it came from. This was explained by several myths and the star was identified as Orion’s dog, dog Laelaps or dog Maera. Moreover, some obscure festivals and dog sacrifices in Greece and Italy might have been connected with the star’s rising and setting.

Determining an accurate central corneal power (K) measurement is crucial for calculating the intraocular lens power in patients who are undergoing cataract extraction. The ideal method for measuring K is to use a device that works independently of the refractive surgery information. The Scheimpflug camera system offers a promising means of measuring the true corneal power after keratorefractive surgery. In this study, we investigated the accuracy of this system in measuring central corneal power after photorefractive corneal surgery by comparing it to the theoretically derived central corneal power by history method. A total of 120 eyes of 65 (35 females and 30 males) patients were included in this study. The mean change of refraction at the spectacle plane was 3.75 D, whereas the mean change of refraction at the corneal plane was 3.37 D. Using the Sirius dual-scanning corneal tomography, the mean change in corneal power was 3.96 D. No significant differences were detected between the mean post-operative corneal power measured by the Sirius tomographer and the mean change in refraction at the corneal plane calculated clinically (P = 0.076) and the correlation was found to be high (0.913). This study suggests that Sirius dual-scanning corneal tomography offers high predictability when measuring the central 5 mm corneal power in patients who have had myopic corneal photorefractive surgery.

"Christian Bible does not mention cats. But cats mention the Christian Bible. "


British Orientalist Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (1857-1934) is certainly one of the most famous Egyptologists of all times. Sir E. A. Wallis Budge was the Keeper of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum in the years 1894-1924. All sorts of stories have been told about his personality and his conduct, and some of them reach even legendary proportions. I am just about to tell you one of those stories. This story deals with Sir Budge, but also one rather extraordinary Cat, who was known at the British Museum by the name of ‘Mike’. Mike the Cat lived at the British Museum in the years 1909-1929, which happened to be for the greater part at the same period as Sir Budge had his active career there.

Viidakon vanha sananlasku: "Kristillinen Raamattu ei mainitse kissoja, mutta kissat mainitsevat kristillisen Raamatun". Brittiläinen Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (1857-1934) on varmasti yksi kaikkien aikojen kuuluisimpia egyptologeja. Sir E. A. Wallis Budge toimi vuosina 1894-1924 Lontoon British Museumin egyptologisen osaston johtajana. Sir E. A. Wallis Budgen persoonaan liittyy kaikenlaisia, osin jopa legendaariset mittasuhteet tavoittavia tarinoita,  joista yhden kerron pian tässä. Tämä tarina  koskee paitsi Sir Budgea niin myöskin erästä sangen erikoista kissaa, joka tunnettiin British Museumissa nimellä  'Mike'. Mike-kissa viihtyi British Museumissa vuosina 1909-1929, mikä sijoittuu suurelta osin yhteen Sir E. A. Wallis Budgen virkakauden kanssa.



2010.

Imagine the celestial vault covered with numerous circular apertures of small dimensions, crossed by light rays arising from a huge blaze located at the edge of the Universe. Each of these holes would lighten the sky like stars of distinct brilliance ...

Read more :  http://www.culturediff.org/english/ocsciences32.htm

In this paper the question of prediction of the Nile flood based on the first morning visibility of Sirius is considered. It is shown that the only text that describes this event is formulated very vaguely. It makes impossible to derive a reliable astronomical dating. Modern interpretations of this text are based on the free interpretation of the original source, and often do not match. According to historical evidence of Greek authors and later Egyptian texts, flooding of the Nile based on heliacal rising of Sirius could be predicted at the beginning of I millennium AD. This fact is confirmed by astronomical calculations.

Model-driven engineering (MDE) provides gainful solutions to software development, maintenance and evolution. Model based standards and techniques emerged and proved useful to develop new applications but also for re-engineering legacy systems. Unfortunately MDE is subject to frequent new standards and upgraded releases which lead stakeholders to proceed costly maintenance operations of the software modules they depend on. The existing techniques suffer from limitations and require new solutions to ensure a better adaptability and flexibility of the tooling. We propose a solution to modify meta-models already in use without rebuilding completely the software product with graphical facilities. This solution includes an improved technique of virtual extension of meta-models with Facets and end-users facilities to handle the model mappings. An open-source implementation, including user graphical interactions, is available on-line.

Sirius, the brightest star visible in the sky, has many myths and legends associated with it. It lie in the constellation of Canis Major, the Great Dog. It is almost in line with the 3 stars making up the Belt of Orion. Sirius owes its apparent pre-eminence to the fact that it is one of our nearest stellar neighbors.

In ancient Greece and Rome the hottest period of the year was called the dog days, because it was believed that the heat was caused by Sirius, which the Greeks and Romans called the Dog. Allegedly, after its heliactic rising or first-visibility, this star heated up the already hot summer sun, which then caused suffering to people and animals, destroyed crops and dried up streams and springs. In an effort to moderate the summer heat, bring rain, protect the crops and prevent famine, the Greeks developed several ceremonies. They attempted to explain their origin with fables, which are still known today. In ancient Rome the sacrificing of dogs was part of several ancient agricultural and pastoral festivals. Although some were held at the time of the heliactic rising or setting of Sirius, their connection with this phenomenon is unclear.