Possible lunar alignment between Mound A and Newgrange
As Brennan ([1983], page 70) mentioned, there could be a lunar major northern
standstill limit alignment between Mound A (53.6908 North and 6.4699
West) and Newgrange. To look more
into this, the 2005-2007 major
standstill limit period has been used to investigate this.
Four methods have been used to determine the direction of the
line
through the centres of Mound A and Newgrange.
Direction by using longitude/latitude
The below picture has been made of the Mound A and
Newgrange in one line. The is taken from the tow path (53.68663 North
and 6.46319 West) south of the Boyne canal.
Determining the azimuth of the line
through the centres of Mound A and Newgrange by using the longitude and latitude of Newgrange
and the position on the towpath gives: 319.5 +/- 0.4 [°].
Direction by using a reference object
On April 4th, 2006 (a day after the major northern azimuth standstill
limit in this 2005-2007 period), the moon set has been observed from
the same tow path location:
The moon does not reach Newgrange on
this very day, but we are able to determine, using the moon as a reference object with known
location and size, the centre of Newgrange (using
photometry on the above picture). This works out to be: 319.8
[°].
Near major lunar standstill limit on March 25th,
2007
On March 25th, 2007 I got permission from the Redhouse family to
witness the Moon set. A video has been
made of the Moon set from the top of Mound A.
The setting Moon just
touched the left side of Newgrange, at an apparent altitude of
around 3.7 [°]. The centre of Newgrange looks to be at 319.4
[°].
A composition picture has been made of the Moon's path (green) on March
25th, 2007 and an idea of how the Moon would have set during the major
standstill events around 3200 BCE (purple).
As one can see, the Moon does not really set around 3200 BCE above the
chamber/entrance of Newgrange (which is between the two lights on the
rigth). There is some difference of 2.5 degrees (seen from the 3200 BCE
path), which is quite a large difference for the expected precision
(around 1
degree)
neolithic people could achieve if wanted.
But it touches Newgrange, so who knows!
Conclusion
So the northern major azimuth standstill limit looks to be some 2.5
degrees
off from the line between the centres of Mound A and Newgrange. Of
course Newgrange and Mound A are quite wide also because the monuments
are quite close to each other (for
instance: Newgrange is seen from centre Mound A between 314.5 and 323.5
[°]), so some
options are available to map the major northern azimuth standstill
limit with the chamber:
one stands some 22 m north-east
of Mount A and
looks to the centre of Newgrange,
or there was no intent to make a
precise alignment (ceremonial meaning)
or there was an other intended
alignment (but not yet recognized),
or there was no intent at all.
Just a teaser
The below picture gives an idea of how the Moon could have looked like
seen from Mound A if an
alignment existed to the centre of Newgrange for the major northern
azimuth standstill limit (5000 years
ago):
Half of the Moon is here behind the
Newgrange mound (the two lights are on each side of the Newgrange
passage entrance). But would not have happen as seen from the top of
Mound A.
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