The autumnal equinox from the Dolmen of Magacela

The tholos of Cerro de la Barca. Credit: Daniel Padrón (sky-live.tv)
El tholos de Cerro de la Barca, a la orilla del embalse García de Sola, se encuentra en el municipio de Valdecaballeros (Badajoz, Extremadura). En la imagen, sobre este monumento megalítico, la Vía Láctea (izquierda) y las Pléyades (centro). D. Padrón.
Advertised on

Next Friday, September 23nd, at 01:04 UT the Earth will be at a specific point in its orbit round the Sun: the September equinox. The September and March equinoxes are the only days in the year when the Sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west, across the whole planet. In practical terms the days at both the vernal and the autumnal equinoxes are divided equally into daytime and night-time, with each lasting approximately 12 hours. In fact the literal meaning of the word equinox, is “equal night” and comes from the latin word aequinoctium.

Live from the Dolmen of Magacela

The dolmens are megalithic funeral monuments built mainly between 4000 and 2500 years B.C. In the particular case of the Dolmen of Magacela, in the region of La Serena, it has a circular chamber, similar to that of the tholos at Cerro de la Barca, about 5 metres in diameter, delimited by 12 granite orthostats and, although it is not preserved at present, research indicates the existence of an entrance corridor, about 9 metres long.

Thanks to research by archaeoastronomers such as Michael Hoskin, Juan Antonio Belmonte and Cesar González García, who have studied the orientation of megalithic tombs in Spain and Portugal, we know that these dolmens are oriented in a fairly coherent way. The majority point towards the East on the horizons of the different geographical areas analyzed. To be specific they point towards the sector of the horizon from which the Sun and the Moon rise, and some of the orientations coincide with dates close to the equinoxes, dates which mark changes of the seasons, and in the case of the autumnal equinox in Extremadura, mark the beginning of the rainy season.

Alineación al amanecer

The sky-live.tv channel will offer a live transmission of the sunrise, working within the Energy Efficiency Laboratories project (EELabs), and with the collaboration of the Office of the Director General of Tourism of the Junta of Extremadura and the project Extremadura Buenas Noches, from the Dolmen of Valdecaballeros (Extremadura).

The date is next Friday, 23rd September at 06:30 UT (07:30 local time in the Canaries, 08:30 Central European Standard Time). Sunrise will happen at 08:16 local time. 

"The vernal and autumnal equinoxes are the geometrical points in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun when a line from the centre of the Sun lies in the equatorial plane of the Earth. The people who live at the equator will see the Sun exactly overhead at local mid-day”, comments Miquel Serra-Ricart, an astronomer at the IAC, who is in charge of the broadcast.

Workshop: Cielos de Extremadura

To coincide with the broadcasting of the equinox, on 23rd September, the Workshops: Cielos de Extremadura will take place, which are held annually at the Escuela de Hostelería in Mérida, organised by Extremadura Buenas noches and aimed at those people who want to enter the Star Tourism sector.

EELabs (eelabs.eu) is a project funded by the Programme INTERREG V-A MAC 2014-2020, cofinanced by FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development) of the European Union, under contract number MAC2/4.6d/238. Five centres in Macaronesia (IAC, ITER, ULPGC, SPEA-Azores and SPEA-Madeira) work in EELabs. The objective of EELabs is to build laboratories to measure the energy efficiency of the artificial night lighting in protected natural areas in Macaronesia (the Canaires, Madeira, and the Azores).

Extremadura Buenas Noches (Extremadura, Good Night) is a project within the Night Strategy of the Junta of Extremadura (Extremadura 2030).

Three Spanish Supercomputer centres: The Extremadura Centre for Advanced Technologies (CETA-CIEMAT), the Council of University Servers of Catalonia (CSUC) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) are collaborating in distributing the broadcast of the web portal (sky-live.tv).

EELabs (eelabs.eu) es un proyecto financiado por el Programa INTERREG V-A MAC 2014-2020, cofinanciado por el FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional) de la Unión Europea, bajo el contrato número MAC2/4.6d/238. En EELabs trabajan 5 centros de la Macaronesia (IAC, ITER, ULPGC, SPEA-Azores, SPEA-Madeira). El objetivo de EELabs es crear Laboratorios para medir la Eficiencia Energética de la Luz Artificial Nocturna en áreas naturales protegidas de la Macaronesia (Canarias, Madeira y Azores).

Extremadura Buenas Noches is a project included in the Night Strategy of the Junta de Extremadura (Extremadura 2030). Turismo de Extremadura collaborates in the activities.

Three Spanish Supercomputing centres: the Centro Extremeño de Tecnologías Avanzadas (CETA-CIEMAT), the Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya (CSUC) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) will collaborate in the distribution of the web portal (sky-live.tv).

Interesting links:

 

News type
Press release
Scope
Outreach
Outreach
General public
Equinoccio
INTERREG UE
INTERREG_Eje MEDIO AMBIENTE

It may interest you

  • Selection of galaxy images taken by Euclid
    Press release
    "Galaxy Zoo: Euclid" seeks help in classifying galaxies
    A new citizen science project launched today by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Euclid Consortium, in collaboration with the Zooniverse platform, will enable volunteers from around the world to identify the shapes of millions of galaxies in images taken by ESA's Euclid space telescope. The aim of the initiative is to train deep AI neural networks to build the largest morphology catalogue to date. In November 2023 and May 2024, the world got its first glimpse at the quality of Euclid’s images, targeting a variety of sources, from nearby nebulas to distant clusters of galaxies. And
    Advertised on
  • TLP Tenerife at the Trade Fair Centre
    Photomontage
    The IAC brings the universe closer to the participants at the TLP Tenerife
    The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the TLP Tenerife, the largest technology and new trends event in the Canary Islands, join forces to offer a unique experience that fuses science, digital culture and fun. From 3 to 8 September, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Exhibition Centre will become the perfect setting where attendees, as well as sharing hobbies and enjoying video games, esports, manga and Asian culture through music and dance, and board games, will be able to learn about the mysteries of the universe. In this edition, the IAC and TLP Tenerife have designed a series of
    Advertised on
  • Jornada de puertas abiertas en el Observatorio del Teide
    Press release
    Cientos de personas acuden a las jornadas de puertas abiertas del Observatorio del Teide
    Cientos de personas se han acercado este fin de semana al Observatorio del Teide para participar en las tradicionales jornadas de puertas abiertas que organiza el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias coincidiendo con la semana del solsticio de verano. Esta actividad, organizada de forma conjunta por el Observatorio del Teide y por la Unidad de Comunicación y Cultura Científica (UC3) del IAC, forma parte de las tareas de divulgación que realiza el Instituto para que la ciudadanía pueda conocer de primera mano uno de los mejores observatorios del mundo, sus infraestructuras, el trabajo de su
    Advertised on