Our planet is constantly in motion:

  • rotation around its own axis, movement around the Sun;
  • rotation together with the Sun around the center of our galaxy;
  • motion relative to the center of the Local Group of galaxies and others.

Earth's motion around its own axis

Rotation of the Earth around its axis(Fig. 1). An imaginary line is taken for the earth's axis, around which it rotates. This axis is deviated by 23 ° 27 "from the perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic. The earth's axis intersects with the earth's surface at two points - the poles - North and South. When viewed from the North Pole, the Earth's rotation occurs counterclockwise or, as is commonly believed, with west to east.The planet makes a complete rotation around its axis in one day.

Rice. 1. Rotation of the Earth around its axis

A day is a unit of time. Separate sidereal and solar days.

sidereal day is the amount of time it takes the earth to rotate on its axis with respect to the stars. They are equal to 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds.

solar day is the amount of time it takes for the earth to rotate on its axis with respect to the sun.

The angle of rotation of our planet around its axis is the same at all latitudes. In one hour, each point on the surface of the Earth moves 15° from its original position. But at the same time, the speed of movement is inversely proportional to the geographical latitude: at the equator it is 464 m / s, and at a latitude of 65 ° - only 195 m / s.

The rotation of the Earth around its axis in 1851 was proved by J. Foucault in his experiment. In Paris, in the Pantheon, a pendulum was hung under the dome, and under it a circle with divisions. With each subsequent movement, the pendulum turned out to be on new divisions. This can only happen if the surface of the Earth under the pendulum rotates. The position of the swing plane of the pendulum at the equator does not change, because the plane coincides with the meridian. The axial rotation of the Earth has important geographic implications.

When the Earth rotates, a centrifugal force arises, which plays an important role in shaping the shape of the planet and reduces the force of gravity.

Another of the most important consequences of axial rotation is the formation of a turning force - Coriolis forces. In the 19th century it was first calculated by a French scientist in the field of mechanics G. Coriolis (1792-1843). This is one of the inertial forces introduced to take into account the influence of the rotation of a moving frame of reference on the relative motion of a material point. Its effect can be briefly expressed as follows: every moving body in the Northern Hemisphere deviates to the right, and in the Southern - to the left. At the equator, the Coriolis force is zero (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Action of the Coriolis force

The action of the Coriolis force extends to many phenomena of the geographic envelope. Its deflecting effect is especially noticeable in the direction of movement of air masses. Under the influence of the deflecting force of the Earth's rotation, the winds of temperate latitudes of both hemispheres take a predominantly westerly direction, and in tropical latitudes - east. A similar manifestation of the Coriolis force is found in the direction of movement of ocean waters. The asymmetry of river valleys is also associated with this force (the right bank is usually high in the Northern Hemisphere, in the Southern - the left).

The rotation of the Earth around its axis also leads to the movement of solar illumination over the earth's surface from east to west, i.e., to the change of day and night.

The change of day and night creates a daily rhythm in animate and inanimate nature. The daily rhythm is closely related to light and temperature conditions. The daily course of temperature, day and night breezes, etc. are well known. Daily rhythms also occur in wildlife - photosynthesis is possible only during the day, most plants open their flowers at different hours; Some animals are active during the day, others at night. Human life also proceeds in a daily rhythm.

Another consequence of the rotation of the Earth around its axis is the difference in time at different points on our planet.

Since 1884, a zone time account was adopted, that is, the entire surface of the Earth was divided into 24 time zones of 15 ° each. Per standard time take the local time of the middle meridian of each belt. Neighboring time zones differ by one hour. The boundaries of the belts are drawn taking into account political, administrative and economic boundaries.

The zero belt is Greenwich (by the name of the Greenwich Observatory near London), which runs on both sides of the prime meridian. The time of the zero, or initial, meridian is considered World Time.

Meridian 180° accepted as international date measurement line- a conditional line on the surface of the globe, on both sides of which hours and minutes coincide, and calendar dates differ by one day.

For a more rational use of daylight in summer in 1930, our country introduced maternity time, ahead of the zone by one hour. To do this, the hands of the clock were moved forward one hour. In this regard, Moscow, being in the second time zone, lives according to the time of the third time zone.

Since 1981, between April and October, the time has been moved forward one hour. This so-called summer time. It is introduced to save energy. In summer, Moscow is two hours ahead of standard time.

The time zone in which Moscow is located is Moscow.

Movement of the Earth around the Sun

Rotating around its axis, the Earth simultaneously moves around the Sun, going around the circle in 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds. This period is called astronomical year. For convenience, it is considered that there are 365 days in a year, and every four years, when 24 hours out of six hours “accumulate”, there are not 365, but 366 days in a year. This year is called leap year, and one day is added to February.

The path in space along which the Earth moves around the Sun is called orbit(Fig. 4). The Earth's orbit is elliptical, so the distance from the Earth to the Sun is not constant. When the earth is in perihelion(from Greek. peri- near, around and helios- Sun) - the closest point of the orbit to the Sun - on January 3, the distance is 147 million km. It is winter in the Northern Hemisphere at this time. The farthest distance from the Sun in aphelion(from Greek. aro- away from and helios- Sun) - the greatest distance from the Sun - July 5. It is equal to 152 million km. At this time, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Rice. 4. Movement of the Earth around the Sun

The annual movement of the Earth around the Sun is observed by the continuous change in the position of the Sun in the sky - the midday height of the Sun and the position of its sunrise and sunset change, the duration of the bright and dark parts of the day changes.

When moving in orbit, the direction of the earth's axis does not change, it is always directed towards the North Star.

As a result of a change in the distance from the Earth to the Sun, as well as due to the inclination of the Earth's axis to the plane of its movement around the Sun, an uneven distribution of solar radiation is observed on Earth during the year. This is how the seasons change, which is typical for all planets that have an inclination of the axis of rotation to the plane of its orbit. (ecliptic) different from 90°. The orbital speed of the planet in the Northern Hemisphere is higher in winter and lower in summer. Therefore, the winter half-year lasts 179, and the summer half-year - 186 days.

As a result of the movement of the Earth around the Sun and the inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of its orbit by 66.5 °, not only the change of seasons is observed on our planet, but also a change in the length of day and night.

The rotation of the Earth around the Sun and the change of seasons on Earth are shown in Fig. 81 (equinoxes and solstices according to the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere).

Only twice a year - on the days of the equinox, the length of day and night on the whole Earth is almost the same.

Equinox- the moment at which the center of the Sun, during its apparent annual movement along the ecliptic, crosses the celestial equator. There are spring and autumn equinoxes.

The inclination of the Earth's axis of rotation around the Sun on the equinoxes of March 20-21 and September 22-23 is neutral with respect to the Sun, and the parts of the planet facing it are uniformly illuminated from pole to pole (Fig. 5). The sun's rays fall vertically at the equator.

The longest day and shortest night occur on the summer solstice.

Rice. 5. Illumination of the Earth by the Sun on the days of the equinox

Solstice- the moment of passage by the center of the Sun of the points of the ecliptic, the most distant from the equator (solstice points). There are summer and winter solstices.

On the day of the summer solstice on June 21-22, the Earth takes a position in which the northern end of its axis is tilted towards the Sun. And the rays fall vertically not on the equator, but on the northern tropic, whose latitude is 23 ° 27 "All day and night, not only the polar regions are illuminated, but also the space beyond them up to latitude 66 ° 33" (Arctic Circle). In the Southern Hemisphere at this time, only that part of it that lies between the equator and the southern Arctic Circle (66 ° 33 ") turns out to be illuminated. Beyond it, on this day, the earth's surface is not illuminated.

On the day of the winter solstice on December 21-22, everything happens the other way around (Fig. 6). The sun's rays are already falling sheer on the southern tropic. Lighted in the Southern Hemisphere are areas that lie not only between the equator and the tropic, but also around the South Pole. This situation continues until the spring equinox.

Rice. 6. Illumination of the Earth on the day of the winter solstice

At two parallels of the Earth on the days of the solstice, the Sun at noon is directly above the head of the observer, that is, at the zenith. Such parallels are called tropics. On the Tropic of the North (23° N), the Sun is at its zenith on June 22, on the Tropic of the South (23° S) on December 22.

At the equator, day is always equal to night. The angle of incidence of the sun's rays on the earth's surface and the length of the day there change little, so the change of seasons is not expressed.

arctic circles remarkable in that they are the boundaries of areas where there are polar days and nights.

polar day- the period when the sun does not fall below the horizon. The farther from the Arctic Circle near the pole, the longer the polar day. At the latitude of the Arctic Circle (66.5°) it lasts only one day, and at the Pole it lasts 189 days. In the Northern Hemisphere at the latitude of the Arctic Circle, the polar day is observed on June 22 - the day of the summer solstice, and in the Southern Hemisphere at the latitude of the Southern Arctic Circle - on December 22.

polar night lasts from one day at the latitude of the Arctic Circle to 176 days at the poles. During the polar night, the Sun does not appear above the horizon. In the Northern Hemisphere, at the latitude of the Arctic Circle, this phenomenon is observed on December 22.

It is impossible not to note such a wonderful natural phenomenon as white nights. White Nights- these are bright nights at the beginning of summer, when the evening dawn converges with the morning dawn and twilight lasts all night. They are observed in both hemispheres at latitudes exceeding 60°, when the center of the Sun at midnight falls below the horizon by no more than 7°. In St. Petersburg (about 60°N) white nights last from June 11 to July 2, in Arkhangelsk (64°N) from May 13 to July 30.

The seasonal rhythm in connection with the annual movement primarily affects the illumination of the earth's surface. Depending on the change in the height of the Sun above the horizon on Earth, there are five lighting belts. The hot belt lies between the Northern and Southern tropics (the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn), occupies 40% of the earth's surface and is distinguished by the largest amount of heat coming from the Sun. Between the tropics and the Arctic Circles in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres there are moderate zones of illumination. The seasons of the year are already expressed here: the farther from the tropics, the shorter and cooler the summer, the longer and colder the winter. The polar belts in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are limited by the Arctic Circles. Here, the height of the Sun above the horizon during the year is low, so the amount of solar heat is minimal. The polar zones are characterized by polar days and nights.

Depending on the annual movement of the Earth around the Sun, there are not only the change of seasons and the associated uneven illumination of the earth's surface across latitudes, but also a significant part of the processes in the geographical envelope: seasonal weather changes, the regime of rivers and lakes, the rhythm in the life of plants and animals, types and terms of agricultural work.

Calendar.Calendar- a system for calculating long periods of time. This system is based on periodic natural phenomena associated with the movement of celestial bodies. The calendar uses astronomical phenomena - the change of seasons, day and night, the change in the lunar phases. The first calendar was Egyptian, created in the 4th century. BC e. On January 1, 45, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, which is still used by the Russian Orthodox Church. Due to the fact that the duration of the Julian year is longer than the astronomical one by 11 minutes 14 seconds, by the 16th century. an “error” of 10 days accumulated - the day of the vernal equinox did not come on March 21, but on March 11. This mistake was corrected in 1582 by a decree of Pope Gregory XIII. The count of days was moved forward by 10 days, and the day after October 4 was prescribed to be considered Friday, but not October 5, but October 15. The spring equinox was again returned to March 21, and the calendar became known as the Gregorian. It was introduced in Russia in 1918. However, it also has a number of drawbacks: unequal duration of months (28, 29, 30, 31 days), inequality of quarters (90, 91, 92 days), inconsistency of numbers of months by days of the week.

(each world era ended with its flood) in Aztec lore:
At the end of the Fourth Sun (Sun of Water or Atonatiu), which lasted 312 years, Tezcatlipoca sent a rain that did not stop on the earth. " For many days it rained and the land was flooded. The water carried away plants, animals and people. Those people who survived turned into fish.
It rained so hard that the sky fell to the ground. The earth could fall apart at any moment. "(A.N. Fantalov" History and mythology of Mesoamerica ").
In the last year of the Sun of Chalchiuhtlicue, which lasted 312 years, "fromof the sky, such a huge amount of water poured down and in such abundance that the heavens themselves fell, and the waters carried away all the living maceguals (people - A.K.) and from them all kinds of fish that now exist were created; and so the maseguals ceased to exist and the sky itself ceased to exist, as it fell to the earth "("History of the Mexicans from their drawings").
The Codex Chimalpopoca mentions those rising between fourth and Fifth eras of red mountains, most likely volcanoes from which lava poured: “The sky approached the Earth and in one day everything perished. Even the mountains disappeared under the water. It is said that the rocks that we see now covered the whole earth, and "tezontli" [porous stone lava, one of the main building materials of Mexico] boiled and seethed with great noise and mountains of red color rose ».
In the "Legend of the Suns" and the "History of Mexico" of the Aztecs, it is stated that the Fourth Sun lasted not 312, but 676 years and ended with the "collapse of the heavens" and the flood, which lasted as much as 52 years. "One day the sky collapsed and they died… This Sun is called 4 water; the time during which water was stored was 52 years ". "People" turned into fish. "And how they died: they were crushed by water and turned into fish ". Since the beginning of the flood, the world has been in darkness.
Many South American legends also tell about the flood and the darkness that accompanied it.
According to the myths of the Incas, Aymaras and other South American Indians, Vira Kocha decided to destroy the first failed humanity - giants. He sent down on them a mighty flood called Unu Pachacuti("water change of epochs"), which lasted 60 days.During this flood, almost all traces of being on Earth disappeared under water. first people (and ).
The Vira Coche hymns recorded by the Bolivian historian and poet Juan Santacruz Pachacuti Yamki Salcamaigua use the term"anankocha", which means "the sea from above".According to P. Matveev (2006), this may indicate that the sources of the flood were at the top - in the sky.
Here is what is said about the flood in The Gods and Men of Huarochiri by Francisco de Avila:
« In ancient times, this world faced the threat of extinction… Mother-Sea decided to overflow its banks and overflow like a waterfall…”. The water reached the tops of the highest mountains.“... after five days, the water began to decrease. The dried part began to be covered with vegetation. The sea receded further and further, and when it left, and the situation became clear, it turned out that it killed all people. Only the one who remained alive on the mountain ... began to multiply again, and, thanks to him, the human race exists to this day.
José de Acosta, in The Natural History of the Incas and Their Manners (1590), wrote:
“The Indians say that all the first people drowned during the flood, and then from the great lake Titicaca appeared Vira Koca, who stopped at Tiahuanaco where one could then see the ruins of ancient and very strange buildings…”. Having appeared, Vira Kocha created the sun, moon and stars.

AT the legends of the Hopi Indians it is also said that the remnants of the third world still lie under the thickness of the oceans.

This information is consistent with the traditions of the Indians living near ruins of Tiahuanaco telling that the Great City was built before the terrible catastrophe called Chamak-Pacha or the Age of Darkness and the Unu-Pachacuti flood that accompanied it.
In the Mayan Popol Vuh little is said about the flood, but capaciously. Dissatisfied with their second (or third) creation, the gods again destroyed, destroyed, broke and killed the wooden figures. Besides, "a great flood was arranged, which fell on the heads of wooden creatures ».
The global flood is also mentioned in the traditions of many other peoples.
So, according to Japanese legends, when the gods Izanami and Izanaki began to build the middle column of the Earth and spin the sky around him(and here), the Earth, like a jellyfish, rushed over the waves of the sea. Similar information is contained in the Sumerian myth "On the Mountain of Heaven."
According to Germano-Scandinavian myths, the blood of the slain giant Ymira created the first global flood. It drowned almost all the offspring of Ymir, frost giants, except for two - Bergelmir and his nameless wife; they revived kind of giants.
AT Slavic traditions it is reported that Svarog flooded the burning Earth - Dust with water and from the destroyed, dead world created a new world and a new nature.
According to Iranian legends, the flood is the work of Ankhra Manyu, who broke the celestial sphere and infiltrated our world.
Chinese and Indian, as well as American, traditions speak of not one, but several global floods. The flood of the period under review was most likely the flood that accompanied the battle between the god of water Gonggun and the god of fire Zhurong or, according to other legends, the legendary emperor Zhuan Xu from Chinese mythology, during which the celestial support broke, the vault of heaven was damaged or collapsed, strong earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fires and floods “swept” across the planet, Nuwa sculpted people out of clay, and Fuxi imparted knowledge to them.
About what this flood happened at the turn fourth and Fifth world epochs (when brought into line with the Aztec traditions), and not earlier, as I wrote in the book, may testify to the Fuxi training of people in breeding domestic animals, hunting, fishing and cooking meat food on fire. After all, according to the Aztec codes, the inhabitants of the first four worlds were vegetarians, and they had no reason to kill animals and eat meat.
If this flood happened in the era Zhuan Xu, as some Chinese legends tell, then attributing it to the turn of the Fourth and Fifth world eras becomes even more obvious. Indeed, in the time of Zhuan-xu, communication between heaven and earth ceased, and people could no longer ascend to heaven., and light and darkness began to alternate successively.
In Indian mythology, the flood of the period under consideration is most similar to the flood,“when in ancient times living creatures multiplied countlessly, (and) the Earth was exhausted under the burden of mountains and forests and the creatures that bred on it. She could not bear this burden and, having fallen into the depths of Patala (the underworld - A.K.), plunged into the water there ” ("Vishnu Purana"). Pulling the Earth out of the water, Vishnu had to fight with the demon Hiranyaksha or Hayagriva, who plied the expanses of the ocean, which resembles Gungun. And Vishnu himself is similar to Zhurong from Chinese mythology.

Loss of the Earth's water-steam envelope

loss by earth water vapor shell(and), the existence of which above it in the Paleogene, I wrote in the work “ The Golden Age was in the Paleogene and the flood are two sides of the same coin. Therefore, it is enough for me to confirm that the main (which lasted 52 years, according to the Aztec terminology) flood at the turn of the Fourth and Fifth world epochs was caused by the destruction of the water-steam shell, and not by a giant tsunami wave due to changes in the position of the Earth's axis of rotation(although such a shift, for sure, also existed).
This is indicated practically all Aztec legends, in which it is stated that the flood was associated with endless rains: "withsky, such a huge amount of water was poured and in such excess that the heavens themselves fell", "it rained so hard that the sky fell to the earth", "the sky itself ceased to exist, since it fell to the earth ».
AT Slavic legends x of the Svarog cycle it is also said that the heavenly god Svarog flooded the burning earth with water.
And, of course, the destruction of the water-steam shell is evidenced by the used Bolivian historian and poet Juan Santacruz Pachacuti Yamki Salcamaigua term"anankocha" or "sea above", which was the source of the flood.
The fact that the water-steam shell that previously existed above the Earth has cracked is apparently also mentioned in the Greekthe myth of Phaeton :
« Oh, the greatest of the gods, Zeus the Thunderer! Must I perish, must the kingdom of your brother Poseidon perish, must all living things perish? Look, Atlas can barely bear the weight of the sky. After all, the sky and the palaces of the gods can collapse.Will everything return to primal chaos? Oh save what's left from the fire! ».
Another - in my opinion, quite a weighty argument in favor of the existence of a water-steam shell above the Earth during the catastrophe, which cracked, is contained inIranian tradition about the appearance of Ahra Manyu and his armydemons . According to him, Angra Mainyu broke into the Earth,breaking the sky, followed by hordes of devas and pariks. The comets, meteors and planets created by him brought general chaos, violating the orderliness of the movement of stars. And then myriads of hrafstra - harmful animals (wolves, rats, snakes, lizards, scorpions, etc.) poured onto our planet.

The legend of Anhra Manyu adds to the description of the catastrophe at the turn of the Fourth and Fifth world epochs of the Aztecs (when they are brought into line with the legends of the Aztecs) one more piquant feature, which I dwelled on in detail in my three books - the appearance on Earth space aggressors who began to change orders on Earth. This is also mentioned, at least in Indian, Chinese, Slavic and Scandinavian traditions.

The separation of heaven from earth and its propping up by "pillars". The emergence of a new sky, wind, clouds and rain

In one of the oldest Sumerian myths about the mountain of Heaven and Earth it is said that once heaven and earth were merged, and there was no vegetation, no fish, no animals, no people. There was only one ocean, filled with the eternal waters of Nammu, the daughter of the ocean, the mother of all things. Nammu produced from herself Anu (Heaven) and Ki or Ninhursag (Earth), who settled on the top and at the foot of the world mountain and after a while were united by marriage. Ki gave birth to Enlil (“Lord of the wind, air”, “Lord of the wind”), who filled everything around with mighty breath and seven other sons, who gave light, warmth, moisture, growth and prosperity. Then Ki gave birth to the younger gods, assistants and servants of Ana - the Anunnaki. And they began to unite with each other, like men and women. And they had sons and daughters, grandchildren and granddaughters
After that, Anu and Enlil tore apart the mountain and created the sky in the form of a vault and the earth in the form of a disk with mountains and gorges. Anu chose the sky for himself, and left the earth to Enlil, who began to fill it with the breath of life. Clouds, grasses and trees, animals and birds appeared. Enlil's brothers and sisters illuminated and warmed the Earth. Enlil then built the city of Nippur in the very center of the earth. The gods settled in it and began to live without worries and sadness. Old age, wars, crimes, grief and sorrows were unknown to them.
This myth, it would seem, is the best way to describe the events that took place at the turn of the Fourth and Fifth world eras of the Aztecs. However, it most likely does not belong to this period, but characterizes an earlier disaster which I wrote about in the book Earth before the Flood - the world of sorcerers and werewolves". However, this is not surprising, since many global catastrophes that have occurred on Earth were similar to each other like two drops of water.

In Egyptian mythology, despite its much more hidden character from the uninitiated, one can also find several myths characterizing the time of the separation of heaven from earth, the emergence of a new sun and establishing a new world order. This is, first of all, the myth “Pa continues to create the world”, in which the god Ra (the old Sun) transfers his earthly throne to the god Geb (the new Sun):
« My son Shu (the god of air, separating heaven and earth, the son of the solar god Ra-Atum - A.K.),stand under my daughter Nut (goddess of the sky - A.K.).Take her on your head, may you support her.
Shu carried out the Lord's command. After that, Ra called Geb to him and announced that he was transferring the earthly throne to him.
It is also the myth of "The Boat of Eternity, the retinue of Ra, and the day's sailing through the sky." It says that when the sun god Ra left people and ascended to heaven, the goddess Maat established a new world order.From now on and forever, the earthly world was surrounded on all sides by a chain of high mountains supporting the heavenly river - Nut, and along the heavenly river, the gods, led by Ra, began to transport the Sun from east to west;and at night, the Boat, along the underground Nile, flowing through the Duat, returned from west to east, to the place where the Sun rose.
Even those uninitiated in Egyptian secret teachings may notice that these two myths speak of the time of the appearance of a new sun (the old sun - Ra left people and ascended to heaven), a new sky with stars and the Milky Way (heavenly river - Nut) and a change in direction of movement light to the east-west.
Another variation of the Egyptian myth on the same theme is the myth of the "Ascension of Ra - the Sun to heaven":
« Well, be your way, lord, - sadly agreed Nun ( the embodiment of the water element that existed at the dawn of time - A.K.)and, after a pause, turned to his son. - My son Shu , - he said, - be your father (Ra - A.K.) [support], protect him. And you, my daughter Nut, - he turned to the goddess of the sky, - lift him up.
- How is it, my father Nun? - the goddess Nut was surprised. - Transform into a Sky Cow, and Shu will lift you up just as he lifted you up when he broke the arms of your brother Geb, separating heaven from earth .
Nut turned into a cow, and the sun god fit on her back, about to fly up .»
AT Norse mythology there is also a story about the creation of new heaven and earth. It is part of the myth about the murder by the descendants of the giant Buri - the leader of the aesir gods Odin and his two brothers Vili and Ve - the first frosty giant Ymir. Having killed Ymir, they created the world out of him: from meat - land, from blood - water, from bones - mountains, from teeth - rocks, from hair - a forest,from the brain - clouds, from the skull - vault of heaven(and before that, as in Sumerian, Indian, Japanese and other myths, "The earth floated in the water ").
The creation of the new world did not end there.Each of the four corners of the created vault of heaven, the new gods folded into the shape of a horn and planted in each horn in the wind: in the north - Nordri, in the south - Sudri, in the west - Vestri and in the east - Austria(apparently, this suggests that there was no wind before).
The Aztecs also have legends about the separation of the earth from the sky. For example, the already familiar myth in his presentation in the History and Mythology of Mesoamerica by A.N. Fantalova:
« For many days it rained and the earth was flooded... It rained so hard that the sky fell to the earth. The earth could fall apart at any moment. Then the four main gods gathered again in order to raise the sky. Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl turned into big trees (props under the sky - A.K.), and the rest of the gods helped them put the sky in its place...
When the waters receded, the heavens were again raised to their former place by Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. ».
Props under the sky are also mentioned in Greek tradition about visiting Hercules Garden of the Hesperides :
« Hercules still had to meet many dangers on his path, until he reached the ends of the earth, where the great titan Atlas stood. With amazement, the hero looked at the mighty titan, holding the entire heavenly vault on his broad shoulders ....
Hercules took the place of Atlas. An incredible weight fell on the shoulders of the son of Zeus. He exerted all his strength and held the vault of heaven. Terrible weight pressed on the mighty shoulders of Hercules .»

Another myth about the separation of the sky from the Earth, contained in the ancient Indian "Rigveda" and "Akhtarvaveda" is given in the work P. Oleksenko " Ancient Indian legends about the creation of the world and the churning of the ocean" - this is the myth of sacrificing the primal being giant Purusha and the creation of the world from his body. It was dissected into its component parts, from which the main elements of social and cosmic organization arose: the eye of Purusha became the sun, the breath became the wind, the navel became air space, the head became sky, the legs became earth, the ears became cardinal points. According to the Iranian Avesta, another the first man Yima was sawn in half, and the world was created from his body.


The creation of a new heaven and world order seems to be reflected in the Greek myth of Styx, who lived in the west - the border of the world of light and darkness. Irida flew to her. Irida in ancient Greek mythology was considered the personification and goddess of the rainbow, the daughter of the god of sea miracles Thaumant and the oceanid Electra, as well as the wife of Zephyr - Wind. But the wind, clouds, rain and rainbow appeared only in the new world.
Thus, in the myth of Styx, we observe the intersection of two time periods: 1) the Earth, which consisted of light and dark halves, and 2) a new world with wind, rain and a rainbow. As we already know, they were separated by a catastrophe at the turn of the Fourth and Fifth World Ages (when they were brought into line with the Aztec traditions).

Glaciation


 Another frequently cited result of the catastrophe in question was covering the ground with ice.
According to Scandinavian and German legends, which, according to the legends of most peoples, appeared at the turn of the epochs under consideration.
Scandinavian and German legends also mention the direct descendants of frost giants, ice giants- huge people with a silver ice beard and hair - under the leadership of Khryum, who lived in Niflheim.
Niflheim existed together with Muspelheim ("fireland") located to the south of it even before the appearance of all living things. And as I said, the giant Ymir is considered the first living creature in Norse mythology. This means that "everything living" appeared in the period catastrophes when the ground was already covered with ice.
This is also supported by the legend about the origin of the giant Ymir himself. As the ice of Elivagar came close to Muspelheim's realm of fire, it began to melt. The sparks from Muspelheim mingled with the melted ice and breathed life into it. The existence of both a fiery abyss and ice almost certainly points to the time of the catastrophe.
The turning of the earth into ice is also mentioned in another Scandinavian legend - about the last battle of Ragnarok. gods With giants and monsters(the wolf Fenrir, the world serpent Jörmungandr, their father Loki, the fire giant Surt, frost giants, etc.). The land, previously raised from the sea, plunged back into it,ice and fire destroyed the universe.
The time when the Earth was covered with an ice shell is also mentioned in Iranian traditions about Angra Manyu, whocreated winter and cold in our world."When Ankhra Mainyu sent a violent destructive frost», he also took possession "one third of the sky and covered it with darkness", while creeping ice squeezed everything around.
Finally, it is impossible not to remember Slavic tradition Svarogov cycle, according to which Svarog, after defeating the rebels led by Dennitsaraised his chamber up, and protected it with an icy firmament.
As can be seen from the above, all the legends about the "turning the Earth into a piece of ice" come from the northern peoples (Slavs, Scandinavians) or from peoples who came from the north (ancient Iranians - Aryans). Based on this, it can be assumed that ice covered the northern part of the land and was not typical for tropical and equatorial latitudes.

Turning the inhabitants of the previous world "into stones"

Another, and perhaps the last, result of the catastrophe in question, which I encountered in only a few traditions, was the deprivation of the inhabitants of the former world of the opportunity to move.
Yes, in "Popol Vuh" Maya it is said that after the appearance of the sun, moon and stars, the old gods (their dominant role in the old world is repeatedly emphasized in the book) Tohil, Avilish and Khakavits and all predatory animals (a large number of snakes, jaguars, cougars and echidnas) and white monsters that lived on trees, were turned into stone, thanks to which modern humanity survived.

What happened on Earth during the catastrophe during the change of worlds? The answer comes from the Popol Vuh.

In conclusion, the characteristics of the catastrophe when changing the old world to a new one, I want to once again cite excerpt from the Popol Vuh, which describes what happened on Earth during the change of the Third and Fourth worlds (the Fourth and Fifth or, according to some legends, the Third and Fourth world eras of the Aztecs) and the destruction of the second - wooden - mankind:
« It was cloudy and gloomy then on the surface of the Earth (after the death of the second humanity - A.K.)The sun didn't exist yet. But, nevertheless, there was (on Earth) a creature called Vukub-Kakish (an evil creature - the father of the titans Kabrakan and Sipakna, appears in the epic even before the creation of the sun - A.K.)and he was very arrogant. Heaven and earth, it is true, existed, but the faces of the sun and moon were still completely invisible.
And (Vukub-Kakish) said: "Verily, they - a clear example of those people who drowned,and their nature is the nature of supernatural beings "….
And so Vukub-Kakish had two sons: the first was called Sipakna, the second - Kabrakan. And the mother of these two bore the name Chimalmat, the wife of Vucub-Kakish.
This Sipakna played with huge mountains, as with a ball: with Mount Nakak, with Mount Hun-Ahpu, Pekul, Nashka-Nul, Makamob and Khulisnab. These are the names of the mountains that existed when the dawn came; in one single night they were created by Cipacna.
And Cabrakan also made the mountains tremble; thanks to him, large and small mountains melted. This is how the sons of Vukub-Kakish proclaimed their pride. "Listen, I am the sun!" said Vukub-Kakish. "I am the one who created the earth!" Sipacna said. "I am the one who created the sky and made the earth tremble!" Cabracan said.
This is how the sons of Vukub-Kakish followed the example of their father and his supposed greatness…. Neither our first mother nor our first father had yet been created." Traditions and hypotheses about the lunar rabbit, churning of the ocean, the unwinding of the firmament, the origin of the moon and the connection of the moon with death and immortality - a description of the catastrophes at the turn of the Third and Fourth and Fourth and Fifth world epochs, the acquisition by the Earth of a modern look and the appearance of modern man - Homo Sapiens " , which complements this work, as well as a series of my works " Epochs of human development in the mythologies of the Maya, Nahua and Aztecs" In chapter " Five World Ages and Mankinds of Maya, Nahua and Aztecs "

Read also my work on the time of existence of a water-steam shell above the Earth " Paleocene-Eocene - the "golden age" of mankind "

From the moment the theory of the sphericity of the Earth and its rotation around the Sun and its own axis ceased to be disputed, it became clear that the entire surface of our planet cannot be illuminated by sunlight at the same time. The time of day changes on the earth's surface consistently and gradually (which, in fact, is a change in the time zone). Astronomical time depends on at what moment the Sun is at its zenith, and this does not happen at the same time at different points on the earth.

In the old days, there was no problem with the astronomical difference in time of day. In any locality of the world, the time was determined by the Sun: when it is at its highest point, it is noon. Initially, the main city clock was checked against this moment. Nobody thought about any time zone. And no one was particularly worried about the fact that between several fairly close cities, the difference in time could be 15 minutes.

However, under the influence of technological progress, times and life have changed. “Discord” eventually became a real headache, in particular for those who used rail transport. Since standard time zones did not yet exist, in order to exactly match the schedule, it was necessary to move the chronometer hand by 4 minutes with the intersection of each meridian. Yes, it's impossible to keep track of it!

Railway workers also faced an even more difficult problem - dispatch services could not really calculate the time the train was at a particular point of movement. And this already smelled not only of delays, but of collisions and train crashes.

The solution is found - the creation of time zones

The idea to put things in order with time synchronization first came up with the Englishman William Hyde Wollaston, better known for his discoveries in the field of metal chemistry. The solution was very simple - the chemist proposed to establish a single time zone throughout the UK - along the Greenwich meridian. The railroad immediately seized on this idea, already in 1840 they began to switch to a single "London" time. In 1852, they began to regularly transmit accurate time signals by telegraph.

However, the whole country switched to Greenwich Mean Time only in 1880, when the relevant law was issued.

The British idea was adopted almost immediately by the Americans. However, there was one catch - the territory of the United States is many times larger than the British Isles, and in the states it is simply impossible to introduce a single time zone throughout the country. Therefore, in 1883 the country was divided into 4 zones, in which the time differed by an hour from the neighboring one. So, in fact, the first four time zones appeared - Pacific, Eastern, Mountain and Central.

Despite the fact that the railroads were already using standard time, many cities refused to translate their clocks in accordance with the new decree. Detroit was the last to do so in 1916.

Even at the dawn of the time zone system, the "father" of the Canadian railways, Sanford Fleming, began to promote the theory that it was necessary to divide the entire planet into 24 time zones. The idea was rejected by politicians and even scientists out of the blue, it was considered a utopia.

However, already in 1884, at a special international conference in Washington, the division of the Earth into 24 belts did happen. However, it must be said that some countries voted against such a decision, in particular, the Russian representative, the head of the Struve Pulkovo Observatory. We joined the world time system only in 1919.

Time zones of Russia

The image below shows the current map of Russia's time zones:

During strong and medium intensity solar flares on Earth, as a rule, the following phenomena are observed:

1. The Mögel-Dellinger effect, which consists in the sudden cessation of radio communication at frequencies from 5 to 20 MHz (from 15 to 60 m) through the daytime half of the globe.

2. Complete cessation of reflections from ionospheric layers and increased absorption of radio emission from cosmic sources at waves of 10-15 m.

3. Sudden increase in atmospheric interference or signals from very distant stations at very long wavelengths (km).

4. Reducing the height of the ionospheric layer D.

5. Strengthening of the flux of the soft component of cosmic rays on the Earth's surface with a slight delay against the onset of the flare (see § 6).

6. The Forbush effect, which consists in a significant weakening for 5-10 days of the intensity of cosmic rays after the magnetic storm caused by the flare sets in (see above).

7. Magnetic storms, which usually occur no later than two days after the outbreak, but most often after 17-21 hours.

8. Auroras, usually coinciding in time with magnetic storms, and other ionospheric disturbances.

The first four effects are associated with electromagnetic solar radiation, since they begin almost simultaneously with the optically observed flare. The increased flow of ultraviolet rays significantly (by 15 km) lowers the lower boundary of the ionosphere to a level where the gas density is high, and radio waves (all but km) lose their energy and fade instead of being reflected. For the effects of phenomenon (2), the propagation of ionization below the E layer is especially efficient.

Long waves are better reflected from the lowered D-layer and this explains the effect (3). In this case, we are talking not only about signals coming from stations, but also from tropical storms, which amplifies the noise.

A correct understanding of solar effects on the ionosphere is very important for planning radio transmission paths over very long distances. Although it is impossible to accurately predict solar flares, approximate and probabilistic predictions in this regard are quite real. For this purpose, continuous service of the Sun is necessary” - continuous observations of the photosphere, chromosphere and corona of the Sun, which are conducted by a network of stations encircling the entire globe.

Effect (5) we have already considered in sufficient detail earlier. Effects (6), (7), (8) are closely related to each other. All of them point to corpuscular streams of different energies emanating from areas of solar activity, especially from flare sites. Cosmic rays propagate at a speed that practically does not differ from the speed of light. The delay in the onset of magnetic storms indicates the movement of corpuscles at a speed of 600-1600 km/s. The fact that we are talking here about corpuscles is proved by the appearance of lines in the spectrum of auroras, shifted against the normal position in the violet side by 10-35 A, and this indicates an invasion speed from 450 to 1500 km/s (and in exceptional cases up to 3000 km/s). The fact that charged particles are here is evidenced by their different behavior at different geomagnetic latitudes: the magnetic field lines of the Earth's field reach the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface only at the Earth's magnetic poles, i.e., at high geographical latitudes. This is where the most polar lights are observed. Particles of relatively low energy (from 80 to 300 keV) are not able to overcome the Earth's magnetic field across its lines of force, and can only move along them near the poles. And the stream of particles, which gives the shifted line, initially consists of protons of solar origin, which, penetrating into the Earth's ionosphere, capture electrons; the latter move to lower and lower orbits, and during the transition from the 3rd to the 2nd they are emitted. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain magnetic storms. One of them (Chapman and Ferraro, 1931, 1940), the most common one, suggests that during a flare, a plasma clot is ejected from the corona, which is generally neutral. When this bunch invades the Earth's magnetic field, currents are naturally induced in it. The magnetic field of the Earth slows down the bunch, and the magnetic field of the latter compresses the magnetic lines of force of the Earth's field, which means the beginning of a magnetic storm. The bunch flows around the Earth and the magnetic forces of the plasma produce charge differentiation, so that a giant ring current is formed around the Earth at a distance of about five radii, inducing the main magnetic disturbances throughout the entire storm.

The additional field of the incoming plasma bunch and the ring current created by it puts additional obstacles for the penetration of cosmic rays to the Earth's surface, which manifests itself in the Forbush effect (6).