Back to Astronomy index

Milky Way in Luxor (Thebes), Egypt: 6,500 BCE to 19,300 CE

The annual cycle is seen in each horizontal series.
The precessional cycle is seen in each vertical series, which takes ca. 25,800 years, or ca. 2,150 years per zodiac sign.
The years given are approximate dates of the beginning of each zodiac "age", i.e. when the vernal equinox begins to appear in the constellation given.
The images represent the entire sky at midnight with north at the bottom.
Note also the daily cycle at the bottom of the main chart.

Year

Jan 1

Feb 1

Mar 1

Apr 1

May 1

Jun 1

Jul 1

Aug 1

Sep 1

Oct 1

Nov 1

Dec 1

Jan 1 following year

6,500 BCE Gemini

4,350 BCE Taurus

2,200 BCE Aries

50 BCE Pisces

2,100 CE Aquarius

4,250 CE Capricorn

6,400 CE Sagittarius

8,550 CE Scorpio

10,700 CE Libra

12,850 CE Virgo

15,000 CE Leo

17,150 CE Cancer

19,300 CE Gemini

Daily Cycle Sample

May 31-Jun 1

6:00 PM

7:00 PM

8:00 PM

9:00 PM

10:00 PM

11:00 PM

Midnight

1:00 AM

2:00 AM

3:00 AM

4:00 AM

5:00 AM

6:00 AM

2,200 BCE

Notes:

The gif files were generated from the free planetarium software package Cartes du Ciel.
I found the planetarium software by entering the search terms "planetarium software" into a Google search.
This led me to the following first hit: http://astro.nineplanets.org/astrosoftware.html
which lists planetarium programs for various platforms. Under "Windows" I picked the first "free" package,
"Cartes du Ciel", downloaded and installed the complete package 2.76 (15 MB) and was up and running in minutes.
It is amazingly comprehensive and intuitive!