In The Stonehenge Observatory, we use interactive software that reconstructs Stonehenge in three dimensions to explore the site’s astronomical properties. We do this by inserting ourselves into the reconstruction and observing solar and lunar alignments in real time, as they occurred thousands of years ago.
The software recreates all three major phases of Stonehenge’s construction based on archaeological records, and its sun and moon simulations take into account atmospheric refraction, the gradually changing tilt of the earth’s axis, and the sun’s gravitational tug on the moon to ensure the utmost in accuracy.
We also explore Stonehenge’s history and other astronomical ideas about the site.
For a full presentation of the The Stonehenge Observatory software, click here
This is not a course, but a single lesson that can be taken as a supplement to Astronomy 101: The Solar System or by itself. The Skynet University version of this lesson, which includes The Stonehenge Observatory software, is not yet ready.
