Mereja Forum

[Messele Zewdie Ejeta]

I think that more people than not aren’t fully aware that the planets are in a state of continuous motion.

The rotation of the earth on its axis gives us days and nights. Its orbital motion around the sun gives us seasons and years. Its cyclic orbital motion along with that of its moon gives us analogous years that may be helpful for the predictably of meteorological variability.

I am not sure if it has been easy for Astronomers to characterize orbital pathways of both the earth and the moon.

Years ago, I wished to find Astronomers who have expertise in the characterization of these orbital pathways. I contacted two Ethiopian academics to help me find an Astronomer that I could work with to study about meteorological variability.

While waiting to find someone, I saw a lunar eclipse in the late afternoon of one day. I did not know it was going to occur. So, it wasn’t my plan to see it.

Seeing it by a chance when I was looking for an expert of Astronomy was very exciting. In a moment, I could see an apparent straight line from where I was on the ground that goes through the moon to the sun. That observation of an apparent straight line was enough for me to get a traction on orbital pathways of both the earth and the moon.

After reading more about eclipses, both solar and lunar, I learned about Saros cycle. It helped me continue my research. Here is a link to a journal paper that came out of that research effort:

Validation of predicted meteorological drought in California using analogous orbital geometries

I am sharing it here for young and upcoming researchers to be aware of the potential of this new research frontier. There will be a total solar eclipse event on April 8, 2024.

I am guessing that interested researchers about why eclipses matter may find it worthwhile to be aware about this research.

The forces of nature are very powerful that they may lead to exciting scientific works in the years to come. The paradoxes of equilibriums are plenty to be interesting for many scientists.