7. There is a more obvious string instrument in the sky than that in Gemini, viz. in the Lyra constellation:
Hevelius has drawn his Lyra constellation as a great flying bird (manu rere). Vega (α Lyrae) ought to be in the G text, it is a very bright star:
To find the Vega glyph we should proceed as when we found Ga2-11, viz. by reducing 514.4 by 472. Thus it should be in position 690.8 - 472 = 218.8:
8-15 suggests 8 right ascension hours (because each such hour corresponds to 360 / 24 = 15 days). 8 * 15 = 120 = half 240 = ⅓ * 360. But we ought rather to count 81 * 5 = 405:
It does not seem to make much sense. However, if we count the distance from ω Gemini to Vega it does make sense, because there are 177 (= 6 * 29½) days from the one to the other:
From α (Vega) to ω (Gemini) there are 295 days, 10 lunar months. 691 + 295 - 472 = 514. |