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450. If Apina Iti really was referring to Triangulum Minus, then I ought to determine where in the rongorongo texts this triplet of stars should be located. But so far I have documented only Metallah (α) in the Triangulum constellation although there are more Greek lettered stars in this region.

Polaris α Ursae Minoris 1.97 89º 02' N 01h 49m 27.6
Baten Kaitos ζ Ceti 3.74 10º 35' S 01h 49m 27.6
Metallah α Trianguli 3.42 29º 20' N 01h 50m 27.9
Segin ε Cassiopeia 3.35 63º 25' N 01h 51m 28.2
Mesarthim γ Arietis 3.88 19º 03' N 01h 51m 28.2

From Wikipedia the following relevant data have been gathered:

Pinwheel Galaxy M33 Trianguli 5.72 30º 40' N 01h 34m 23.8
Deltotum β Trianguli 3.00 34º 59' N 02h 10m 33.0
  γ Trianguli 4.03 33º 51' N 02h 17m 34.7
  δ Trianguli 4.84 34º 13' N 02h 17m 34.7
  ε Trianguli 5.50 33º 17' N 02h 03m 31.2
Triangulum Minus ι Trianguli 4.94 30º 18' N 02h 12m 33.5
10 Trianguli 5.29 28º 38' N 02h 19m 35.3
12 Trianguli 5.29 29º 40' N 02h 28m 37.5

I will now update my star list accordingly.

Said and done. Initially I used blue text in my star list and later I used red text for new items in order to easier recognize where changes compared to my earlier documentation could be necessary.

This time I have chosen to use green for the new items. My right ascension day 27.9 for Metallah has been derived as follows:

(60 + 50) / 1440 * 365.25 = 27.9

There are 24 * 60 = 1440 minutes in a day and the Julian calendar has 365.25 days per year (equal to the cycle of Sirius). 144 = 414 - 270.

01h 50m has been fetched from my old astronomy book (Josef Klepešta, Stjärnor och stjärnbilder) which was my basic source for information regarding well known stars, and my experience is that the right ascension data in his book agrees astonishingly well with other sources (especially the Arab list  of stations) as to what the positions would have been at the time of rongorongo - given that we will adjust Klepešta's right ascension data down with precisely 1.0 days, for instance from 27.9 in my star list for Metallah to 26.9 (the same right ascension day as Polaris).

However, the right ascension data fetched from Wikipedia are later in time-space (from another epoch) and therefore I have to correct the right ascension data for the green marked items above.

This can be done by comparing 01h 50m for Metallah with what Wikipedia has to say:

3.42 29º 34' 45.8" N 01h 53m 04.90s

The apparent luminosity (3.42) is precisely what I have listed earlier - because I used Wikipedia for this type of information. Both declination and right ascension has changed, though, since the epoch of rongorongo. The change in declination should be caused by the proper motion of Metallah against the idealized fixed background and the change in its right ascension should be due both to the proper motion and to the precession.

01h 53m is 3m more than 01h 50m, and as I recall it, this difference was the normal value also for other stars which I have studied and it therefore ought to be due to the precession rather than to the proper motion of Metallah.

Thus I will now reduce the right ascension data as listed above with 3m:

Pinwheel Galaxy M33 Trianguli 5.72 30º 40' N 01h 31m 23.1
Deltotum β Trianguli 3.00 34º 59' N 02h 07m 32.2
  γ Trianguli 4.03 33º 51' N 02h 14m 34.0
  δ Trianguli 4.84 34º 13' N 02h 14m 34.0
  ε Trianguli 5.50 33º 17' N 02h 00m 30.4
Triangulum Minus ι Trianguli 4.94 30º 18' N 02h 09m 32.7
10 Trianguli 5.29 28º 38' N 02h 16m 34.5
12 Trianguli 5.29 29º 40' N 02h 25m 36.8

The Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 33) is seen in the picture above and in my star list there is another one, the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (M83 Hydrae, *206.7) half a year later:

Should I now update my comments in parallel with the C and G texts accordingly, with the new items for Triangulum? No, it would be too much work. Instead I will remember to look in my now updated star list when these 7 right ascension days (*32 - *36, or after correction: *31 - *35) are to be discussed. As to M33 (*22.1) we can remember its position was in the day before Archernar (*23.3).

However, in order to get easy access to the new Trianguli stars I will here put them together with the other stars in this right ascension region:

*Ca14-24 *Ca14-25 *Ca14-26 *Ca14-27 (390) *Ca14-28 *Ca14-29
δ Phoenicis (21.5) PINWHEEL GALAXY (M33 Trianguli (22.1), υ Andromedae (22.9) ACHERNAR (End of the River) = α Eridani (23.3), χ Andromedae (23.6), τ Andromedae (23.9) ALSEIPH (Scimitar) = φ Persei (24.5), τ Ceti (24.7) no star listed (25)

ANA-NIA-10 (Pillar-to-fish by)

χ Ceti (26.1), POLARIS = α Ursae Minoris, BATEN KAITOS (Belly of the Fish) = ζ Ceti (26.6), METALLAH (Triangle) = α Trianguli (26.9)
Cb1-1 (393) Cb1-2 Cb1-3 Cb1-4 (396) Cb1-5

Al Sharatain-1 / Ashvini-1 / Bond-16 (Dog) / Mahrū-sha-rishu-ku-1 (Front of the Head of Ku)

SEGIN = ε Cassiopeia, MESARTHIM = γ Arietis, ψ Phoenicis (27.2), SHERATAN (Pair of Signs) = β Arietis, φ Phoenicis (27.4)

*351 = *27.4 - *41.4
ι Arietis (28.0), λ Arietis (28.2), υ Ceti (28.8) ALRISHA (The Knot) = α Piscium, χ Phoenicis (29.2), ε Trianguli (29.4), ALAMAK (Caracal) = γ Andromedae (29.7)

*353 = *29.4 - *41.4

Arku-sha-rishu-ku-2 (Back of the Head of Ku)

2h (30.4)

κ Arietis (30.3), HAMAL (Sheep) = α Arietis (30.5)

ALKES (α Crateris)

 

DELTOTUM = β Trianguli (31.2), ι Trianguli (31.7), η Arietis (31.9)

*355 =  *31 - *41

 

Cb1-6 (398)
ξ¹ Ceti (32.1)
Cb1-7 Cb1-8 (400) Cb1-9
γ, δ Trianguli (33.0), χ Persei (33.2), 10 Trianguli (33.5), θ Arietis (33.3), MIRA (Next to the Pleiades) = ο Ceti (33.7) no star listed (34)

ξ Arietis (35.0), ρ Ceti (35.4), 12 Trianguli (35.8), ξ² Ceti (35.9)

*360.0 = *35.4 - *41.4
Cb1-10 Cb1-11 (403)