Meteorologist talks about ancient astronomy

VPR’s “Eye On The Sky” meteorologist Mark Breen hosts a presentation relating astronomical occurrences with human-made structures found in Ireland at Tuesday’s OSHER Life Long Learning seminar at Nolin-Murray Center in Springfield.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20151202/NEWS02/151209899

Photo by Len Emery VPR’s “Eye On The Sky” meteorologist Mark Breen hosts a presentation relating astronomical occurrences with human-made structures found in Ireland at Tuesday’s OSHER Life Long Learning seminar at Nolin-Murray Center in Springfield. Published December 2, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Meteorologist talks about ancient astronomy By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — Mark Breen was wearing his astronomy hat Tuesday. Breen, chief meteorologist and planetarium director at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury, and famous for his “Eye on the Sky” weather forecasts Breen, chief meteorologist and planetarium director at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury, and famous for his “Eye on the Sky” weather forecasts, didn’t talk about the awful weather outside the Nolan-Murray Center in Springfield as part of his Osher Lifelong Learning lecture. Breen told the large crowd about the winter solstice instead — specifically the winter solstice at ancient astronomy sites, or “stone circles,” in Ireland. These sites predate the more famous Stonehenge in southern England, Breen said. They even pre-date the pyramids in Egypt. They date back 5,000 to 6,000 years, and the ancient Irish did not have a written language, so information about the whys and wherefores and the history of the site is scarce. Breen said he and his wife visited about a half dozen ancient astronomical sites in Ireland earlier this year. He said there were more than 1,000 ancient astronomical sites in Ireland. The ones he visited focused on the winter solstice, although, he said, many of the so-called “fairy circles” were built around the summer solstice. Breen said the ancient sites, which were built with detailed knowledge of astronomy, were likely built through generations. He said the most famous of the sites, which is restored, called Newgrange, was situated precisely so the winter solstice illuminated the interior chamber of the large, one-acre site. While ancient remains have been found at Newgrange, in the Boyne Valley in Ireland, Breen said it isn’t clear that the one-acre mound is a strictly a burial site. But the mound was built to take advantage of the sun’s position on the winter solstice — the shortest day of the year — Dec. 22 this year. And, Breen said, Ireland’s weather is cloudy 80 percent of the time, making the likelihood of the sun’s appearance on that day even rarer. “They had skills most of us can’t imagine,” said Breen, who added that being at the sites gave him “goosebumps.” He said the mounds, which also include an underground passage, probably had multiple uses that remain mysteries. They were not built just as tombs, he said. The weather in ancient Ireland was warmer than current times, he said. Breen said the alignment with the sun was “set,” and the mound built around it, with all the material brought to the site. The sites were built before the Bronze Age, he said, during the late neolithic, marked by the transition from stone to metal tools. It probably took 400 years to build the mound, he said, which is faced with light-reflecting white quartz rock. Ancient structures aren’t restricted just to Ireland, he said. There are stone chambers in Woodstock, and when they were first discovered, they were labeled as root cellars, even though the closest farmhouse is a long distance off.