Chapter 16: Our Cosmic Clockwork and the “16 factor”
This first section of Chapter 16 is, admittedly, fairly speculative. It may however have its merits - and may appeal to horologists - insofar as it goes to highlight what one may call the 'clockwork nature' of our Solar System's workings. Those familiar with the wondrous Antikythera orrery should find it interesting to consider that it may have required (under the TYCHOS paradigm) far less gears and cogs than currently believed. To be sure, one of the principal 'mysteries' surrounding the Antikythera mechanism is how so many gears (that are reckoned to have originally existed) could possibly have been fitted into such a thin casing. As it is, the question of the Antikythera's "missing gears" is still a hotly debated topic among the various research groups studying the mechanism; but what if there were no missing parts? What if the Antikythera mechamism (which was retrieved - in one lump - from a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera in 1901) actually contains all the gears and cogs needed to 'do its job'?
"The Antikythera mechanism is remarkable for the level of miniaturisation and the complexity of its parts, which is comparable to that of fourteenth-century astronomical clocks.(...) There is much debate as to whether the mechanism had indicators for all five of the planets known to the ancient Greeks. No gearing for such a planetary display survives."
"The Antikythera mechanism" - on Wikipedia
Researchers of the Antikythera mechanism may wish to review the TYCHOS model and put to the test the notion that our Moon is the 'central driveshaft' of our Solar System - and that all our planets' orbital periods are integer multiples of the Moon's TMSP (of 29.22 days). I suggest that Archimedes (or whoever engineered the ingenious Antikythera orrery) may have been aware of these orbital resonances and that the mechanism was perhaps considerably less complex than currently believed - something which would go to explain the supposed "missing gears" of the mechanism. In any event, it would appear that controversy still rages as to some key aspects of the Antikythera. Most notably, it has been suggested in later years that the mechanism is based on a lunar calendar (of 354 days) - rather than a solar calendar (of 365 days).
In fact, a recent study (2020) published by the British Horological Institute has determined what follows:
"The physical evidence does not support the mechanism having a 365-division calendar ring. Therefore, we must set aside the notion that the front dial calendar ring of the Antikythera mechanism is a representation of the so-called 365-day Egyptian civil calendar.(...) Based on the significant finding for 354 holes matching the extant inter-hole distance, the confirmation of others’ measurements, and our own measurements of the calendar and Zodiac rings’ markings, we interpret 354 divisions as the most likely of these two division candidates and propose that the front dial calendar ring of the Antikythera Mechanism is a 354 day lunar calendar."
In fact, I have spent a little time to personally verify this finding - simply by using my image-editing program; I just selected a 59-hole section of the Antikythera's largest and all-important "Fragment C" - and then 'stitched together' 6 copies of the same into a 360° ring featuring (59X6) 354 holes. Here's another relevant extract from the above-linked study:
"In Part 1 of this article, we presented the finding that data we recorded from high resolution computed tomography (CT) images of Fragment C of the Antikythera Mechanism do not support the mechanism having a 365-division front dial calendar ring, and instead the evidence suggests the most likely number of divisions of this feature is 354."
For what it's worth, my above graphic 'reconstruction' of Fragment C would seem to confirm the 354 division-count of the front dial calendar ring, thus supporting the notion that the Antikythera mechanism was indeed based on a lunar calendar rather than a solar one. This is of course of great interest to the TYCHOS model since it submits that our Moon can be viewed upon as the 'central driveshaft' of our Solar System (as illustrated at the beginning of Chapter 13). Could it be that the 35 surviving gears and seven displays of the mechanism were sufficient to replicate the motions of all our Solar System's bodies?
I recommend this fine video (to be found on Youtube) by Chris Ramsay, a co-author of the above-cited study and the builder of a modern replica of the wondrous Antikythera mechanism: "The Antikythera Mechanism Episode 10" - Evidence Of A Lunar Calendar
THE UBIQUITOUS "16 FACTOR"
Another 'horological aspect' of our Solar System that I find fascinating is how some sort of "16 factor" appears to pervade the empirically-observed and recorded orbital periodicities of our Solar System. So let us take a look at this "16 factor" that seems to be crying out for our attention. Firstly though, a brief recap of what I illustrated in Chapter 13 (regarding our Moon's obvious central role in our Solar System) is in order:
In 16 solar years (or 5844 days):
The SUN completes 16 orbits (1 solar revolution = 365.25 days)
MARS completes 8 orbits (1 Mars revolution = 730.5 solar days)
VENUS completes 10 synodic periods (1 Venus synodic period = 584.4 solar days)
MERCURY completes 50 synodic periods (1 Mercury synodic period = 116.88 solar days)
Our MOON completes 200 orbits around Earth (1 Moon TMSP = 29.22 solar days)
Now, please give this a very good thought: IF the Earth would truly be revolving around the Sun at hypersonic speed - along with all the other planets and moons - then how plausible would it be that each of the latter all exhibit exact multiples of our own Moon's synodic period - as viewed and computed from Earth? On the other hand, if the Earth-Moon system were located at the centre of our Solar System (as posited by the TYCHOS model), this all becomes a considerably less mysterious affair - as you will hopefully appreciate and envision. The below schematic plots the relative revolution periods (over a 16-year time span) of the Sun, Mars, Mercury, Venus and our Moon. Note once more that the orbital periods of our system’s celestial bodies are all near-exact multiples of the Moon’s “True Mean Synodic Period” (The TMSP of 29.22 days).
The above diagram is, of course, not showing any actual planetary motions / trajectories; it is only a conceptual way of illustrating the relative orbital ratios of the celestial bodies composing our “cosmic clockwork”.
Here follows a shortlist (by no means exhaustive) of diverse occurrences of the "16 factor" in our Solar System:
• Mars completes a full apogee-to-perigee cycle in about 16 years.
• As Mars completes one of its orbits, it processes by about 1/16th of a solar year (22.828 days).
• Venus and Mars regularly re-conjunct every 16 years - on either side of Earth.
• Mercury regularly retrogrades for an average period of 1/16th of a solar year (22.8 days).
• The Moon's famous Saros cycle of 6585.3211 days is nearly equal to 16 Full Moon cycles of 411.78433 days.
• As it completes one Exeligmos cycle, our Moon advances by 1/16th of 1440 minutes of RA (i.e. our celestial sphere).
• The Sun’s orbital speed (107226 km/h) is almost precisely 16X its rotational speed (6675 km/h).
• The Sun has a distinct, 'partial' 11-year cycle which 'comes full circle' in 176 years - or 11X16 (see below).
The question thus becomes: WHY can we find so many indications suggesting a harmoniously resonant and inter-connected Solar System? To be sure, I have no pretense to formulate any 'TOE' (Theory Of Everything) - nor even to explain the 'celestial mechanics' governing our cosmos; yet I do hope that the TYCHOS model might encourage open-minded thinkers to consider that electromagnetic (rather than 'gravitational') forces are at play - thus accounting for the wondrous, seemingly holistically-connected 'clockwork' of our system. One thing we know about magnetism is that 'opposed poles' attract each other, whereas two 'identical poles' repel each other. Interestingly, these same phenomena also occur in water vortexes spinning in opposed or identical directions - as demonstrated experimentally in this video to be found on Youtube: "What is magnetism?" - by Fractal Woman
Below is a conceptual graphic of the TYCHOS system I composed several years ago while musing over the possible “electromagnetic” nature of the same. Needless to say, the two cogs (or gears) are merely figurative elements of the diagram - yet let's keep in mind that the wondrous Antikythera mechanism was, after all, put together with cogs and gears!
The big cog may represent, if you will, the combined magnetic fields of Sun and Mars exerting a balanced “counter-torque” on the barycentric cog (Earth’s own magnetic field of opposed polarity), thus causing our entire Solar System to slowly rotate 'clockwise' around itself - once every 25344 years. In the early days of my TYCHOS research, this clockwise motion of our planet caused me much perplexity - and I feared that it might expose my fledgling TYCHOS model to instant ridicule! At the time, I thought that no such 'retrograde' orbits had ever been observed in our cosmos. In recent decades however, astronomers hunting for Earth-like exoplanets have discovered numerous orbs nestled within binary systems exhibiting retrograde orbits – meaning that they revolve in the opposite direction of their host star:
“Astronomers have discovered nine new transiting exoplanets. Surprisingly, six out of a larger sample of 27 were found to be orbiting in the opposite direction to the rotation of their host star — the exact reverse of what is seen in our own solar system. The new results really challenge the conventional wisdom that planets should always orbit in the same direction as their stars spin,’ says Andrew Cameron of the University of St Andrews, who presented the new results at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting (NAM2010) in Glasgow this week.”
"Turning planetary theory upside down: Nine new exoplanets found, some with retrograde orbits" by ESO (2010)
These discoveries led the science community to a massive rethink of their models of planetary formation:
“In just two decades, we have gone from knowing one planetary system (our own) to thousands, with 3268 exoplanets now known. This has driven a massive rethink of our models of planetary formation. […] Then came another set of shocking discoveries. Rather than moving in the same plane as their host star’s equator, some Hot Jupiters turned out to have highly tilted orbits. Some even move on retrograde orbits, in the opposite direction to their star’s rotation.”
Stars with planets on strange orbits: what’s going on? by Brett Addison and Jonti Horner (2016)
Thus, Earth’s "retrograde" / clockwise orbital motion (as posited by the TYCHOS) is neither improbable nor exceptional, since it has been empirically observed that several other systems feature bodies revolving in the opposed orbital direction of their host stars.
THE SUN'S 176-YEAR (16x11) CYCLE
According to scientists specializing in the study of the Sun, our star is observed to exhibit a distinct short period of solar activity of 11 years - and a longer one of 176 years. The latter is a well-known cycle mentioned in numerous academic papers published within this vital field of research which monitors our Sun’s “cyclic behavior” – and its effects on our earthly lives.
Interestingly, we see that 176 years amounts to 16 X 11 years. Once more, the “16 factor” pops up - and this time in relation to the long-term solar activities. We may also note that 176 years is exactly 1/12th of 2112 years - and that 2112 years is exactly 1/12th of the TYCHOS' proposed duration of the Great Year (25344 years)! It really looks like we are on to something here, wouldn't you agree? But there's more.
THE TYCHOS - AND THE PECULIAR 405 KYR CYCLE
We shall now see how the TYCHOS (or rather, the Tychosium simulator) can account for the existence of the peculiar 405 kyr cycle (which most people will never have heard of).
"The 405,000-year cycle is the most regular astronomical pattern linked to the Earth's annual turn around the sun." - Dennis V. Kent
The so-called "405 kyr"(kiloyear) cycle is a well-known period by those scientists who study the Earth's secular cycles - be they astronomers, geologists or dendochronologists. It is today widely considered as a most significant 'yardstick' of sorts which appears to regulate a number of distinct, long-term patterns in various fields of geoscience and chronological research.
"The climate cycles are directly related to how the Earth orbits the sun and slight variations in sunlight reaching Earth lead to climate and ecological changes," said Kent, who studies Earth's magnetic field. "The Earth's orbit changes from close to perfectly circular to about 5 percent elongated especially every 405,000 years.(...) The results showed that the 405,000-year cycle is the most regular astronomical pattern linked to the Earth's annual turn around the sun, he said." "Earth's orbital changes have influenced climate" (2018)
This 'mysterious' cycle of approximately 405000 (+/- 500y) years is a hotly discussed topic within geochronology circles, as it is held to be a particularly accurate and reliable “geologic metronome” of sorts - although the reasons for its very existence are still unclear. Various hypotheses have been put forth, yet no firm consensus has been reached as to the actual causes of this long cycle.
“Milankovitch cycles identified in sedimentary successions are being used to formulate an ‘Astronomical Time Scale’ (ATS) for the geologic record, with efforts well underway for the Cenozoic and Mesozoic eras. Back through time, however, ATS resolving power declines due to uncertainties in the orbital solutions and Earth precession model. Prior to 50 Ma, only the modeled 405-kyr orbital eccentricity cycle retains high accuracy, leading to the idea for a ‘405-kyr metronome‘ to define the ATS for all geologic time.”
— "A Survey of Paleozoic Cyclostratigraphy presentation" by Linda A. Hinnov, George Mason University for The Geological Society of America (GSA) Conference 2017
“Only a few modeled planetary motions are stable enough for use as a metronome, for example, the 405-kyr orbital eccentricity cycle arising from the interaction of the secular frequencies g2-g5. Model stability studies by Laskar et al. (2004) suggest that the uncertainty of the ATS using this term alone will be at most only 0.1% at 100 Ma, and 0.2% at 250 Ma.”
— "Precision and Accuracy of the ATS" - Earth Time (2006)
"The 405-kyr period cycle is related to the gravitational interaction of Jupiter and Venus (g2–g5 cycle) and is the prominent and most stable term in the approximation of eccentricity of Earth’s orbital variations on geologic timescales despite chaotic behavior of the Solar System."
As you can see, one may find numerous papers regarding this particularly stable 405000(+/-500)-year cycle in all sorts of scientific literature. Intrigued by this peculiar long cycle, I decided to put it to the test within the "TYCHOS paradigm". With the ubiquitous "16-factor" in mind, I used the higher bound of that 405000(+/-500)-year cycle - i.e. 405500 years - and divided it by 25344 (i.e. the Tychos Great Year):
405500y / 25344y ≈ 16
Once again, the ubiquitous "16-factor" popped up! Amazingly enough, as I proceeded to test this 405500-year interval in the Tychosium simulator I found that, at both ends of this long cycle, Mars, Venus and Mercury return to virtually the same place in our skies - whereas our Moon returns at the opposite side of the Earth (probably because, as you may recall, the Sun-Moon rotational ratio - as of the TYCHOS - is 1:12.5).
Below is a double screenshot from the Tychosium 3D simulator depicting an interval of 405500 years (June 21, 2000 > June 21, 407500):
My mind then wandered back to this book's Chapter 6 where I speculated that the Sirius binary system may be our Solar System's "double-double" binary companion. In that chapter, we saw that Sirius A and B revolve around each other in about 50 (solar) years.
In 405500 years, Sirius A & B would thus revolve around each other 8110 times (405500 / 50 = 8110).
This is rather interesting, because - as shown by the Tychosium simulator, after an interval of 811000 years (i.e. 8110 X 100 - or 2 X 405500), Mars, Venus and Mercury will again return to the same place in our skies, but this time around, even our Moon will return to virtually the same place! You may verify this remarkable 811000-year cycle for yourself by opening the Tychosium simulator on your laptop - and proceed as follows:
Set the date of the Tychosium at 1962-02-05 (at 00:00:00 UTC). You will immediately see that February 5, 1962 featured a most spectacular and (extremely rare) multiple planetary conjunction: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, the Sun and our Moon were all aligned at around 21h15m of RA and, consequently, a solar eclipse was taking place (somewhere east of Indonesia, in the Pacific ocean). Additionally, Mars and Saturn were conjuncting at around 20h20m of RA. To verify this, open the "Positions" scroll-down menu and take note of the positions ("RA and DEC") of each of our Solar System's planets and moons.
Next, toggle the date to 812962-02-05 (i.e. 811000 years later) and compare the positions of Mercury, Venus, Mars, the Sun and our Moon with those of February 5, 1962. You will see that the ephemerides of this group of bodies (conventionally referred to as our "inner" Solar System) are virtually identical - and that the Moon will again eclipse the Sun (just a few hours earlier) - somewhere in Indonesia! (As an extra 'bonus', you might also wish to compare the celestial positions of asteroid Eros on the above two dates.)
In fact, you can test out (in the Tychosium) this 811000-year interval comparison of the ephemerides of our Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus & Mars - starting from virtually any date of your choice. Note that 811000 years equals 2 X 405500 years - and adds up to just about 32 (or 2 X 16) "Tychos Great Years" of 25344 solar years. Our Solar System is, you may admit, a most astonishing clockwork - and the Tychosium simulator may deserve to be called "the Antikythera of our modern era"! In conclusion, the 811000-year "Mega Cycle" would appear to be some sort of master cycle of our so-called "inner" Solar System which, of course, constitutes our "binary family" - as identified by the TYCHOS model. Lastly, and perhaps needless to say, this "Mega Cycle" revealed by the Tychosium should be of great interest to the above-mentioned scientists who study the 'mysterious' 405 kyr cycle.
I presume that none of us will live long enough to personally verify whether or not Mars, Venus, Mercury the Sun and our Moon will actually return (as predicted by the Tychosium simulator) to the same place every 811000 years... Yet, if they should do so, we can only hope that this book (in whatever form or shape) will survive until that date, and that those distant, future generations will throw a big 'cosmic party' to celebrate the efforts deployed in its making. I, for one, will be popping a fine bottle of bubbly up in the Heavens!
In the next chapter, we shall keep our feet firmly anchored on Earth and see if we can resolve the puzzling, still unresolved (and purportedly 'chaotic') behavior of Jupiter and Saturn - a pesky issue known to all veteran astronomers as "the Great Inequality".