Questions tagged [astronomy]
The study or observation of objects or phenomena outside the Earth, including the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars.
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A list of quotes from ChaZaL about astronomy
I am learning some rudimentary astronomy at the moment. I am limiting myself to phenomena that can be observed with the naked eye. My aim is to get a complete understanding of the motion of the seven ...
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What is the source of Rambam's cosmology?
In the Mishneh Torah third section of Yesodei a geocentric world is described with a number of spheres containing stars that revolve around the Earth due to the motion of the spheres that contain them....
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Archeological, geological and astronomical correlations to the flood of Noah
In reviewing tractate Rosh HaShanah 12a in connection with the rules regarding determining halacha between Rabbi Yehosuah and Rabbi Eliezer, I stumbled across an interesting detail concerning them.
It ...
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Reconciling Geocentric vs. Heliocentric views
BH
I heard that the Geocentric view of the universe is held true by Rambam and Ptolemy. I also heard someone say that the Torah holds that the Heliocentric view is true although independent of the ...
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Rambam's explanation of eclipses
Following "did-chazal-know-what-caused-eclipses".
In MT, Foundations of the Torah.3.1 and Guide for the Perplexed 1.72, Rambam adapts Ptolemaic geocentrism and Aristotelian view of the ...
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Permissibility of digital art of celestial bodies
According to Halacha, for Jews, there is a prohibition of portraying Celestial bodies in art, even if not for idolatry. (Generally, for noahides there is some concern, but the rules for what might be ...
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Meaning / Significance of the Ring on planet Saturn
Shabbos and the planet Saturn are linked. I was wondering if anyone has a source for the ring(s) on the planet Saturn being a wedding between the Jews / Shabbos / Hashem? I heard this idea before but ...
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Do Zmanim follow the city, or the Gavra?
Are halachic times for prayer, comencing Shabbos, ect. calculated according to a persons exact location or is there one "time-zone" for the entire city?
And if yes, how would this apply for ...
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Why are the planets so different from each other?
In Rambam's (originally Aristotelian) view the planets are heavenly bodies made of some magical crystal-like substance (i.e. Foundations_of_the_Torah.3.1).
After we examined some of them, they turned ...
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What rabbis did explicitly deal with Heliocentrism (accepted or rejected)?
Following the closed question "whats-the-earliest-acknowledgment-of-heliocentrism",
I'm looking for any rabbinic sources that explicitly deal with heliocentrism.
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Measuring Moon's elevation in units of length
Rosh Hashanah 24a:
The Sages taught in a baraita: If one witness says that he saw the moon two plow handles high above the horizon, and the other one says it was three plow handles high, their ...
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Why does plant life come after the earth, waters and the firmament, but before the planets?
This question only addresses the blueprint of the creation as described in the first chapter of Bereshit. It does not address the sequence of the actual creation, as described in Bereshit 2, or the ...
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Sukkos 2a ~ Reality shows the need for 13-אמות while the Gemara states that the smallest Sukkah is enough?
ר׳ זירא says that a Sukkah that is lower than 20-אמות, the סכך is the one blocking the sun and creating the shadow, not the walls, and therefore the Sukkah is kosher, like it says in the פסוק
״וסוכה ...
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Meaning of Monen in Kabbalah
I came across the term "monen" but have been unable to find much information on it in scholarly or scriptural sources. The main information online appears to be a kabbalah-related stub on ...
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What is the relation between the month Nisan and the spring equinox?
I'm searching for the relation between Nisan and the spring equinox according to Scripture.
I know of the texts Genesis 1:14, Exodus 12:2-3, Leviticus 23:15 and Deuteronomy 16:1.
I find multiple ...
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A beracha on the "Great conjunction"?
Tonight (or earlier tonight in Israel) the planets Jupiter and Saturn come so close that one might think that they are a single star. Is this occasion to say the beracha of עושה מעשה בראשית? It is not ...
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How to observe Shabbat on Mars
Inspired by this question.
The Martian day is 24 hours, 37 minutes long. After approximately 39 Martian days, 40 days have passed on Earth. As a Martian colonist, should I rest every seventh Martian ...
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How can constant creation of new stars explained theologically?
"... we get on average about one new star per year, and one star dying each year as a planetary nebula in the Milky Way.... therefore there are about 275 million [born] per day, in the whole ...
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Has the number of the tribes of Israel anything to do with the universe/stars/planets?
Has the number of the tribes of Israel anything to do with the universe/stars/planets? Maybe the other way around? Is there anywhere in the Talmud or tradition that talks about this question (not ...
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Why did G-d create everything important off-center?
I hope not to argue that the Heliocentric view is true as is our current understanding of [our position in] the Universe, the Earth is rotating around the Sun, that is rotating around the center of ...
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Why did G-d create the Earth spherical?
I hope nobody questions the fact of the spherical Earth. Just as spherical as all other celestial bodies.
Many argued whether we knew this fact or not, but I don't recall that those who claim we ...
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How precise were the Temples' directions (East/North)
Calculating the true astronomical North/South is very simple - find the longest way and cast a shadow.
Are there sources on how precise those directions in the Temples were? Are there special Jewish ...
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Biblical description of the firmament vs. round earth in the Zohar
Zohar Vaikra 10a [quotes the Book or Rabbi Hamnunab Sabah]:
וּבְסִפְרָא דְּרַב הַמְנוּנָא סָבָא, פָּרִישׁ יַתִּיר, דְּהָא כָּל יִשׁוּבָא מִתְגַּלְגְּלָא בְּעִגוּלָא כַּכַּדּוּר, אִלֵּין לְתַתָּא, ...
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How do the outer planets: Uranus, Neptune and Pluto fit into Judaism?
It is not a secret that we discover new things in all fields of science, not mentioned in our sources all the time.
We know that in Judaism the 7 planets represent/aligned with 7 spiritual forces and ...
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Does Judaism differentiate between a planet and a star?
On the 4th day, G-d created Sun, Moon and the stars.
Besides the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were known since ancient times (not mentioning the existence of the real stars).
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Aurora Borealis in Midrashim
We see many fascinating works of Hashem around the world and one of which is Aurora Borealis.
Do our midrashim or books on mysticism have anything to say about its origin or anything related to it?
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What additional Rabbinic sources support the Flat Earth?
Rasa"G's interpretation of Sefer Hayetzirah 4,2 (c.900CE):
"העולם ככפה, והגלגל אינו זז ממקומו...:
(the world is like a dome and the sphere [of stars] does not move).
Are there other ...
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Sources for the Earth revolving round the sun
Are there any Jewish writings that suggest the Earth revolves around the sun and is not the center of the universe?
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For the start of the day, is "sunset" astronomical or visible?
Yesterday was the equinox and I noticed that the day was longer than 12 hours according to the (secular) sunrise/sunset times. Curious, I did some investigation. One reason for the difference is how ...
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Keeping Two-day Shabbos in the Pacific Islands? [duplicate]
What's this I see about people in the Pacific Islands keeping two days of Shabbos? If it is true: Who, how, since when, and why?
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Counting and naming the stars
Why does Hashem count and name the stars in Heaven? This is mentioned in the first Rashi on Shemot, see below. I would like an explanation on this... Quote from Rashi: And these are the names of the ...
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Photographing an Eclipse
There is a general prohibition on depicting and/or owning depictions of celestial bodies, such as the sun and moon (see, e.g., the Rambam Hilkhoth Avoda Zara 3:18). Nonetheless, there are opinions ...
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Is there any evidence that Chazal knew what caused eclipses?
Many ancient cultures believed that eclipses are caused by things other than syzygy. The Egyptians had Apophis. The Hindus had Rahu. (The interested reader can see more here.)
In light (ha) of the ...
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Parameters of the bad omen for eclipses
The Gemara in Succah 29a says that solar eclipses are bad omens for the nations, while lunar eclipses are bad omens for the Jews. The Gemara compares an eclipse to a king who leaves his guests sitting ...
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The moon in the future [duplicate]
We say in Kiddush Levanah,
יהי רצון מלפניך...למלאת פגימת הלבנה ולא יהיה בה שום מיעוט
May it be Your will...to fill the reduction of the moon, and that there should be no diminishment in it.
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Source for Seforno that the Earth was tilted at the time of the Flood
In Oorah's 2009 Shmorg video, one of the tracks is about Birchat Hachama, and at around the 10 minute mark, the narrator states the following (I'm paraphrasing):
The Sforno writes that before the ...
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Why did Hashem create only one planet (Earth) in the whole entire universe that can support intelligent life
Is there any rabbinic literature explaining why Hashem created only one planet (Earth) in the whole entire universe that can support intelligent life?
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Is there lunar drift in the fixed Hebrew calendar?
It is known that there is a slight discrepancy in the average length of a year according to the Hebrew calendar and the average length of an astronomical solar year which causes a seasonal drift in ...
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Shooting Stars and Luck
There seems to be a non-Jewish association of good luck with seeing a shooting star. Is there any source for this in Judaism?
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What is the firmament?
In Genesis 1:6-8 the firmament and its creation are mentioned for the first time:
And God said: 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.' ...
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Illustrated hilchot Kiddush Hachodesh
I remember seeing about 20 years ago a beautiful annotated commentary on Rambam's hilchos kiddush hachodesh, with extensive illustrations and calculations, explained according to both ancient and ...
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Minyan, netz hachamoh, and precision in time
There are halachic sources that discuss the importance of davening shemona esrei at netz (at sunrise), some of which state that it is preferable to daven at netz over davening with a minyan (at least ...
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Is there any evidence of time-zones in Talmud? (Tanaim and Amoraim only)
There are many verses in the Talmud, Midrash and Siddur that state that the sun and moon rise and set through gates in the firmament. This would imply that there are no time-zones. To this world view ...
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Solar Power on Shabbos
What's the deal with using solar power on Shabbos?
Cooking is permitted, but what of the following cases:
1) Heating water (Dud-Shemesh style)
2) Solar-powered watches
3) Solar-powered toys
What ...
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What's the earliest acknowledgement of Heliocentrism in Judaism? [closed]
The English Wikipedia says that Heliocentrism was "official" in Judaism only by the 20th century:
"In the 19th century, ... Hatam Sofer (d.1839) gave approbations to two books even ...
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Are star stickers mutar?
Do any contemporary poskim discuss the usage of star stickers with regard to the prohibition of depicting celestial bodies (e.g. the glow-in-the-dark ones people put on walls and ceilings)? What if ...
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We're not supposed to point at stars?
I'm an Israeli Jew living in Israel. I often give "sky tours" where I show children and adults different stars and a view through a powerful binocular at objects of interest.
Recently a young boy ...
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What time is sunset?
Is sunset (Shkiya) the time the sun hits the horizon or when it sunk completely below it?
What about sunrise?
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How accurate is the Molad?
To the best of my knowledge the Molad is every 29.5 days + 793 Chalakim. Is there any information showing if the current Molad calculation is accurate scientifically? If it is off by how much is it ...
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Depicting a constellation
Assuming the intention is at least partly for educational purposes, Is it mutar to arrange star stickers in the form of actual constellations (say, on a ceiling) or is that included in the prohibition ...
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