Peter H Posted August 28, 2012 Share #41 Posted August 28, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello Everybody, Almost forgot: Many people think the reason the hands on a clock or watch travels clockwise is: The 1st European clocks were built w/ faces which were modeled after Sundials's faces. The gnomon of a Sundial creates a shadow which proceeds clockwise. Best Regards, Michael Whatever the original reason, it feels logical to a reader of English, for example, to see progress starting off in a left-to-right direction. Although why the day starts at midnight is another convention that seems logical now. I'm sure we could rationalise anything we were sufficiently familiar with! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 28, 2012 Posted August 28, 2012 Hi Peter H, Take a look here Show Global Time?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
erl Posted August 28, 2012 Share #42 Posted August 28, 2012 Not only are we 'upside down' in Oz, but our sundials go backwards too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter H Posted August 28, 2012 Share #43 Posted August 28, 2012 ¿dןǝɥ sıɥʇ sǝop Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share #44 Posted August 28, 2012 ¿dןǝɥ sıɥʇ sǝop ¡pɐǝɹ uɐɔ ı ƃuıɥʇǝɯos `ʎllɐuıɟ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted August 28, 2012 Share #45 Posted August 28, 2012 Hello Erl, That's why I said European. Chinese mariners circumnavigated the World in the 1420's using the Stars in the Australian & New Zealand flags, to determine South. They also used Stars to determine Longitude. Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted August 29, 2012 Share #46 Posted August 29, 2012 Thanks Peter and Pico. Finally I was able to turn my computer screen the right way up to read you! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share #47 Posted August 29, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Chinese mariners circumnavigated the World in the 1420's using the Stars in the Australian & New Zealand flags, to determine South I did not know that the ancient Chinese looked at the Australian & New Zealand flags. Is my timeline whacked? . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted August 29, 2012 Share #48 Posted August 29, 2012 :D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted August 29, 2012 Share #49 Posted August 29, 2012 Hello pico, The Southern Cross. Just as Europeans in the North used the Pole Star "Polaris" as their guiding light: People sailing in the Southern Hemisphere use the Constellation called the "Southern Cross". The Southern Cross is depicted on both the New Zealand & Australian flags. Altho each Country uses a slightly different version. It is also on the Micronesian & Papua New Guniea (home of sugar cane) flags. Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZDavid Posted August 29, 2012 Share #50 Posted August 29, 2012 You can also use your watch as a compass. In the southern hemisphere, point the 12 towards the sun and half way between that and the hour hand is north. In the northern hemisphere, point the hour hand towards the sun. Half way between that and 12 is south. (Taking account of daylight saving.) The ancient Pacific crossed thousands of miles of ocean in double-hulled canes, or vaka, using the stars. Their descendants have been recreating these voyages. NZ and Australia both depict the Southern Cross on the national flag but the NZ flag has only four stars while the Aussies, being show-offs, have six. One star is a pointer but there should be two, so they forgot one! On a clear night somewhere with no light pollution, the Southern Cross and Milky Way look magnificent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted August 29, 2012 Share #51 Posted August 29, 2012 Actually, we Aussies have five stars in our Southern Cross! (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Epsilon). Then we have two pointers at some distance away. (Alpha Centurion, Beta Centurion). Of course, the Kiwi's, being 'lower down' on the map probably can't see them all! (Ducks for cover) Bisecting the axis of the two pointers and drawing a perpendicular to it, such that it it intersects the long axis of the cross will define the South Celestial Pole. A good navigational aid (at night!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZDavid Posted August 29, 2012 Share #52 Posted August 29, 2012 New Zealand isn't "lower down", we're on top! The Eurocentric map of the world is pure convention; there is no up and down in space! Oh, all the constellations, like Orion, appear upside down in the southern sky. Aussie flag shows five stars in the Southern Cross. (in city areas the fifth one is probably hard to see.) I read the sixth star on the flag is the "Commonweath Star" which NZ doesn't have. Our national anthem says, "Guard Pacific's triple star." What's that? Nobody seems to know. Poet Thomas Bracken may have been referring to New Zealand's three main islands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted August 30, 2012 Share #53 Posted August 30, 2012 Ah, yes David, that is so, or is it? If you import a can of Guinness, for example, from Dublin or Cork, to Auckland and pour it into the correct glass,you will see that the bubbles FALL to the bottom instead of rising. Clearly they are polarized wrt to the Northern hemisphere. They need to be depolarized before shipping south if it is to cured, to be sure to be sure. So maybe there is an 'top' and 'bottom' to all this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZDavid Posted August 30, 2012 Share #54 Posted August 30, 2012 Good point, Guinness must be depolarized for the southern hemisphere. Same with French champagne. The only way to be sure is to sample several glasses to check for consistency. Hic. The other thing is that water goes down the plughole clockwise in the southern hemisphere but anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere. Cyclones and hurricanes also spin in opposite directions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted August 30, 2012 Share #55 Posted August 30, 2012 Just like clockwork! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted August 30, 2012 Share #56 Posted August 30, 2012 Hello David, Is Orion "upside down " or "seen diferently"? If you rotate a grain of sand 180 degrees is it upside down? Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZDavid Posted August 30, 2012 Share #57 Posted August 30, 2012 Indeed he is. Orion's belt and part of his arm form part of what we call "the pot". Stars and the moon also appear to move across the sky right to left, like the sun. Grains of sand, like stars, may well be infinite. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyoung Posted September 3, 2012 Share #58 Posted September 3, 2012 Good point, Guinness must be depolarized for the southern hemisphere. Same with French champagne. The only way to be sure is to sample several glasses to check for consistency. Hic. The other thing is that water goes down the plughole clockwise in the southern hemisphere but anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere. Cyclones and hurricanes also spin in opposite directions. I had heard that the water and plughole thing was a function of the plumbing rather than hemisphere, maybe with the power of the internet we can do some tests? Gerry6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZDavid Posted September 3, 2012 Share #59 Posted September 3, 2012 Gerry, try it and see! Fill a basin then pull out the plug. Our water goes down clockwise. I bet yours goes anti-clockwise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted September 3, 2012 Share #60 Posted September 3, 2012 Gerry, try it and see! Fill a basin then pull out the plug. Our water goes down clockwise. I bet yours goes anti-clockwise. David is correct. Rider: The test must be done with undisturbed or minimal disturbance to the water. Otherwise it is easy to force reverse flow. ie. ensure only earth rotation is impacting on the water. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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