On Images and Meaning: An Analysis of the Lunar Occultation of Venus

[rodsky]

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Everyone has probably seen a photograph like this:



At first glance, we tend to ask some obvious questions. These questions we ask can be considered as quests for meaning. What does this image mean? Did the man shrink? Did the bottle grow in size? Is it a miniature scale model person? Or is it a fake gigantic bottle? The answer doesn't come immediately into our heads because we are "stuck" in one perspective, one angle of viewing, and thus we can't analyze how the entire scene actually looks like in three dimensions.

The truth (and perhaps, meaning) is actually simple, and it dawns on you a few seconds after looking at the image. This is an example of a false perspective image. You may have seen dozens of photos like this, in fact if you've been to Bohol on a summer holiday, chances are, you even have your own false perspective shots that include the Chocolate Hills.

Now why am I talking about this? I want to use this concept to illustrate why people find a celestial event like the Lunar Occultation of Venus by the moon, to be something "impossible" or "surreal" (surreal is even a misnomer, because it's in fact, a REAL event!), and that it HAS to have some sort of meaning.

It's because we are stuck on the planet earth, and being stuck on earth, we only have one vantage point to view events that occur in the sky.

So look again...this image...


...is no different from this image...


Just imagine the girl to be the moon, and the hill to be Venus, and voila, you then realize, there is nothing "magical" about the scene--it's just the natural, real world, as seen from one constricted perspective.

What if we had the ability to change our perspective?

Well, the only way to do that of course, is to leave the planet earth. Since we cannot do that now, for we don't have a rocket/spaceship, we can do a thought experiment on how it might be like, to appreciate this sense of false perspective re Venus and the Moon. We shall do this with the help of a computer program called Starry Night.

Scene #1. We are on the surface of the earth.


Scene #2. We have flown up in our "spaceship of the imagination" to about 150 kilometers above the earth. You can see the curvature of the earth, but the view of Venus and the moon remain unchanged.


Scene #3. We now move further away from the earth, maybe about 400 kilometers above it. You can now see that the earth is a sphere, and the view of Venus and the moon still remains unchanged.


Scene #4. We are now about 2000 kilometers away from the earth, and I moved a little to the side, and now you can see that Venus is no longer aligned with the moon...


Scene #5. We are now about 6000 kilometers away from the earth

it's clear to see that the alignment of Venus and the moon was just happenstance, because we are stuck on the earth. It's clear to see in this image that, there is no alignment of Venus and the moon from some other vantage point in space.

But yes, it is indeed remarkable, and we are indeed blessed I guess, that from our lowly vantage point in the surface of this planet, we can appreciate the stark beauty of such an event. But it's also noteworthy to know WHY it appears that way. That is the true meaning of the event, and NOT some mumbo-jumbo by mystics who claim other meanings in the event.

-RODION

[zzexniwp312]

Everyone has probably seen a photograph like this:



At first glance, we tend to ask some obvious questions. These questions we ask can be considered as quests for meaning. What does this image mean? Did the man shrink? Did the bottle grow in size? Is it a miniature scale model person? Or is it a fake gigantic bottle? The answer doesn't come immediately into our heads because we are "stuck" in one perspective, one angle of viewing, and thus we can't analyze how the entire scene actually looks like in three dimensions.

The truth (and perhaps, meaning) is actually simple, and it dawns on you a few seconds after looking at the image. This is an example of a false perspective image. You may have seen dozens of photos like this, in fact if you've been to Bohol on a summer holiday, chances are, you even have your own false perspective shots that include the Chocolate Hills.

Now why am I talking about this? I want to use this concept to illustrate why people find a celestial event like the Lunar Occultation of Venus by the moon, to be something "impossible" or "surreal" (surreal is even a misnomer, because it's in fact, a REAL event!), and that it HAS to have some sort of meaning.

It's because we are stuck on the planet earth, and being stuck on earth, we only have one vantage point to view events that occur in the sky.

So look again...this image...


...is no different from this image...


Just imagine the girl to be the moon, and the hill to be Venus, and voila, you then realize, there is nothing "magical" about the scene--it's just the natural, real world, as seen from one constricted perspective.

What if we had the ability to change our perspective?

Well, the only way to do that of course, is to leave the planet earth. Since we cannot do that now, for we don't have a rocket/spaceship, we can do a thought experiment on how it might be like, to appreciate this sense of false perspective re Venus and the Moon. We shall do this with the help of a computer program called Starry Night.

Scene #1. We are on the surface of the earth.


Scene #2. We have flown up in our "spaceship of the imagination" to about 150 kilometers above the earth. You can see the curvature of the earth, but the view of Venus and the moon remain unchanged.


Scene #3. We now move further away from the earth, maybe about 400 kilometers above it. You can now see that the earth is a sphere, and the view of Venus and the moon still remains unchanged.


Scene #4. We are now about 2000 kilometers away from the earth, and I moved a little to the side, and now you can see that Venus is no longer aligned with the moon...


Scene #5. We are now about 6000 kilometers away from the earth

it's clear to see that the alignment of Venus and the moon was just happenstance, because we are stuck on the earth. It's clear to see in this image that, there is no alignment of Venus and the moon from some other vantage point in space.

But yes, it is indeed remarkable, and we are indeed blessed I guess, that from our lowly vantage point in the surface of this planet, we can appreciate the stark beauty of such an event. But it's also noteworthy to know WHY it appears that way. That is the true meaning of the event, and NOT some mumbo-jumbo by mystics who claim other meanings in the event.

-RODION

wow nice one! now.. i have knowledge..

[Peenut]

Just as I thought.. thanks for the info and details sir Rodz, I am much more enlightened.