Thousands of years ago, ancient Greek astronomers calculated that the track of the Earth’s axis is constantly, even if in a very slow way, shifting in a uniform pattern. The change is very similar to the manner a spinning top slowly leans one way and then another as it slows down. It is a wobble that occurs as its axis changes direction.

This peculiar movement of the planet is due to a couple of factors, the most important of which is something called ‘precession’. Precession arises from the fact that the Earth is not a perfect globe. It is in fact about twenty-seven miles longer about the Equator that it is around the Poles. The Earth then is oblate, or fat around the middle like middle-aged spread, but it is due to the rotation not to its age.

If you picture the Earth with its Poles off centre. Then rotate that image and you will find that any point, except the very centre of the axis, will travel in a circle. But very, very gradually. So slowly that it takes 26,000 years to go full circle and get back to where it started from.

This point then, any point you choose, is very gradually shifting its position in relation to the stars because the axis is rotating too. The result of this is that, what we call the North Star (formally known as Polaris, which is in fact one degree off true North) will not be over our North Pole one day. In fact, by about 15,000 AD, Vega will be almost over the North Pole, although it will be about four degrees off true North. But even this will not endure, and by 28,000 AD, Polaris will be back above where it is nowadays.

One of the effects of the precession is that seasons vary. They modify the dates that they take place, so that Summer could come earlier or later. The amazing thing about our calendar is that it is corrected for that (with the leap year). If it were not, the vernal or Spring equinox would shift over 13,000 years from March 21st to September 21st., which is the date of the autumnal equinox, precisely half a year later.

It is for this reason that the precession of the Earth is generally referred to as the “Precession of the Equinoxes”. Although the precession of the equinoxes is very lengthy, it can be readily observed. The correct year of 325.25 days is the length of time from one vernal equinox to the next vernal equinox, however, it takes 20 minutes and 24 seconds longer for the Sun to appear in exactly the same place in relation to the stars behind it over the same period, which is why accurate star maps have to be stamped with the exact time and date to which they relate.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

A lot of people predicted that the beginning of the new Millennium, the year 2000 would be the year of the apocalypse. However, fortunately, they were very wide of the mark.

What is it that compels people to attempt to predict disasters? Is it because they are trying to warn people or because they wish to scare people? Frighten people, I think and thereby get advantage over the naive.

These apocalyptic predictions go back thousands of years and even appear in the Bible. Their only raison d’etre is to terrify people and so gain money, power and influence over them.

Even the millennium bug turned out not to be a problem with computers working perfectly well after midnight despite claims by ‘computer experts’ that there would be a worldwide crash of stupendous importance. The computer industry made a fortune out of frightening businesses and individuals with their lies. That was the scam of the Nineties to end all scams!

So why all the hype? Was it simply the dawn of a new millennium, which caused so many to make prophesies on this date rather than stick to their usual common sense? Yes, I think. People saw the opportunity of a lifetime to rip others off and they jumped at it.

Needless to say there were thousands of prophesies made ranging from the arrival of aliens and the Second Coming of Christ to airplane crashes. None of which came true. Here are a couple of those less than precise predictions:

May 5th was the date upon which all the planets lined up. The prediction was that the gravitational force of all these heavenly bodies in alignment would cause massive earthquakes, huge tides and volcanic eruptions.

A lot of people also prophesied that the shifting of the poles would occur during 2000 and that this would cause disastrous events such as high tides, widespread electrical failure and computer failures, which would mean economic disaster for the larger countries and insurance firms.

I do not know what you think, but perhaps instead of worrying about the demise of the world (most doom-mongers have decided on the year 2012 for the destruction of the world) we should work together to make the best of the time we have left on this planet, as well as ensuring that we pass the planet on to the next generation in the same condition as we received it.

If we behave in this way, we may hold off the apocalypse for a long while yet. We are far more likely to undergo apocalypse through nuclear war, global warming and events which are avoidable and within our control, than cosmic events which we have little control over such as asteroids or the Sun’s turning into a red dwarf and eventually exploding.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with custom wall calendars If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

As everyone is able to imagine the day you get a problem with the treatment of your waste water it will become a very expensive and timely challenge, certainly for those who reside in countryside region. We have to deal with our domestic waste water is to eliminate toxic substances including physical, chemical together with biological contamination, and we need to produce environmentally-safe treated waste water and that is suitable to then be released into the environment.

A sewage treatment plant is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and helps to protect the environment today and in the future.

It is very common to use a sewage treatment plant at your own properly, this is the fastest and cheapest option. There are a lot sewage treatment plants available in Britain, and they come in several configurations and dimensions. Nevertheless they all principally work in the same way applying both anaerobic as well as aerobic consumption.

First anaerobic digestion is completed in the absence of air-flow and is often used to treat sewage in septic tanks. Then aerobic digestion is going to be used, this bacterial process is carried on in the existence of oxygen. Here the bacteria converts matter into carbon dioxide. To keep the method running, oxygen should be constantly circulated, and that is normally provided by an air compressor at the top of the unit. Amazingly what you ll end up with can be almost 98% cleaner then the contaminating sewage that a septic tank discharges!

The most popular waste water treatment on the UK market is the low profile sewage treatment plant, its popularity comes from the fact that they are the easiest treatment plant to install, saving time and money. It requires no concrete and is constructed to last longer. They are less than four feet tall, making them half the height of the standard sewage treatment plants.

Learn more about Septic tank, by stopping by the septic tanks shop website where you find the cheapest prices in the UK for Septic Tanks so please give us a call!