To the many generations who have gathered on the windswept Salisbury Plain in south-west England, the monumental stone circle known as Stonehenge (built around 4,500 years ago) has always offered a clear story about the sun \u2014 the central axis aligns with the sunrise during midsummer and the sunset during midwinter, the longest and shortest days of the year.<\/p>\n
But what if the builders of Stonehenge also responded to the moon?<\/p>\n
The idea that Stonehenge might record lunar as well as solar phenomena dates back to the 1960s, yet systematic study has been limited. Yahoo<\/span>+3<\/span><\/span>University of Leicester<\/span>+3<\/span><\/span>Yahoo News<\/span>+3<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span> Much like the sun appears to rise and set farther north or south on the horizon at the solstices, the moon too has a shifting horizon track \u2014 it moves north to south over a month, but over roughly 18.6 years the extremes of that movement expand and contract. At a \u201cmajor lunar standstill\u201d the moon\u2019s northernmost and southernmost rise\/set points are at their greatest separation. Wikipedia<\/span>+1<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n As one expert explains:<\/p>\n \u201cThe rise of the moon changes every day \u2026 If you were to look at these limits over a period of 19 years, you would notice that they change like an accordion: they expand to a maximum limit (the major lunar standstill) and then begin to contract to a minimum limit.\u201d \u2014 Fabio Silva University of Leicester<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The new project, led by English Heritage in collaboration with researchers from the University of Leicester, Bournemouth University and the University of Oxford, aims to document the moon\u2019s behaviour in and around the monument during this rare period of maximum lunar movement. University of Leicester<\/span>+1<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Key features under investigation include the four \u201cstation stones\u201d \u2013 a rectangle of stones around the main circle of sarsens and bluestones \u2013 that may align roughly with the moon\u2019s standstill extremes. University of Leicester<\/span>+1<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span> If Stonehenge\u2019s builders intentionally incorporated moon-rise and moon-set extremes into the design, it would point to a far more sophisticated understanding of the sky \u2014 not just tracking the sun for seasons, but monitoring the longer lunar cycles. Some possibilities:<\/p>\n
This year, archaeologists and archaeoastronomers are seizing a rare opportunity: the upcoming major lunar standstill<\/strong>, a phenomenon that occurs every ~18.6 years, when the moon\u2019s most extreme rising and setting positions are furthest apart. Wikipedia<\/span>+2<\/span><\/span>Orbital Today<\/span>+2<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhat is a lunar standstill?<\/h3>\n
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Stonehenge under the lens<\/h3>\n
Also noted: cremated human remains deposited near the southeast of the site, which may correspond to the southernmost moonrise direction. Orbital Today<\/span>+1<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhat this could mean<\/h3>\n