Science

The Geometry of Nature

in ,

During my college years I took two mathematics courses, Perspective Geometry and Geometry in Nature. The later, admittedly, I wished I had paid more attention in. It was a tumultuous time in my life and the class wasn’t anywhere near my list of priorities.

There was however, one thing that stuck with me. The professor, who had been teaching this class for years, had a tradition of bringing in a pineapple during the lesson on fractals. He noted, over the past few years he had found that his grocery market pineapples would on occasion fail to demonstrate the fractals they once did. The natural fractal of the pineapple was disappearing in the modern food systems. Sure enough, the pineapple he picked for that day’s class failed the fractal demonstration. The professor, as a result of his findings from this lesson, urged us to observe.

Recently, my interest in natural geometry has returned to my practice and as a result, into what I observe. I spent the winter painting geometric exercises, including the “Circle of Nine” painting, a 7-circle solution used to divide a circle into 9 equal segments. It was in early Spring, on a morning walk, when I noticed the same pattern in the first flowers that showed up in the neighborhood lawns, the Daffodils. I captured this observation in a painting:“Spring Daffodil and the Circle of Nine”.

“Circle of Nine”
March 11, 2024. Watercolor and Gouache on Cold Pressed Arches Paper. 7”x 10”

“Spring Daffodil and the Circle of Nine”
April 3, 2024. Watercolor and Gouache on Cold Pressed Arches Watercolor Paper. 7”x 10”

How to make an Orrery

in

What is an orrery?

An orrery is a model of the solar system that shows the positions of celestial bodies like the planets, the moon and our sun.

How I made my dining table orrery

Materials:

  • Cloth/ backdrop for your orrery (can be anything you already own and is free)

  • Objects to represent the celestial bodies, this could also be anything you already own and is free, think rocks, trinkets, or your own hand made creations like ceramic or wood carvings. You will assign meaning to these objects to represent the moon, sun and planets

I recommend for beginners to start with just the sun and the moon. You can always add in planets as you progress. (My favorite planet to track is Jupiter, it is the brightest planet when it appears in the night sky)

For your backdrop, you will mentally divide this into the 12 constellations that fall on the ecliptic plane (similar to the way a clock is divided in 12). For the purposes of this orrery I have chosen to omit the constellation Ophiuchus, which falls between Scorpious and Sagittarius.

The 12 o’clock (north) will be Pisces, 3 o’clock (east) Gemini, 6 o’clock (south) Virgo, and 9 o’clock (west) Sagittarius. Fill in the remaining 8 constellations according to their order (see the diagram “Table Set Up” in this post for guidance). We start with Pisces at the top because it has historically been considered the 12th and final zodiac constellation.

Next, place each celestial body in its position for that day. To make sure your placement stays accurate day to day use the online tool found here on the Sky & Telescope website. Position Earth at the center of the backdrop.

I chose to put the Earth at the center for this orrery because my main use for this tool is to visualize where everything is in our night sky in relation to Earth. This positioning assists with my telescope viewing and shows me what planets are visible in the night sky, at dawn, or dusk.

The moon will be your most constant change day to day. It is the satellite that revolves around our Earth and completes a cycle around the orrery every 28 days. The sun will move one constellation over once a month completing its cycle around the orrery in a year.

On the days of a full moon the sun and the moon will be seen placed opposite each other. Conversely days of a new moon they will be seen placed together.

When planets are opposite to the sun they are most visible in the night sky. The closer they are trailing behind the sun clockwise the later at night / early morning they begin to appear in the sky. When their placement appears near front of the sun they will remain out of site to our naked eye in the daylight until their placement falls opposing or behind the sun.

Having this orrery as a daily practice will help you become aware of what goes on in our sky and the rate the celestial bodies move around our ecliptic plane. It is a good meditation to practice if you wish to be more aware of what is happening in space as percived from Earth.

My dining table orrery. unglazed ceramic, wax candle mold, peony arrangement and embroidered linen tablecloth. 2024

Table Set Up

Shown here is a diamond shape set up, but it can equally be done with a square or circle as long as the placement remains the same.

Moon Cycle Example Placements

New Moon
The moon and sun are both placed in the constellation Virgo. The moon is not visible in the sky.

First Quarter Moon
The moon is in Sagittarius and the Sun in Virgo. The moon will rise during the later hours of the day before night fall.

Full Moon
The moon is in Pisces and the Sun in Virgo. The moon will be seen rising in the east as the sun opposite to it in the west.

Last Quarter Moon
The moon is in Gemini and the sun in Virgo. The moon will be seen rising in the later hours of the night and will be visible in the night sky moving west as the sun begins to rise in the east

Sky Chart Resource

Click on the image to access the free Sky & Telescope sky chart which will give you the most accurate data for the placement of the celestial bodies for any given date.

Journey to Eclipse Part 1

in ,

Mapimi Desert
April 5 - April 16, 2024

The Total Solar Eclipse of April 8 was, without exaggeration, the most intense event I have witnessed in my 30 years of life. It has taken me over a month to make a post about this experience and I wasn’t sure how to begin talking about this journey, but for part one, I’ll cover the basics.

For the 2024 Eclipse, we traveled to La Zona del Silencio (Zone of Silence) an area surrounded by mysterious occurrences. Getting to this region from Chicago took a bit of preplanning months prior. The zone is in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve, a protected United Nations desert since 1977, and spans the Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango states of Mexico.

I heard about this region growing up through my mom whose hometown resides in the mountains of one of the states. So when I saw that the path of totality would cross this area I figured this would be the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience this cosmic event in this enigmatic place.

The zone became more widely known in 1969 when the Allende meteorite, mysteriously diverted its predicted course and landed in this area. A year later, in 1970, due to a loss in radio communication signals, a NASA ship carrying Cobalt 57 crashed in the same area. The United States was granted permission by the Mexican government to enter the region and clean the biohazardous crash.Which resulted in a vast amount of precious meteorite-rich soil shipped out of Mexico to the States via a temporary railway system. There is much local skepticism on this event and the US’ intentions and interest in excavating the land.

The crash sparked interest in the area and in the mid 70’s urban legends of odd occurrences and UFO sightings began to spread. Movies and books have since been produced revolving the stories of the region and comparisons over the years have been made to the Bermuda Triangle and the Devil’s Sea near Japan.

What we do know for certain is that the area does have an unusual magnetic field that shifts and results in a frequency of meteors falling, traditional compasses spinning aimlessly, and radio signals failing. The magnetic fields are also said to have a strange effect on the behaviors and characteristics of the flora and fauna of the region. These odd occurrences have drawn scientists and researchers to this desert from all over the globe. Within the zone, there is also an area that researchers have named “Cementerio de las Reses” because animals who have reached the end of their lifetime have inexplicably traveled to that area to reach their final resting point and die. Because it is miles away from light-polluted areas it also produces some of the best viewing opportunities for night sky watching, attracting many astronomy enthusiasts.

This is where we traveled to see the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse.

The Winter Hexagon Asterism

in ,

Right now if you look up at the sky on a clear night from pretty much anywhere in the northern hemisphere you’ll find the winter hexagon. Depending on where you are, around 8pm-ish you’ll see the stars that make up this six-point polygon directly above.

A northern hemisphere winter asterism that appears most prominent between December and March and is pretty much visible in even the most light polluted areas. Made up of a series of the brightest stars visible in our night sky, Capella (from Auriga), Pollux (& it’s twin Castor from the Gemini constellation), Procyon (from Canis Minor), Sirius (the brightest star in our night sky and part of the constellation Canis Major), Rigel (from Orion) and Aldebaran (from Taurus).

I’ve been admiring this little group of stars this season. Looking for the 3 stars in Orion to point me to Sirius and seeing the moon occasionally makes it’s appearance with the group and Jupiter not too far west.

“The Winter Hexagon”. February 29, 2024. Watercolor and Gouache on Cold Pressed Arches Watercolor Paper. 7” x 10”

Back from Oahu

in ,

Back from Oahu
December 19, 2023 - January 4, 2024

This year for the holidays we decided to leave the cold Chicago weather and spend majority of December and our first days of 2024 in the island of Oahu visiting Miguel’s long-time childhood friend Jon and his fiancé Kanako.

Hawaiians have a long history with the cosmos. The first Polynesian explorers of the Pacific, who ventured the ocean, used the stars as a form of way finding and the moon to predict the tides among other things. Way finding using the night sky is part of the Weriyeng system used by the master navigators of Micronesia that remains one of the valuable forms of knowledge that has been retained in an increasingly technologically dependent world. Which is something that gives me hope to know when I ask myself how much natural knowledge is at risk of becoming lost or has been lost?

The stars and planets were very visible in the night sky of Oahu. During our time there Jupiter usually made the first appearances in the sky as the sun began to set and since we were lucky to be visiting during the full moon season, we saw the moon opposite to the setting sun. I learned that Hawaiian moon tracking cycles account for all 30 stages of the moon, each with a name and understanding. The 8th-10th night after the full moon, like clockwork, the jellyfish float closer to shore increasing the chances for a swimmer to get stung. The night of Pō Kāne/Kāne, the 27th night of the moon, the tide is lower and a belief that the veil of the spiritual world thins during this time. Mōhalu, the 12th night, the night before the start of the 4 full moons, is a night of low tide, for planting flowers that will be round and root vegetables, it is said that on this night what is hidden is meant to remain that way. Which may be in reference to something in the spiritual realm or simply be a mnemonic teaching device for the knowledge that rooted vegetables that grow in the darkness of the ground are meant to stay in that space on this night.

We visited during the Ho’oilo, wet season, mid November- early May, a time when the sun sets closer to the south produces massive stories-high waves in the North Shore of the island attracting surfers and typically being the time for surf competitions in Oahu. However, the west and east facing shores would produce comparably smaller waves for swimming. I took every possible opportunity to swim in the ocean during this trip. The lovely part of being on an island is being able to drive to a variety of beach experiences and witness the many behaviors of the ocean.

Island life was good, a few other friends also came to Oahu during our time there. On Christmas Eve, Jon’s friend took a group of people out on a boat, Jon dj’d some house, eventually a bunch of us jumped into the deep sea ocean to swim and watch the sun as it set on the horizon. Christmas Day we decided to go on a hike to Kuli Ou Ou and after a hectic trek up some seemingly endless stairs we were met with a beautiful view. New Years Eve we swam at Papa Oni Oni beach and the waves would push us in and pull us out. On one lazy day we hung out on the upstairs porch until the stars came out. Poke was good at any given spot (except for Speedway, I’m told) and the Seven 11’s have some pretty good takeaways for the road.

Unfortunately, I’ve become increasingly worst at documenting memories since my phone camera malfunctions earlier last year so I’m experiencing a bit of regret looking at my photo album. I did take some video footage on my video cam of the surfers at Bonzai beach so I may share clips of that at a later date. <3

Images from the book Fishers' knowledge in Fisheries Science and Management
Haggan, Nigel , Neis, Barbara , Baird, Ian G.
published 2007 (pages 128-131)

Kohala Center breakdown of Hawaiian Moon Phases here

The Birth of Venus

in ,

In August, Venus began its shift from being an evening “star” to appearing in the morning sky. The morning sky has always been a lovely thing to witness from Chicago. Watching the colors come out over the lake until the sun decides to make it’s appearance.

Through a few happenstance occurrences, towards the end of the painting, I chose to highlight this Venus resurrection and celebrate my own birthday on September 2, which happened to be the last full day Venus was in it’s apparent retrograde motion. 

For the flower, I originally painted this Miltoniopsis Orchid. I’ve been fascinated by orchids since starting my small collection a few years ago through a gift from my friend Xerx. I was feeling drawn to the patterns the petals have on this species and painted this one into a sky scene, unsure of where the composition would lead me.

During my visit to ArtPrize in Grand Rapids this weekend I encountered a Coleus shrub that caught my attention. I had planned on painting the Coleus in a new scene of it’s own, but after pulling out my collection of started paintings. It felt fitting to incorporate it into my orchid painting, merging the two in an unlikely union that results in the vision of a spirit in flight.

Captions:
Image 1: “The Birth of Venus” painting by me :)
Image 2: Explination of Venus and star placements in the painting
Images 3-5 diagrams of Venus


Resource to accurate Sky map click the link:
https://skyandtelescope.org/interactive-sky-chart/

Flowers and the Number 5

in ,

Lately I’ve had a tiny curiosity with number significance. This started around April when I began seeing repeating numbers everywhere, a few weeks later it was palindrome numbers. I mentioned it one day in a group chat, and my friend Angel told me to keep a list of them so I’ve been doing that. I’ve forgotten to document a few but most are on there.

I’m fully aware that doing this would potentially make me more alert to finding more numbers. You find what you seek/ make yourself aware of. If you start seeking purple cars you’ll start seeing them everywhere because that’s what tends to happen. I’m very actively trying to avoid doing this. Angel also told me to keep track of what instances I find these numbers but uneventfully no patterns have been found. Sorry Angel. That’s my little update on that.

At one of the stays in Guatemala I stumbled across the book “Cheiro's Book of Numbers: The Complete Science of Numerology” in it was a detail that stuck. It claimed that all flowers with seven petals were original forms of the flower, meaning, they were not cross-pollinated with other flowers. I found this detail interesting, the number 7 seemed to carry the origin of the flower.

I looked further into the significance of flower petals numbers and found this journal, titled “Five petals: The mysterious number "5" hidden in nature” from Osaka University Economics School, the author, a professor seemingly with a background in math.

The article starts with an analysis on petal numbers. Flowers generally have between 1-6 petals (7 or more is rare), but a large majority of flower species fall in the 5-petal category. It dives into this idea that nature seeks the number 5 (Venus and Earth’s 8 year dance around the sun produces a shape of a 5-petal flower). It ends with the comparison of a human hand to a flower, and the idea that our number systems are based off of this mysterious number 5 we find in nature.

I’ve been more aware of 5-petaled flowers. For the first time in my life I have a home to garden. After last weekend’s rain, the first flowers of the season showed up in the garden, five-petaled baby’s breath. I had watercolor backgrounds I made weeks back and it felt fitting to commemorate the first flowers of the garden in a painting.

Some people have told me they see the flowers coming down from the sky others have said that they see them going up, the vote is somewhat divided.

_________________________________________
& like the good little writer I am, sources and links to the free texts bellow 😊

Cherio, “Cherio’s book of Numbers: The Complete Science of Numerology”, Fireside Books, January 1988, pg14

Yutaka Nishiyama, “Five petals: The mysterious number "5" hidden in nature”, Osaka University of Economics, January 2012

 

Baby’s-breath. 2023. Watercolor and Gouache on Cold-press Arches paper. 7”x 10”

 

Rediscovering Tulips

in ,

Rediscovering Tulips

Tulips had never appealed to me, they’re mostly displayed closed, have a naturally drooping stem, didn’t feel like a flower to admire. But I recently came across a video that made me think differently. By gently bending the petals outward to open and placing a copper penny from before 1982 in the water, you get an almost too perfect looking flower that stands tall.

In a way they feel unreal and otherworldly, like something that belongs in the world of the Teletubbies or some other alt. universe. (A little tip: Trader Joe’s sells a bundle of 20 for $10.99 that could easily give you a good 3-5 vases worth).

I’ve enjoyed making these arrangements, it’s a nice way to get lost in the flowers, and now that I’m growing my own cut and grow garden I’m excited to have some more herbs and flowers to experiment with this year. I envision these displayed with my sky paintings in a series I’m building.

Lessons from my lineage:Healing the body from the poison of an overwhelming emotion

in ,

Growing up, my mom stayed at home and raised me, she passed down many stories from her mom and grandma and so on. To this day I continue to learn new stories. This one, was one that I recently came to know and I will share, with hopes that if for whatever reason you find yourself or a loved one in a similar situation, you can use this little piece of knowledge. Healing the body from the poison that can come from a strong overwhelming emotion. 

When my grandma was pregnant with my youngest uncle she witnessed a scene that caused her to have a strong emotional response. She rushed to my great-grandmother’s place and my great-grandma fed her a spoonful of the burnt ashes from the stove, potentially saving my uncle from a miscarriage. As with any advice, take it with a grain of salt, my great-grandmother was the healer of the town, it was a middle of nowhere mountain town and going to the big town doctor was expensive and timely, she made remedies and brought babies into the world and had a certain knowledge that was helpful for the people there. 

My mom recently came across a finding that helped confirm the action my great-grandma took on that day. Similar to the burnt ashes, activated charcoal can be given to help victims of poison. There is a certain type of poison that can be absorbed through the body in moments of strong immediate emotion, people can internally poison themselves with anger, shock, a scare, intense grief, you get the idea. The effects of activated charcoal can be produced by burning any consumable dry grain on hand such as bread or a tortilla to a char black state (preferably with fire) and ingesting it. The though is that the poison produced is then absorbed by the burnt char and is able to be dispelled from the body rather than being absorbed.

So if you ever find yourself in such circumstances or with the ability to help such circumstances, you have this knowledge to carry with you, from my great-grandma to my grandma to my mom to me to you.

The current state of my grandma’s kitchen in her old home in Durango, Mexico