वेदों की प्राचीनता एवं काल-निर्णय / ओरायन (लोकमान्य बाल गंगाधर तिलक - खगोलीय वैदिक शोध)

वेदों की प्राचीनता एवं काल-निर्णय / ओरायन (लोकमान्य बाल गंगाधर तिलक - खगोलीय वैदिक शोध)
The Orion and The Arctic Home in the Vedas by Lokmanya Tilak
लोकमान्य बाल गंगाधर तिलक द्वारा
DevanagariHindipublished548 पृष्ठ
पृष्ठ 79, कुल 548 में से
संदर्भ में पढ़ेंपृष्ठ 79
- THE ARCTIC HOME IN THE VEDAS.
continuously for two months. Captain Pim, quoted by Dr.
Warren, thus describes the Polar year:—
"On the 16th of March the sun rises, preceded by a long
dawn of forty-seven days, namely, from the 29th January, when
the first glimmer of light appears. On the 25th of September
the sun sets, and after a twilight of forty-eight days, namely, on
the 13th November, darkness reigns supreme, so far as the sun
is concerned, for seventy-six days, followed by one long period
of light, the sun remaining above the horizon one hundred and
ninety-four days. The year, therefore, is thus divided at the Pole:—
194 days sun; 76 darkness; 47 days dawn; 48 twilight."*
But other authorities assign a longer duration to the morning
and evening twilight, and reduce the period of total darkness
from 76 to 60 days, or only to two months. Which of these
calculations is correct can be settled only by actual observation
at the North Pole. It has been ascertained that this duration
depends upon the powers of refraction and reflection of the
atmosphere, and these are found to vary according to the tem-
perature and other circumstances of the place. The Polar
climate is at present extremely cold; but in the Inter-glacial
epoch it was different, and this, by itself, would alter the dura-
tion of the Polar dawn in inter-glacial times. But whatever the
cause may be, so much is beyond doubt that at the Pole the
twilight of the yearly morning and evening lingers on for
several days. For even taking the lowest limit of 16°, the sun,
in his course through the ecliptic, would take more than a
month to reach the horizon from this point; and during
all this time a perpetual twilight will prevail at the Pole. Long
dawn and long evening twilight are, therefore, the principal
factors in shortening the darkness of the Polar night and if we
- See Paradise Found, 10th Ed., p. 64.