![]() ![]() Credit: Troy Clineįor example, the Mayans built the Pyramid of Kulkulkan in El Castillo, Mexico between 10 A.D. Beams of light shine through portholes illuminating lintels on doorways in the room. The "sun room" a rectangular room attached to southern side of this tower could have been used to mark the equinoxes and solstices. Hovenweep National Monument protects five prehistoric, Puebloan-era villages spread over a twenty-mile expanse of mesa tops and canyons along the Utah-Colorado border. Image to left: Hovenweep National Monument: This spectacular sunset was taken during the 2004 summer solstice at Hovenweep National Monument (HNM). The Sun seems to have a major role not only in religious practices of indigenous people, but also art, culture, and more. ![]() NASA continues to pay close attention to the Sun today through ground and satellite-based observatories, still seeking to understand this star as a dominant influence on our lives. Appropriately, NASA and the Exploratorium in San Francisco are focusing on ancient peoples and their fascination with the Sun, which played a major role in most Native American religious practices and social events. This year's Sun-Earth Day on March 20 focuses on "Ancient Observatories: Timeless Knowledge" and falls on the vernal equinox when day and night are the same length. Click on image for movie (no audio-1.3 MB.) You can also watch live views from your computer. Image to right: A Snapshot of the Sun: This up-to-date solar movie is from SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), a NASA-European Space Agency satellite. What do Stonehenge, Mayan pyramids, and a spacecraft a million miles away have in common? They're linked by a human need to explore and understand the Sun, moon, planets, and stars.
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