Earth from Space – Arc de Triomphe, Paris

Arc de Triomphe, Paris.

ESA

This striking, high-resolution image of the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, was captured by Planet SkySat – a fleet of satellites that have just joined ESA’s Third Party Mission Programme in April 2022.
The Arc de Triomphe, or in full Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, is an iconic symbol of France and one of the world’s best-known commemorative monuments. The triumphal arch was commissioned by Napoleon I in 1806 to celebrate the military achievements of the French armies. Construction of the arch began the following year, on 15 August (Napoleon’s birthday).

The arch stands at the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, the meeting point of 12 grand avenues which form a star (or étoile), which is why it is also referred to as the Arch of Triumph of the Star. The arch is 50 m high and 45 m wide.

The names of all French victories and generals are inscribed on the arch’s inner and outer surfaces, while the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I lies beneath its vault. The tomb’s flame is rekindled every evening as a symbol of the enduring nature of the commemoration and respect shown to those who have fallen in the name of France.

The Arc de Triomphe’s location at the Place Charles de Gaulle places it at the heart of the capital and the western terminus of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées (visible in the bottom-right of the image). Often referred to as the ‘most beautiful avenue in the world’, the Champs-Élysées is known for its theatres, cafés and luxury shops, as the finish of the Tour de France cycling race, as well as for its annual Bastille Day military parade.

 

This image, captured on 9 April 2022, was provided by Planet SkySat – a fleet of 21 very high-resolution satellites capable of collecting images multiple times during the day. SkySat’s satellite imagery, with 50 cm spatial resolution, is high enough to focus on areas of great interest, identifying objects such as vehicles and shipping containers.

SkySat data, along with PlanetScope (both owned and operated by Planet Labs), serve numerous commercial and governmental applications. These data are now available through ESA’s Third Party Mission programme – enabling researchers, scientists and companies from around the world the ability to access Planet’s high-frequency, high-resolution satellite data for non-commercial use.

Within this programme, Planet joins more than 50 other missions to add near-daily PlanetScope imagery, 50 cm SkySat imagery, and RapidEye archive data to this global network.

Peggy Fischer, Mission Manager for ESA’s Third Party Missions, commented, “We are very pleased to welcome PlanetScope and SkySat to ESA’s Third Party Missions portfolio and to begin the distribution of the Planet data through the ESA Earthnet Programme.

“The high-resolution and high-frequency imagery from these satellite constellations will provide an invaluable resource for the European R&D and applications community, greatly benefiting research and business opportunities across a wide range of sectors.”

To find out more on how to apply to the Earthnet Programme and get started with Planet data, click here.

– Download the full high-resolution image.

The Arc de Triomphe, or in full Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, is an iconic symbol of France and one of the world’s best-known commemorative monuments. The triumphal arch was commissioned by Napoleon I in 1806 to celebrate the military achievements of the French armies. Construction of the arch began the following year, on 15 August (Napoleon’s birthday).

Foundation stone

On August 15, 1806, Emperor Napoleon I's birthday, the foundation stone of the building was laid at a depth of eight meters, between the two southern pillars. On the lead sheet covering the stone, the inscription reads:

In 1806, on the fifteenth of August, the anniversary of the birth of his majesty Napoleon the Great, this stone was the first to be laid in the foundation of this monument.

TAG: NILE FLOODING SIRIUS

POSTED ONAUGUST 2, 2013 BY DAVID DICKINSON

The Astronomy of the Dog Days of Summer

Looking east from latitude 30 north on August 3rd, 30 minutes before sunrise. (Created by the author in Stellarium).

Can you feel the heat?

It’s not just your imagination. The northern hemisphere is currently in the midst of the Dog Days of Summer. For many, early August means hot, humid days and stagnant, sultry nights.

The actual dates for the Dog Days of Summer vary depending on the source, but are usually quoted as running from mid-July to mid-August. The Old Farmer’s Almanac lists the Dog Days as running from July 3rd through August 11th. 

But there is an ancient astronomical observation that ties in with the Dog Days of Summer, one that you can replicate on these early August mornings.

The sky was important to the ancients. It told them when seasons were approaching, when to plant crops, and when to harvest. Ancient cultures were keen observers of the cycles in the sky.  Cultures that were “astronomically literate” had a distinct edge over those who seldom bothered to note the goings on overhead.

The flooded Temple of Isis on the island of Philae circa 1905. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons under an Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 license. Author H.W. Dunning).

Sirius was a key star for Egyptian astronomers. Identified with the goddess Isis, the Egyptian name for Sirius was Sopdet, the deification of Sothis. There is a line penned by the Greco-Roman scholar Plutarch which states:

“The soul of Isis is called ‘Dog’ by the Greeks.”

Political commentary? A mis-translation by Greek scholars? Whatever the case, the mythological transition from “Isis to Sothis to Dog Star” seems to have been lost in time.

These astronomer-priests noted that Sirius rose with the Sun just prior to the annual flooding of the Nile. The appearance of a celestial object at sunrise is known as a heliacal rising. If you can recover Sirius from behind the glare of the Sun, you know that the “Tears of Isis” are on their way, in the form of life-giving flood waters.

Sopdet as the personification of Sirius (note the star on the forehead) Wikimedia Commons image under an Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license. Author Jeff Dahl).

In fact, the ancient Egyptians based their calendar on the appearance of Sirius and what is known as the Sothic cycle, which is a span of 1,461 sidereal years (365.25 x 4) in which the heliacal rising once again “syncs up” with the solar calendar.

It’s interesting to note that in 3000 BC, the heliacal rising of Sirius and the flooding of the Nile occurred around June 25th, near the summer solstice. This also marked the Egyptian New Year. Today it occurs within a few weeks of August 15th, owing to precession. (More on that in a bit!)

By the time of the Greeks, we start to see Sirius firmly referred to as the Dog Star. In Homer’s Iliad, King Priam refers to an advancing Achilles as:

“Blazing as the star that cometh forth at Harvest-time, shining forth amid the host of stars in the darkness of the night, the star whose name men call Orion’s Dog”

The Romans further promoted the canine branding for Sirius. You also see references to the “Dog Star” popping up in Virgil’s Aenid.

Over the years, scholars have also attempted to link the dog-headed god Anubis to Sirius. This transition is debated by scholars, and in his Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Richard Hinckley Allen casts doubt on the assertion.

Sirius as the shining “nose” of the constellation Canis Major. (Created by the author using Starry Night).

Ancient cultures also saw the appearance of Sirius as signifying the onset of epidemics. Their fears were well founded, as summer flooding would also hatch a fresh wave of malaria and dengue fever-carrying mosquitoes.

Making a seasonal sighting of Sirius is fun and easy to do. The star is currently low to the southeast in the dawn, and rises successively higher each morning as August rolls on.

The following table can be used to aid your quest in Sirius-spotting.

Latitude north	Theoretical date when Sirius can 1st be spotted
32°	August 3rd
33°	August 4th
34°	August 5th
35°	August 6th
36°	August 7th
37°	August 8th
38°	August 9th
39°	August 10th
40°	August 11th
41°	August 12th
42°	August 13th
43°	August 14th
44°	August 15th
45°	August 16th
46°	August 17th
47°	August 18th
48°	August 19th
49°	August 20th
50°	August 21st

Thanks to “human astronomical computer extraordinaire” Ed Kotapish for the compilation!

Note that the table above is perpetual for years in the first half of the 21st century. Our friend, the Precession of the Equinoxes pivots the equinoctial points to the tune of about one degree every 72 years. The Earth’s axis completes one full “wobble” approximately every 26,000 years. Our rotational pole only happens to be currently pointing at Polaris in our lifetimes. Its closest approach is around 2100 AD, after which the north celestial pole and Polaris will begin to drift apart. Mark your calendars—Vega will be the pole star in 13,727 AD. And to the ancient Egyptians, Thuban in the constellation Draco was the Pole Star!

The Colossi of Memnon Near Luxor, just one of the amazing architectural projects carried out by the ancient Egyptians. (Photo by author).

Keep in mind, atmospheric extinction is your enemy in this quest, as it will knock normally brilliant magnitude -1.46 Sirius a whopping 40 times in brightness to around magnitude +2.4.

Note that we have a nice line-up of planets in the dawn sky (see intro chart), which are joined by a waning crescent Moon this weekend. Jupiter and Mars ride high about an hour before sunrise, and if you can pick out Mercury at magnitude -0.5 directly below them, you should have a shot at spotting Sirius far to the south.

And don’t be afraid to “cheat” a little bit and use binoculars in your quest… we’ve even managed on occasion to track Sirius into the broad daylight. Just be sure to physically block the Sun behind a building or hill before attempting this feat!

Sirius as seen via Hubble- can you spy Sirius B? (Credit: NASA/ESA Hubble image).

Of course, the heliacal rising of Sirius prior to the flooding of the Nile was a convenient coincidence that the Egyptians used to their advantage. The ancients had little idea as to what they were seeing. At 8.6 light-years distant, Sirius is the brightest star in Earth’s sky during the current epoch. It’s also the second closest star visible to the naked eye from Earth. Only Alpha Centauri, located deep in the southern hemisphere sky is closer. The light you’re seeing from Sirius today left in early 2005, back before most of us had Facebook accounts.

Sirius also has a companion star, Sirius B. This star is the closest example of a white dwarf. Orbiting its primary once every 50 years, Sirius B has also been the center of a strange controversy we’ve explored in past writings concerning Dogon people of Mali.

Sirius B is difficult to nab in a telescope, owing to dazzling nearby Sirius A. This feat will get easier as Sirius B approaches apastron with a max separation of 11.5 arc seconds in  2025.

Some paleoastronomers have also puzzled over ancient records referring to Sirius as “red” in color.  While some have stated that this might overturn current astrophysical models, a far more likely explanation is its position low to the horizon for northern hemisphere observers. Many bright stars can take on a twinkling ruddy hue when seen low in the sky due to atmospheric distortion.

Let the Dog Days of Summer (& astronomy) begin! (Photo by author).

All great facts to ponder during these Dog Days of early August, perhaps as the sky brightens during the dawn and your vigil for the Perseid meteors draws to an end!

I can recommend every amateur historian and Bonapartofile to read Jean-Baptiste Pérès. We chase dreams. Napoleon never existed. He’s fake news. A myth. Just like, say, Santa Claus, Homerus, William Tell, Robin Hood and King Arthur. Forget him.

I once bought Pérès’ essay “Comme quoi Napoléon n’a jamais existé” in French, that language of love, but found an English version today. For the busy Napoleonist, here’s the management summary of this brilliant satire.

Napoleon Bonaparte, of whom so much has been said and written, never even existed. He is nothing more than an allegorical personage. He is the personification of the sun ; and we can prove our assertion by showing how everything related of Napoleon the Great has been borrowed from the great luminary.
Let us see briefly what we are told of this remarkable man. We are told :

– That he was called Napoleon Bonaparte:

– That he was born in an island in the Mediterranean sea ;

– That his mother’s name was Letitia-;

– That he had three sisters and four brothers, three of whom
were kings;

– That he had two wives, one of whom bore him a son ;

– That he put an end to a great revolution;

– That he had under him sixteen marshals of the empire, twelve
of whom were in active service;

– That he prevailed in the South, and was defeated in the North;

To conclude, that after a reign of twelve years, begun upon his arrival from the East, he departed, and disappeared in the Western seas.

It remains for us to ascertain whether these various details are borrowed from the sun, and we hope that every reader of this disquisition will rise convinced that this is the case.

What’s In A Name?

Pérès notes that Sun=Apollo and Napoleon sounds like Apollo. “It is unquestionable that the word Apollo means Exterminator; and it seems that this name was given by the Greeks to the sun on account of the injury it did them before Troy, where a part of their army perished from the excessive heat

(…).Now, Apollo is the same word as Apoleon. They are derived from Apollyo, or Apoleo, two Greek verbs which are really the same, and which mean ” destroy,” ” kill.” ” exterminate.”

But why is it N Apoleon, Apollo with an N? Pérès:

(…) the real name of this supposed hero was Neapoleon, or Neapolion. This is more particularly to be seen on the column of the Place Vendome. Now, this extra syllable makes no difference whatever. The svllable, no doubt, like the rest of the name, is Greek ; and in Greek ne, or nai, is one of the strongest affirmations, equivalent to our veritably, or yea. Whence it follows that Napoleon means Veritable Exterminator, Veritable Apollo ; it means, in truth, the sun.

Bonaparte is, of course, the good part, in other words, “the light”, as opposed to malaparte, darkness.

Born In The Bayou

Just like Apollo, Napoleon was born on an island in the Mediterranean. Delos wonderfully corresponds to the mythical island described in Greek mythology.

Pausanias, it is true, calls Apollo an Egyptian divinity (…) He designed to inform us that the Egyptians worshipped Apollo, and that establishes yet another connection between Napoleon and the sun; for Napoleon is said to have been held in Egypt to be invested with supernatural qualities, to have been regarded as the friend of Mahomet, and to have received homage partaking of the nature of adoration.

Son of Leto, aka The Dawn

Napoleon’s mother was named Letitia, which is the Roman translation of Leto, the mother of Apollo, Pérès writes. Napoleon had 3 sisters – corresponding with the three Graces from Greek mythology.

Brother Of The Four Seasons

Napoleon had four brothers: three were king and one of them a Prince (Lucien, Prince of Canino).

Of Napoleon’s four brothers, three, they tell us, were kings; these three kings are Spring, who reigns over the flowers; Summer, who reigns over the harvest; and Autumn, who reigns over the fruit. As these three seasons derive all their potent influence from the sun, we are told that Napoleon’s three brothers held
their sovereignty at his hands, and reigned only by his authority. And when it is added that of Napoleon’s four brothers one was not a king, it is because one of the four seasons Winter, reigns over nothing.

Napoleon Gave Us Colour

Pérès writes how the winds come “from northern climes, discolor our land, and cover it with a detested whiteness”

This has given rise to the fabulous account of the invasion of the northern nations into France, where they are said to have done away with a parti-colored flag adorning it. and to have substituted a white one which entirely covered it, after the exile of the fabulous Napoleon. It would be idle to repeat that this is merely emblematical of the rime that the winds from the north produce in the winter, and which obliterates the charming colors that the sun produced in our land, before he waned and departed from us. It is easy to see the analogy of all these things with the ingenious fables conceived in our century.

Husband Of The Moon And The Earth

According to these same fables, Napoleon had two wives; hence two wives have been attributed to the sun. These two wives are the moon and the earth : the moon according to the Greeks (Plutarch is our authority), and the earth according to the Egyptians

(…) Even so the birth of the supposed son of Napoleon has been fixed at the 2Oth of March, the period of the vernal equinox, because in the spring agricultural produce undergoes its most important phase
of development.

Napoleon’s French Revolution is Apollo’s Python

Napoleon ended the terror, aka the “Hydra of the French Revolution”. Apollo slew the Python, an enormous Serpent, as first exploit. Another similarity, Pérès writes. Besides,

revolution is obviously derived from the Latin word rwolutus, which denotes a curled-up serpent. The Revolution is the Python, neither more nor less.

The Twelve Marshals Of The Zodiac

Pérès writes:

The celebrated warrior of the nineteenth century had under him, we are told, twelve marshals at the head of his armies, and four were not in active service. Now, the twelve first are obviously the twelve signs of the zodiac, marching under the orders of the sun Napoleon (…) The four others, in all probability, are the four cardinal points, which, fixed amid universal motion, are very well symbolised by the inactivity of which we have spoken. Thus, all these marshals, active and inactive, are purely symbolical beings, with no more reality than their leader.

Napoleon Followed The Course Of The Sun

Pérès writes that we are told that “this leader of so many brilliant armies overran in triumph the countries of the south, but that, having penetrated too far north, he was there unable to maintain himself. Now, these details precisely apply to the sun’s course.”

This, then, is the material from which has been drawn Napoleon’s imaginary northern expedition to Moscow, together with the humiliating retreat by which it is said to have been followed. Thus everything we have been told of the success or defeat of this strange warrior is nothing more than a series of allusions to the course of the sun. Finally, and this needs no explanation, the sun rises in
the east and sets in the west, as all the world knows (…)That, then, is all we are to understand when we are told that Napoleon came by sea from the east (Egypt) to reign over France, and that he disappeared in the western seas after a reign of twelve years. The twelve years are nothing more than the twelve hours of the day during which the sun shines on the horizon.

Napoleon is nothing more than an image of the sun. And in truth he is nothing more, Pérès concludes.

His name proves it; his mother’s name proves it ; his three sisters, his four brothers, his two wives, his son, his marshals, his exploits. all prove it. It is proved, moreover, by his birthplace; by the regions whence we are told, he came before entering on his career of dominion; by the time he employed in traversing those regions; by the coun tries where he prevailed, by those where he succumbed; and by the place where he vanished, pale and discrowned ‘

It has, then, been proved that the supposed hero of our century is nothing more than an allegorical personage, deriving his attributes from the sun. It follows that Napoleon Bonaparte, of whom so much has been said and written, never even existed ; and this fallacy, into which so many people have fallen headlong, arises from the amusing blunder of mistaking the mythology of the nineteenth century for history.

So, remember, my fellow enfants de la patrie: he’s fantasy. Sigmar. The Emperor. Darth Vader. Forget him and paint dinosaurs instead. They’re more historic than this Ghost of Christmas Past… 

Neil Armstrong: Are You Lucky?

 

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When Napoleon Bonaparte lost one of his generals in battles, he summoned his officers to find a replacement. After a couple of weeks, Napoleon was presented a man with sound military knowledge, strong leadership, and the courage needed for battle.

Napoleon responded, “That’s all very good, but is he lucky?”

Beneath all the controllables, all the skills and traits, and all the military acumen, Napoleon believed in the hidden force of luck and fate. In battles of life and death, he wanted generals by his side who were lucky.

It’s a hidden element of life that plays a bigger part in our lives than we like to admit. Some will say you create your own luck. There’s some truth to that. But on the other hand, there is luck that you had nothing to do with and it determines a vast majority of your life.