==| Chapter 1  |== The Little Bang Theory   ==| Chapter 2  |== The Tharsis Bulge of Mars   ==| Chapter 3  |== Mars Puts On A Little Weight   ==| Chapter 4  |== The Biggest Volcanoes   ==| Chapter 5  |== Where Astra Fragmented   ==| Chapter 6  |== Ancient Ring System of Mars   ==| Chapter 7  |== The Flood of Mars - Its Ice Age   ==| Chapter 8  |== Tilts of Mars and The Earth   ==| Chapter 9  |== The Energy Exchange   ==| Chapter 10  |== Angular Momentum Exchange   ==| Chapter 11  |== The First Nine Clues   ==| Chapter 12  |== Clues Ten, Eleven And Twelve

This model of planetary catastrophism includes first, Mars making a flyby of Venus, an energetic inside flyby of Venus at the 76th longitude.  It was on January 24, +/- 1 day, 701 B.C.E.  This was where the orbits of Mars and Venus crossed as Mars approached its old perihelion in that era.

Next and last, Mars is modeled as having made an even more energetic flyby, this time a unique outside flyby, of the Earth at longitude 179 or 180.  That is where the orbit of Mars crossed the Earth's orbit for the last time.  This second energetic flyby, 55, 56 or 57 days later, occurred on the night (Near East Time) of March 20-21, 701 B.C.E.

This model, for the year 701 B.C.E., is one of double-barreled catastrophism.  Evidence might be found either contradicting or supporting this model.  For instance, the position of the Moon, modeled as being at full moon on the night of March 20-21, 701 B.C.E., can be retro-calculated.  Does the Moon retro-calculate back, using a 365.256-day year, to a full moon on March 20-21, 701 B.C.E.?

And what about retro-calculating the positions for Mars, Venus, and Jupiter?  Will their retro-calculations give testimony for or against this model?

If such retro-calculations were correctly made, and were in disagreement with this model, this model would be flawed.  If only some of the clues were in agreement, the model would be partly flawed.  If retro-calculations of all three planets and the Moon are found to be in agreement with the model, it will be a confirmation.  It is comparable to a murder mystery, where a detective listens to the alibis of the four suspects of the crime.  Next he proceeds to verify the veracity of the alibis.

Chapter 11 includes nine of twelve categories of clues; each is a test for the validity of the model.  Chapter 12 contains clues 10 to 12.

Four clues, or tests, for this model are retro-calculations back to March 21, 701 B.C.E. for the positions of the key planets, the Moon's position, and the positions of Venus, Mars and Jupiter.  These are discussed in clue 1 (the Moon), clue 2 (Venus), clue 4 (Mars) and clue 6 (Jupiter).

The third clue is the semi-major axis, and the location of the perihelion of Venus.  Does its position also contain some kind of a clue of Mars-Venus catastrophism?  Evidence of violence on the surface of Venus has been found, but the specifics have not been cited herein.  If there was violence to its crust, perhaps there was violence to its orbit as well?  Perhaps there is evidence thereof.

The fifth clue is the modern orientation orbit of Jupiter and its semi-major axis.  It is modeled that Jupiter's orbital period and the Earth's were in a 12:1 resonance, and the Martian orbit was in a 6:1 resonance with Jupiter.  Are there vestiges pointing to such a former relationship?

A seventh clue involves the distribution of asteroids in the asteroid belt.  There is a certain feature, a gap in the distribution of asteroids at the 2:1 resonance location.  It may be instructive.  It concerns asteroids that have been perturbed out of resonance, and a characteristic of them.  Does the modern orbit of Mars contain a parallel characteristic?

It is recalled that the Earth is modeled as formerly having been in 2:1 orbital resonance with Mars.  But no longer.  Is there anything common about asteroids that have left 2:1 resonance and planets that have left 2:1 orbital resonance?  These are technical questions, but such is the nature of little clues.

The eighth clue involves the twin spin axis tilts of the Earth and Mars.  Both tilts are close to 22.5°.  This was discussed in chapter 8.  Is there any way other than alternating, reciprocal planetary catastrophism for those two spin axes to have twin tilts?

The ninth clue involves the spin axis of the Earth.  It responds to lunar and solar tides, and in its response, the spin axis follows a great circle in the northern heavens, a circle which takes 25,800 years to complete.  Today, Polaris is the North Star, where the spin axis points.  It will point there again in 25,800 years.  Where did the spin axis point during the Catastrophic Era according to ancient accounts?

Ursa Minoris was the pole star when the Final Flyby occurred, 2,700 years ago.  It is "Kochab" in Arabic, which means "The Pole Star".  Has luni-solar tides, and consequent spin axis precession been ongoing forever in 25,800-year cycles?  1,550 of them would cover the last four billion years?  Or is there evidence that planetary catastrophism has disrupted and reorganized luni-solar precession?

The tenth clue is the 360-day calendars, calendars so popular with the ancients on five continents.  And the tenth clue cites their 360-degree circles, also popular with ancient mathematicians and surveyors on three continents.

If the Earth has always had a 365.256-day year, why were 360-day calendars used on every continent and 360-degree circles were also used in China, the Middle East and the Near East?  Perhaps calendars, like other time pieces, can tell a story and if so, what is their message?  Is it that the ancient mathematicians and calendar-makers couldn't count?

The eleventh clue is the mystery clue.

The twelfth clue involves the development of the English language from a variety of ancient languages, including Anglo Saxon, Scandanavian and Germanic languages, French, Latin, Greek and a smattering of other ancient sources.  Their words for Mars included words such as Ares, Baal, Bel, Horus, Indra, Mars, Nergal and the Chinese dragon star.

Perhaps the ancient Greek words for little Deimos and Phobos also have left their imprints in modern English.

How many words in modern English are derived from various ancient words for Mars?  100 words, 200, 300, 400 or even 500 words.  What kind of thoughts or experiences do those Mars-related words suggest?  "March", for instance.  Or "dis-aster" (aster = planet).  Or cat-astro-phe.  "Cata" means thrown downward from the heavens.

What kind of words and thoughts would these modern words in 20th century English tend to convey?  Are these words linguistic vestiges of the Mars-Earth Wars?  Are they linguistic scars of Mars?

This model states that the Moon's position was at "full moon" during the Final Flyby on the night of March 20, 701 B.C.E.  It was the Hebrew Passover, and the Moon always was full on Passover nights.  On the Hebrew Nisan calendar, it was Friday, the 13th of Nisan, our night of March 20.  According to ancient Hebrew literature, each of the twelve months had 30 days.  The night of the 7th was always a new moon, and the night of each "Passover" was always during the full moon in the month of Nisan.

This catastrophic flyby was on the anniversary of a long series of anniversaries of "unlucky" Friday the 13ths.  In the modern era, the myth of bad experiences of this particular night, Friday the 13th, comes down to our age through Hebrew folklore.  It was in an era when cosmic developments of that night really were a bad experience.

The Irish are not to be easily outdone.  Another theme, the Halloween theme, a late October flyby theme, fairly similar, has been passed down from the ancient Celtic druids of Ireland and Great Britain.  This type of flyby coincided with the October case flybys, October 24.

Recently the phase of the Moon was again at full on December 6, 1995.  This is 2,700 years lacking a few months of the Final Flyby.  According to the model, prior to the Final Mars Flyby, the Moon's orbit was in 12:1 resonance with the Earth's old orbit, and 30 days comprised an old month as did 360 days comprise a year.

According to the model, the Moon was about 242,000 miles from the Earth.  The period of the Moon suddenly contracted to 29.53059 days and its average distance became 238,860 miles.

Its new orbit, and orbital period were established, according to the model, on the day immediately after the Mars Flyby, on March 22, 701, as Mars swept through the Earth-Moon system, between the two.  The red planet came about eight times closer to the Earth, at 27,000 miles, than to the Moon, at 215,000 miles.

In this close flyby, the Fire Star, Ares, pulled the Earth-Moon system out over 690,000 miles.  Simultaneously Ares, bane of mortals, pulled the Moon inward, closer to the Earth, by about 3,000 miles.

The Moon's position can be retro-calculated backward to March 20, 701 B.C.E.  When doing this, it is important to know whether the year for "zero" between B.C.E. and AD is counted.  Some do it one way; some the other.  Usually, it is not counted, as is the case here.  Further, in calculations, it is necessary to include an error, a four-year error, made by medieval monks.

THE DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS FACTOR.  Dionysius Exiguus was a medieval monk, who was given the task of resolving a calendar dispute as to the proper date for Easter.  Later research revealed Dionysius had missed four years in assessing the year of Christ's birth.  Many centuries before this error was identified, his dating system for history had come to be accepted.

His error was not revised, in order to minimize confusion.  By the time his error was realized, the sequencing of historical dates for the Roman Empire and for early Christianity had long ago become too widely accepted.  So Dionysius' dates were kept, and mankind was left with a quixotic system.  The accepted system cites that Christ was born in 4 B.C.E., seemingly an impossibility.  Inclusion of the Dionysius factor is essential in any careful analysis.

    The calculations for retro-calculating the Moon's position are as follows.
 

1. March 21, 701 B.C.E. to March 20 1 B.C.E.	700 years
2. March 21, 1 B.C. to March 20, 1 AD	1 year
3. March 21, 1 AD to March 20, 1995	1994 years
4. March 21, 1995 to Dec. 6, 1995	260 days
5. Add 4 years for Dionysius Exiguus	4 years
Total	2,699 years 260 days

The time lapse 2,699 years and 260 days is also 2699.7118 years, which also is 986,087 days.  The Moon's modern period is 29.53059 (synodic).  This day count, 986,087 days, when divided by 29.53059, determines where the Moon was on the night of the Final Waltz. Between these dates, both full moons according to the model, the Moon has made 33,392.05 orbits.  The full moon enjoyed on December 6, 1995 was the 33,391-st full moon since the night of the Final Flyby.

Retro-calculating the position of the Moon to March 21, 701 B.C.E. agrees with the model to within .05 of a day, virtually to the hour.  It also agrees with the ancient Jewish calendar to .05 of a day.  Were this agreement be mere chance, be mere "coincidence", it would be one chance in 30.  Such a coincidence is entirely possible.  Whether or not it is "probable" depends on the evidence quality in the other eleven clues.

This model for 8th century B.C.E. planetary catastrophism holds that the Final Fling between Mars and Venus preceded by about 56 days, plus or minus one, the Final Flyby between Mars and the Earth.  The Mars-Venus flyby expanded the orbit of Mars, and thereby triggered the outside geometry of the Final Waltz of the Earth with Mars.  If the first Mars-Venus flyby was the trigger, then the Mars-Earth flyby was the shot, the explosive event that produced gradualism for Venus, Mars and our planet.

Therefore this date, January 24, +/- 1 day, becomes one of the truly pivotal dates in the history of this Solar System.  The retro-calculating of the position of Venus on January 24, 701 B.C.E. is as follows.

THE STARTING POINT.  On December 8, 1874 there was an occultation, known as a "transit of Venus."  Venus happened to pass directly between the Sun and the Earth.  On that day both were at the same celestial longitude and latitude that particular day.  The Earth, Venus and the Sun were in a straight sight line.

The Earth was at longitude 78 on December 8, 1874.  Therefore, Venus in its orbit also was at longitude 78.  This date and place (78° longitude) locates a "starting point" for retro-calculating the position of Venus back to January 24, 701 B.C.E.

The objective is to retro-calculate and locate Venus in its modern orbit, very early 701 B.C.E.  Part one in this retro-calculation is to locate the position of Venus in late 700 B.C.E.  By calculation the orbit in December 1874 was the 4,190th Venetian orbit since the day Venus seemingly acquired its modern orbit.

By the model, Venus changed from an old orbit period of 226.017716 days down to 224.701 days.  The following is a retro-calculation of the position of Venus back to the 700 B.C.E.

For the preceding 4,190 orbits of Venus, from its 1874 transit, counting in Earth days, the multiplication is 4,190 x 224.701.  The result is 941,497.19 days.  In Earth years, this is 2,577.63 years.  .63 years is also 230.1 Earth days.  Following is the summary.
 
 

1. Dec. 8, 1874 to Dec. 8, 1 AD	1873 years
2. Dec. 8, 1 AD to Dec. 8, l B.C.E. is (There is no year "zero" in this counting system.)	1 year
3. Dec. 8, 1 B.C.E. to Dec. 8, 700 B.C.E.	699 years
4. The Dionysius Exiguus factor	4 years
5. Dec. 8, 700 B.C.E. to April 22, 700 B.C.E.	230 days
6. Total 2,577 years	230 days

A second factor for consideration is transitional time.  The "old calendar" contained 360 days, comprised of twelve months of 30 days each.  (February 29 and 30 were real days to be counted in the old calendar and era.)

From this point, there is a retro-calculation of the position of Venus, two full orbits and 2°, which puts Venus at 76°.  It is 722°.

A. The time Venus needed for 2 orbits and 2°:226.018 days = 452.036 days.  2° of additional travel for Venus is 2/365.256 x 224.701 = 1.23 days.  452.036 days + 1.23 days = 453.266 days

B. If 224.701 days, the modern period of Venus is used, the calculations are:224.701 x 2 = 449.402 days.  Add 1.23days for Venus to advance 2°.The total is 450.63 days

C. The average between these two values for the transitional orbit of Venus is 451.948 days

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Forward calculating for Venus is as follows:
 

a. January 24 to March 21, 701 B.C.E.        (counting 28 days for February)	56 days
b. March 21 to April 21, 701 B.C.E.	31 days
c. April 21, 701 B.C.E. to April 21, 700 B.C.E	365 days
d. Total - also	452 days

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thus, it retro-calculates that Venus was at 76° on January 24, 701 B.C.E., plus or minus 1 day.  While the date is not known with precision, it is likely that the last celestial polka between Mars and Venus occurred on January 24, 701 B.C.E.  January 23 and January 25 are possible.

The velocity of Mars as it went into its polka with Venus was approximately 97,100 mph.  (Its velocity at its old perihelion nearby was slightly more, at 99,710 mph).

A COMPARISON - THE LAST POLKA AND THE FINAL WALTZ.  Figure 23 (chapter 9) illustrates the geometry of the Final Fling of Mars with Venus, an inside flyby for Mars.  Figure 24 illustrates the geometry of the Final Waltz of the Mars with the Earth, an outside flyby.

ENERGY.  This model affirms that the Final Fling between Mars and Venus was only 64.82% as energetic as was the Final Waltz between Mars and the Earth.  It was -.086479 energy units versus +.133424 units.

ANGULAR MOMENTUM.  Similarly, there was 40.63% as much angular momentum exchanged during the Martian Final Fling with Venus compared to its Last Waltz with the Earth.  It was -.008514 vs. +.020954 momentum units.

DISTANCE.  The distance of the last Mars-Earth Waltz is estimated at 27,000 miles, center to planet center.  The distance of the Final Mars-Venus Fling is estimated at 29,300 miles.  The Final Fling was only 8.5% more distant.

Figure 25 illustrates the old orbit of Mars versus the new orbit of Mars.  The old orbit of Mars has the longer "x" axis, a greater length.  The new orbit of Mars has a longer "y" axis, a greater width.  The old orbit of Mars had an eccentricity of .561 and swept out about 6% more space.  The new orbit of Mars rounded out to an eccentricity of .093.  The old orbit of Mars went out to the asteroid belt; the new orbit of Mars has ceased bothering either the Earth or Venus.

After the last Mars-Venus fling, 56 days later, plus or minus one, Mars assaulted the Earth, energetically but on the wrong side to maintain resonance.  It was uniquely on the outside, farther from the Sun.  The velocity of the red planet, as it began its last waltz with the Earth, was approximately 80,000 mph.  The Earth's velocity was approximately 66,000 mph.  Thus Mars lapped the Earth in space once again, but it would be the last time.

As was just mentioned, the span of time for Mars between the last polka, approximately January 24, to the last waltz with the Earth, late on March 20, was 56 days, plus or minus 1.  Put another way, the Mars-Earth waltz occurred between 1,340 hours and 1,350 hours later than the Mars-Venus polka.  The year 701 B.C.E. was a popular year for celestial dances, and this year was the finale.

CAUSE I.  One cause for Mars lapping the Earth on the wrong side was that it gained a significant energy from its inside flyby of Venus.  Mars acquired enough additional energy to expand its orbit.  Therefore it lapped the Earth on the outside instead of the inside.  Thus the Mars-Venus Fling was the trigger for the scenario; it (on January 24, 701 B.C.E.) was the beginning of the end for the Catastrophic Era.

CAUSE II.  The second cause was the process of unraveling resonance.  Computer analysis indicates that any outside flyby of the Earth will threaten to disrupt resonance.  An energetic flyby will destroy resonance.  Resonance was unraveled when Mars lapped the Earth on the "wrong" side.  Mars had to make an inside (Sunward side) flyby for resonance to continue and the catastrophic era to be perpetuated.  This time Mars didn't.  Its pattern changed, bringing the end of an era.

CAUSE III.  Another major factor in rounding out the orbit of Mars was Jupiter.  Formerly, Jupiter (Zeus) played the role of holding Mars in resonance.  Now out of resonance, Jupiter's gravity was a bigger factor than the Earth's gravity in forcing the orbit of Mars to circularize, to round out.  See the Rudolphine Tables, XI, XII and especially Table XIII.

It should be added that this produced both positive and negative effects for life on the surface of the Earth.  On the Earth's surface, short run, the catastrophic damage ceased, and this is the good news.

The bad news is that the dynamo of the Earth's geomagnetic field (Mars flybys) went dead.  The geomagnetic sheath protects life on the Earth's surface from the actinic (short wave) radiation from the Sun.  The geomagnetic field now has a half life of 1,350 years.  In 701 B.C.E., its strength was 1.2 Gauss.  Presently its strength is down to .3 Gauss, and will become .075 Gauss by 4700 AD  Thus the days for life as we know it on the Earth's surface are numbered.  Scientists need to understand this.

This study points out that a retro-calculation of the position of the planet Venus has been done.  It indicates that in January of 701 B.C.E., on or about January 24, at the 76th longitude, the two orbits of Venus and Mars crossed.  On this date, Venus was there and Mars also was there.  Mars was on the inside; their closest distance was about 29,300 miles.  Mars, the faster, lapped Venus from the inside, the sunward side.

First, this retro-calculation of the position of Venus agrees to within 1 day with the model of the Venus location.

Venus advances about 1.6° in one day.  This intersection is the 76th celestial longitude, where Venus was on January 24, 701 B.C.E.  Allowing for a margin for error of one day, this produces a 3.2-degree zone in the orbit of Venus.  A retro-calculation of the modern orbit of Venus back to January 24, 701 B.C.E. agrees closely with the model.

Second, the chance of a retro-calculation of the Venusian modern orbit agreeing within one day with the model "by chance" is 360 divided by 3.2 or conservatively, one chance in l00.

In clue # 1, the chance of agreement by retro-calculation of the Moon's position was one chance in 30.  The corporate chance that both the Moon and Venus agreeing is one chance, or coincidence, in 3,000.  The chance for "coincidence" becomes somewhat weaker.

It is clear that this model of the old orbits of Mars, Venus and the Earth in Catastrophic Era CAN BE VALID ONLY IF THE TRANSITION MECHANISM WORKS IN ALL OF ITS PARTS.  So far, the parts are beginning to "add up."

The third interesting solar system condition to be noted involves the orbit of Venus, and its semi-major axis.  The modern perihelion of Venus is located at the 131st celestial longitude.  Its aphelion is at 311°.

The 131st longitude in the orbit of Venus coincides with the place in space where the old, catastrophic Mars exited from Venusian orbit space.  Mars exited from the Earth's orbit space at the 180th longitude, which is our vernal equinox.

It is suggested that the very first Mars-Venus catastrophe, whenever it took place, was at longitude 131.  It reorganized the semi-major axis of the orbit of Venus, an orbit which is close to circular.

By way of a parallel thought, it also is probable that the very first of the Mars-Earth flybys, whenever it occurred, was a March case flyby, on March 20-21, at longitude 179 or 180.  That is where Mars put its first torque on the Earth's spin axis.

Ever since, the spin axis has been tilted so that its anniversary, March 20-21 has been the Earth's vernal equinox.  March 20-21 was then and still is the first day of spring.  It is one of the two days in the year when there is exactly twelve hours of sunlight in both hemispheres.  (The other day is September 21, the first day of autumn).  Thus it is suspected that Mars in its catastrophic orbit organized both the Venusian perihelion and the Earth's vernal equinox, which also was the Hebrew Passover and the Roman tubulustrium.

It appears now that the mechanism for the placement of the perihelion of Venus, at 131°, ALSO IS A RELIC OF THE ANCIENT MARS-VENUS WARS.  This perihelion location is just as much a relic of the Mars-Venus Wars as are the scars on the surface of Venus, which also were Mars-induced.

It would never occur to a gradualist in astronomy that Mars orchestrated the perihelion of Venus.  A gradualist has no reason to ask the key question.  On the other hand, to a planetary catastrophist studying this model and the orbit of Venus, the orchestration of the Venusian perihelion by the catastrophic Mars verges on the obvious.

How do the traditionalists and gradualists explain this geometry of the Venusian orbit.  The question has never surfaced until this time, until recognition of Clue 3.  Explaining perihelion locations have not been a concern of gradualism.  In the literature of astronomy, nowhere in the last 200 years has there been any explanation for the location of the perihelion of Venus, pointing to the 131st longitude.  Until now.

Similarly, in all the literature of astronomy, there still (in 1996) IS no explanation that the Roche Limit of Mars caused the fragmented of Astra, creating the asteroids - and creating the Clobbered Hemisphere of Mars.  Leaders in astronomy, highly intelligent to be sure, still are not asking the right questions.

The perihelion of Venus could be positioned at the place in space where Mars exited Venusian space, just "by chance," within 2° of either one of the two locations where Mars crossed the Venusian orbit.  The chance of the Venusian perihelion aligning by coincidence with either one of the two ancient Venus-Mars intersection sites is a pair of four-degree chances.  It is eight chances in 360, or one chance in 45.  The corporate odds for all three clues being "coincidence" rises from one chance in 3,000 to one chance in 135,000, conservatively calculating.

It is apparent from "The Shield of Herakles" that Hesiod saw the last polka of Venus and Mars (to him, a celestial war between Pallas Athene and Ares).  He wrote about their celestial tiff, so he probably saw it, even though, at Thebes Greece, he was some 40,000,000 miles distant.

It would be the red planet's last tryst in space with Pallas Athene.  However, as Hesiod saw and reported correctly, it was a celestial war between a fast, fired up, furious, impassioned Mars with a "scowling, gray-eyed" Pallas Athene.  (Greeks had gender for their planets, masculine for Mars, feminine for Venus.  He also portrayed the cloudy Venus as "gray-eyed," interestingly and in a sense, accurately).

Apparently, a powerful electrical flux tube formed between the two planets, possibly of over 100,000 volts.  Lightning strikes swept between their surfaces for 10 or 15 hours.  If so, it was similar to the "current" current in the flux tube actively and constantly flowing between Jupiter and its closest satellite, Io.  Io is 255,000 miles from Jupiter, center to center.

The strength of the ongoing flux tube for electricity between Io and Jupiter has been estimated.  If those estimates are correct, it flows constantly at 400,000 volts, 5 million amps, two trillion amps.  The flux tube between Ares and Pallas Athene may have been less intense; it may have been more intense.

When lightning strikes, characteristically there is produced a crater with a small "hump" or rise in the center, at the strike site.  Reportedly, there are many such "humps" in craters on the surface of Venus.  If there was a flux tube between Venus and Mars, it would have lasted only 10 to 15 hours, when the two planets were in close proximity.  If so, at 100,000 volts or more, it would have lit up both the surface of Mars and its cometary tail of Mars like a Christmas tree with 1,000 bulbs.

Today, an ongoing 400,000-volt flux tube flows across 255,000 miles of space between Io, the innermost Jovian satellite, and Jupiter.  It is across a vacuum and normally lightning does not like vacuums.  Jupiter is 390 times bigger than Venus, and it spins very rapidly, in less than 10 hours.  Io may create vast amounts of friction within the rapidly-rotating Jupiter.

But on the other hand, Mars was eight times more massive than is Io, and on its final fling, at 29,300 miles, it was also momentarily eight times closer to Venus than is Io to Jupiter.

Thus our estimate of a series of 100,000 volt electrical discharges between Ares and Pallas Athene could be conservative.  The Io-Jupiter flux tube was first photographed by Pioneer 10 and 11, l972 and l973.

If such a Venus-Mars flux tube suddenly appeared, it was due to sudden sub-crustal friction produced by each planet's gravity disturbing the fluid molecules in the internal regions of the other planet.

Clearly, Hesiod described an "aegis of Venus" when Pallas Athene got in the way of Mars.  Unclearly, no translator of Hesiod understands what an "aegis" was, much less a flux tube, and much less the cometary tail of Mars, the "Fleece of Aries."  Modern translators have no modern word for "aegis" so they use this Greek word without knowing its definition, or the background relating thereto.  Thus it is that the "aegis of Venus", like the craters of former lightning discharges, is another of the many scars of Mars.

In ancient Greek literature, the cometary tail of Aries was well-known.  In color, the Fleece of Aries was somewhat silvery in color, somewhat golden, and always spectacular.  On the light of these developments, it is known that Venus today has a thick gray atmosphere.  Interesting it is that Hesiod described Pallas Athene as "gray-eyed."  Once again, whether by chance or not, Hesiod as an ancient reporter, deserved a Pulitzer prize.

Perhaps this same "apparition," the cometary, wavy tail of Mars also was seen in the land of Israel.  Mars had ices effervescing off only one hemisphere, its Eastern Hemisphere.  Its ices effervesced in twelve-hour cycles.  To the Hebrews, its cometary tail was seen and described as the fluttering wings of the destructive, dreaded Angel of the Lord.  Wings of birds flap in cycles as apparently did the cometary tail of Mars.

Cometary tails today typically feature a twin symmetry in their tails, or "wings."  Usually, with short term icy comet tails, the right side flutters in lock step and in mirror image with the left side.  So it was that the fluttering, cometary tail of Ares resembled angel's wings just as much as it resembled the fleece of Aries (Ares).
 

Listen to the words of our Greek eye witness:
But now Athene, daughter of Zeus of the aegis came to stand in the path of Ares,
Herself wearing the gloomy aegis.
She looked scowling terribly at him and spoke with winged words,
"Ares, stay now your fury and power, and your hands invincible; ...
So she spoke, but could not persuade the great heart in Ares, but he, screaming aloud, flourishing his spear like a flame, rapidly made his rush against the powerful Herakles, furious to kill him ...
But gray-eyed Athene, reaching out of the chariot, turned aside the shock of the spearhead. [n1]

The most important city in Attica then was Athens, a city named after Pallas Athene.  In time, it became the capital city of Greece, and still is.  Greek cosmic mythology casts Pallas Athene in the role of a "protectress" of Hera, the Earth.  Hera and Athene were sister planets, both having endured assaults by Ares.

The conflict between Athene and Ares in January, 701 B.C.E., turned violent.  Ares hurled fierce lightning bolts at Athene, and being bigger than Ares, apparently Athene hurled them right back.  Again, Hesiod seems to have had it right.

As it turns out in Hesiod's "The Shield of Herakles," the first scene has Ares attacking gray-eyed Pallas Athene.  But it was only the first act of a two act cosmic play ... a two act celestial drama.  The second act was fireworks between Hera and Ares.  According to the translator of Hesiod, Lattimore, Hesiod wrote at the turn of the 8th century B.C. and this model agrees.  Isaiah lived then also.

Hesiod mentions the steeds of Ares in one way or another some 20 times in 480 lines of description.  Phobos is less than 20 miles in its longest diameter and Deimos is less than 10 miles.  Hesiod had their number right, two.  He had their timing right, accompanying Mars during a Mars flyby.  He had their color right, black.  He had their speed right, a rapid rush (see line 452, The Shield of Herakles).

Hesiod's description is remarkable, but it would be even more remarkable IF Mars has not been nearby, in flyby phase.  Gradualist astronomers are leaders for at least 98 of the cosmology taught today.  Perhaps 1.9% aren't so sure.  The leaders of ex nihilo creationism account for perhaps 0.1%.

Usually gradualists and ex nihilo creationists disagree on everything, especially when the dawn of Earth history occurred - 10,000 or 4.6 billion years ago.  Regardless of when that was, those leaders are united in that, since the dawn of history, whenever it occurred, Mars has never been closer than 30,000,000 miles either to our planet or to Venus.  Furthermore Mars has never been that close to the asteroid belt either.  So the question is whether or not Hesiod saw the celestial scenes that he described.

In retro-calculating the orbit of Venus, the orbit of Venus shifted sunward only 314,000 miles.  Venus has the velocity to make this shift in a few hours or days.  Mars, on the other hand, shifted inward to an orbit averaging 141,600,000 miles but it last buzzed the Earth, at 92,250,000 miles.

The question is "Where was Mars on March 20, 701 B.C.E."?  The retro-calculation of the position of Mars to March 20, 701 B.C.E., is as follows.  Michelsen's Heliocentric Ephemeris places Mars at 10° Virgo on March 20, 1995. [n2]  This position cited by Michelsen is also 160° longitude.
 

1. March 21, 701 B.C.E. to March 20, 1 B.C.E.  -  700 years

2. March 21, 1 B.C.E. to March 20, 1 AD  -  1 year

3. March 21, 1 AD to March 20, 1995 AD  -   l994 years

4. Add 4 years for the medieval monk  -  4 years

            Total     2,699.000 orbits or years

5. In 2,699 Earth years, at 365.256 days per year, there are 985,826 days.

6. The modern period of Mars is 686.979 days.

7. Dividing 985,826 days by the modern period of Mars, 686.979, there have been 1,435.0l8 Mars years in 2,699 Earth years.

8. In retro-calculating the orbit of Mars, assuming no other factors were present, it back calculates to 154°.  The model has Mars at 180° on March 21, 701 B.C.E.  Mars is slow by 26°.

9. Mars advances .524° per day (360/686.978). 26°/.524 equals 49+ days.  If this model is correct, 49 days is the amount time Mars required to find its new orbit.  37 or 38 days was taken by Mars getting to its modern orbit.  This leaves 12 or 13 days to be charged to other causes.

10. At an average speed of 55,000 mph, to travel 49,300,000 miles, Mars would require 896 hours, or 37+5 days just to traverse the distance to its new orbit, if it proceeded directly.  Such is unlikely, and a longer route is more likely, requiring a few more days.

A direct path accounts for 37 of the 48 days that Mars is short in actuality versus by the model.  The rest, another 11 days, may have been consumed in "touring," approaching its new orbit but not by the shortest distance.

Mars advances .524° per day.  To be cautious, perhaps was 11 days slow from our calculations.  11 days is 6°.  For the model to be within 6° by retro-calculation, it is (360/6) one chance in 60.

Were this model without merit, Mars could just happen to be in the appropriate zone, Virgo, in March 1995, had it been orbiting in its modern orbit for billions of years, and were gradualism a fact of science.  It would be one chance in 60 that the model just happens to retro-calculate well.

Corporately, including cases 1 through 3, it was found that the probability of coincidence was 1:30 x 1:100 x 1:45, or one chance in 135,000.  Add the retro-calculation of Mars, one chance in 60.  For the first four clues, or conditions to align this well with the model, 30 x 100 x 45 x 60, it is one chance in 8,100,000.  Chance is fading as an alibi.

In this Solar System, many of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn are in various orbital resonances.  2:1 is the most common resonance.  Europa and Ganymede are an example, as are Ganymede and Callisto.  Mimas-Tethys, Enceladus-Dione are also examples.  The period of the orbit of Mercury is in 3:2 resonance with its own spin rate.  Pluto is in 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune.

A few of the asteroids still are in resonance with Jupiter.  The Trojan asteroids, for instance, are in 1:1 resonance.  Three asteroids are in 2:1 resonance, China, Clematis and Griqua by name.  The semi-major axes of these three asteroids line up parallel on a head to toe basis with Jupiter's semi-major axis.

There is one asteroid in 3:1 resonance with Jupiter, Alinda by name.  Alinda has an average orbit period of 1,444.2 days; Jupiter's period is 4,332.6 days, exactly three times longer than Alinda's period average.  The relationship of the semi-major axes of Alinda and Jupiter are of special interest.  They are perpetually perpendicular.  3:1 resonance aligns this way.  Apparently 6:1 resonance also aligns perpendicularly.  Mars had 6:1 resonance with Jupiter.

It is apparent that in the Catastrophic Era, the semi-major axes of the Earth and Mars were aligned parallel, just like the 2:1 asteroids with Jupiter.  What is not apparent, but is true, is that both the axes of Mars and the Earth together, in the Catastrophic Era, aligned perpendicularly with Jupiter, just like Alinda.  There is evidence.

THE MODERN ORBITS OF THE EARTH AND JUPITER.  Could it be that these two major axes of their orbits were in a perpendicular relationship?  What is the geometry of their two semi-major axes in the modern age?  The Earth's modern orbit is 365.256365 days.  Jupiter's orbit is 4332.59 days.  Today this ratio is 11.86 so they are no longer in resonance.

But if the Earth were to have had an ancient orbit of 361.1 modern days, they would have been in 12:1 resonance, with Mars at 722.2 days simultaneously in 6:1 resonance with Jupiter.  At 365.256 days for the Earth's orbit, they no longer are in resonance.  At 361.1 new days or 360 old days, they were, at 12:1.

Perhaps it seems complicated to the general reader, but it is all really very simple.  In this era, the major axis of Jupiter's orbit is 13.6°, and it was the same in the Catastrophic Era.  The Earth's orbit in the modern age is 102.2°.  The difference between Jupiter's alignment and the Earth's today is 88.6°.  This is only 1.4° from a perfect 90°, perfect right angles.  The semi-major axes of the Earth and Jupiter still are virtually perpendicular.

If one asks where the perihelion of the Earth's orbit was in the Catastrophic Era, the answer is simple.  It was half way between the October case flyby, October 24, and the March case flyby, March 20.  This was 146 days, half of which is 73 days.  73 days from either flyby date, assuming all months had 30 days, was late January 5 or early January 6.

But today, some months have 31 days and one has 28.  On today's calendar, the old perihelion would have been midday of January .  In our era, it is January 3.  This is another indication that when Mars yanked the Earth outward about 616,000 miles, it also yanked the Earth backward.  Had it not been, the semi-major axes of the Earth and Jupiter today would be in perfect right angles, as they were in the Catastrophic Era.  Figure 26 illustrates.

Gradualism dogmatists will allege that Jupiter's semi-major axis is nearly perpendicular with the Earth, by coincidence.  Planetary catastrophists know better.  It is just one more vestige, or relic of the Catastrophic Era.  It is in the same category as the orientation of the Venusian perihelion to the exit site where Mars crossed its orbit.

What is the chance that by coincidence, Jupiter's and the Earth's semi-major axis align today within 1.4° of right angles?  Conservatively, it is six chances in 360, or 1 in 64.

The corporate chance that the first four clues were all coincidences (30 x 100 x 45 x 50) was about one chance in 8,100,000.  Multiply by 64.  For all five of these clues to be coincidence, such would be the case once in 518,400,000, or approximately 500,000,000 times.  "Chance" is becoming a poor if not an impossible explanation.

On the night of March 20-21, 1955 AD, Jupiter entered into the 5th degree of Gemini, which is longitude 245.  Jupiter's period is 4334.649423 years.  Calculations for the locating place in space on the flyby night for Jupiter on March 21, 701 B.C.E. are as follows.

1. March 20-21, 701 B.C.E. to March 20-21, 1995 was 2,699 years.

2. 2,699 modern Earth years = 985,827 days.

3. On March 20-21, 1995 Jupiter was at 245° longitude.

4. The year (orbit) of Jupiter is 4334.65905 days, per Table XIII.
    (The Internet fact sheet gives the orbit of Jupiter as 4334.319763 days).

5. 985,827 days / 4334.653907 = 227.4292 orbits.

6. .4292 orbit x 360° = 154.5°.

7. 245° - 154.5° = 90 or 91°.

The conclusion is that on the night of the Final Flyby, Mars and the Earth were waltzing at 180°, just entering the Final Flyby.  At the same time, Jupiter was entering the zone of Capricorn, 90° behind the Earth's position, at right angles to the Earth and Mars, in a year with a catastrophe on schedule.

This means that Jupiter was in the position of being precisely perpendicular to the Earth (and Mars) during the Final Flyby.  108 is divisible by 12.  It will be demonstrated in Volume III that March catastrophes were periodic; that period was 108 years to the day, nearly to the hour.  Since 108 is divisible by 12, then the position of Jupiter was precisely perpendicular to the Earth and Mars during each and every March case flyby.  This touch of geometry blends beautifully with resonance orbit theory.

Ancient Greek cosmology had Zeus, or Jupiter, as the choreographer of the cosmos.  No doubt this is a result of earlier Chaldean cosmology, to which the Greeks fell heir.  The Greeks, and the Chaldeans had it right.  Modern gradualists have been oblivious to it all.

Resonance theory predicts that Jupiter, or "Zeus-pater" should be perpendicular in position, at right angles to the Mars-Earth flybys, including the last waltz.  This retro-calculation of the position of Jupiter agrees with resonance theory.  Jupiter was where resonance theory predicts it should have been.

Retro-calculation of orbits back to the catastrophic year 701 B.C.E. has been completed.  The Moon has been back tracked and its position agrees.  The position for Venus has also, as have been positions for Mars and Jupiter.  They all backtrack well, very well.

There is another interesting clue of the former arrangement of the orbit of Mars.  This clue is in the asteroid belt, the spray of asteroids out where Mars and Astra once roamed.  When Astra fragmented on the red planet's Roche Limit, some 65% to 70% of the fragments missed Mars, and also avoided orbiting around Mars.  They began to orbit the Sun.  Such was the genesis of the asteroid belt.

As of 1996, more than 5,000 asteroids have been detected.  Of them, the orbits for 1,000 are known.  It is the distribution of those asteroids to which attention now is turned.  Perturbations, largely from Jupiter but some low level ones, also perhaps from Saturn and Uranus, have rearranged the asteroids.  Once they were in a spray distribution, but it is no longer so.  Today they are in zones, with clusters and gaps.  Figure 27 illustrates.

Note in Figure 27 that there are clusters of asteroids at certain resonances with Jupiter.  The Trojan asteroids are two clumps that have settled in at 300 arc seconds, in 1:1 resonance with Jupiter.  Another cluster is at 3:2.  This is the same resonance as Neptune-Pluto.

However, of more significance are the gaps in the distribution of the asteroids.  Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have created gaps at certain resonances.  Four of the most prominent gaps in asteroid distribution are found at the following resonances: (a) 2:1 at 600 arc seconds, (b) 7:3 at 700 arc seconds, (c) 5:2 at 750 arc seconds and (d) 3:1 at 900 arc seconds.  Collectively, the gaps in the asteroid distribution are known as the Kirkwood Gaps.

Attention is now directed to the 2:1 gap.  Asteroids have piled up in a cluster on either side of this gap.  Only three asteroids remain in 2:1 resonance, the aforementioned China, Clematis and Griqua.  Of the two clusters, the inner cluster has piled up at a maximum at 570 arc seconds and the outer cluster's maximum is at 630 arc seconds.

In both cases, the new clusters peak at being out of resonance by 5%.  This is where the new equilibrium occurs.  It is difficult for an asteroid to leave resonance by just 1% or 2% or even 3% because Jupiter pulls it back into resonance.  When asteroids go out of resonance with Jupiter at the 2:1 gap, they go out of resonance by 4%, 5% or 6%.This is their new stability is zone.

Now, attention is turned to the old orbit of Mars, its catastrophic orbit, and its period.  It was in 6:1 resonance with Jupiter and simultaneously was in 2:1 resonance with the Earth, but due to the Final Flyby, its intensity and its unique geometry, resonance unraveled and Mars found a new orbit.  Mars found its new orbit period at 94.98% of its ancient orbit (686.978 vs. 723.257). See Table XIII, page 3, column 2.

What does this reflect?  It reflects that when Mars left resonance with the Earth, and with Jupiter, it assumed a new stable orbit with a period just like the cluster of asteroids at 570 arc seconds.  It is short of resonance by 5.02 % of its period.

By this example and Figure 27, Mars has a new orbit.  Whether or not it went out of resonance with Jupiter, it certainly appears like it did.  The 2:1 gap in the asteroids is only one gap; other gaps occur at 7:3 5:2 and 3:1.  As is indicated in Figure 27, the name for these gaps is "The Kirkwood Gaps."

The asteroid gaps have various names.  The name given to the 2:1 gap is the Hecuba Gap.  In Greek mythology, Hecuba was the wife of King Priam, and the mother of such noted children as Hector, Paris, Helen, etc.

To make a long story short, Mars found its new orbit at a period just like the asteroids that also have left 2:1 resonance with Jupiter.  Compared with Jupiter's orbit, the red planet's orbit now is 15.85% of Jupiter's orbit.  The ancient 6:1 resonance period was 16.67%.  16.667 divided by 15.85 is at 6:1 resonance.  16.667 divided by l5.85% is 105.17%.  Mars is now, 5% out of resonance with both Jupiter at 6:1 and with the Earth at 2:1.

To make a quick conclusion, if the orbit of Mars did not go out of resonance with the Earth's orbit, and with Jupiter's orbit, its orbit certainly looks as if it did.

Judging by the paucity of asteroids in the 2:1 resonance, and the numerous asteroids at about 5% one either side, it is judged that the chance that Mars never shifted into a new orbit from a former orbit, since the dawn of history, is estimated at one chance in ten.

At the end of clue # 6, the corporate chance for coincidence was calculated at one possibility in 500,000,000.  Multiplying by 10, the corporate chance for all seven clues cited thus far is one possibility in five billion.  This is one occasion in 5,000,000,000 for "gradualistic chance" to be a reasonable explanation.  The standard, traditional menu is not good science.  The number 5,000,000,000 is chances, not years.

So far, attention has been directed to various orbits such as the orbit of the Moon, the Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the asteroids.  Changing now, clues 8 and 9 are directed toward the Earth's spin axis and the spin axis of Mars.

As was demonstrated in The Recent Organization of the Solar System, the spin rates are very similar, 1,436 minutes to 1,477.  As was demonstrated in chapter 8, the tilt of these two spin axes also are similar.  The tilts are 23.44° to 23.98°.  The similarity of spin rate is 97.2% (spin axis rate) and 97.7% (spin axis tilt).

In Chapter 8, the conclusion was made that Mars-Earth torques occurred ALTERNATELY AND IN THE OPPOSITE SECTORS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE ORBITS.  The two locations were March 20-21 and October 27.  The longitudes were 180 and 33°.  Indication are that the first Mars torque on the Earth was at the March 20-21 orbital location, and all subsequent March case flybys were odd-numbered.  The second Mars-Earth flyby was at the October 24 site where Mars also crossed the Earth's orbit.  All even numbered torques, beginning with two, were October cases.

Theoretically a 22.5-degree spin axis tilt is the ideal compromise angle under this scenario; it is half way between 0°, the most restful angle, and 45°, the most chaotic angle.  At 22.5° is the most restful compromise angle.  Both Mars and the Earth experienced energetic yanks of the final flyby.  Even so, both spin axis tilts are close to that ideal compromise angle.  This explanation for the twin angles of their tilts is the only explanation in the literature of astronomy.

How could these two phenomena occur by chance?  It is estimated that for each planet, there is one chance in 20 of their being by chance close to this ideal compromise angle.  In the light of the Mars-Earth Wars, the chance for these two tilts being twinned is astronomical; conservatively it is 20 squared, or one in 400.

The corporate chance for all eight clues being "coincidence" is 30 x 100 x 45 x 60 x 64 x 10 x 400.  This is approximately one chance in 2 trillion.

In popular mystery stories, the more incidental and inconspicuous the clue, the better the mystery and the surprise ending.  So it has been with Sherlock Holmes mysteries and Perry Mason performances.

So it is with the twin tilts in Clue # 8.  Reciprocal, alternating torques between Mars and the Earth is the first and only explanation ever given in the history of astronomy for this twin phenomena.  So it was with Clue # 3, etc.  New thought and a new paradigm is needed for astronomy and cosmology, which is the history of the Solar System.

And so it is with the precession of the Earth's spin axis, clue # 9.  In astronomy, the fixed stars are the most remote of phenomena, making this is a remote clue.  In the past few centuries, the spin axis has pointed to Polaris, the North Star (Ursae Minoris).  This star is 400 light years distant and puts out 1,700 times as much light as the Sun.  Did the spin axis point to Polaris in 1,000 AD?  No.  In the time of Isaiah, Hesiod and Sennacherib?  No.

Precession of the spin axis addresses when and where the axis points in its circle among the fixed stars.  The spin axis makes a grand circle requiring 25,800 years.  It advances 1° every 71.667 years, about 1° in a life time.

Our best ancient sources indicate the ancient Greeks and Chaldeans had only 44 constellations, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere.

Today, and for the last 2,000 years, the north end of the Earth's spin axis points in general to Polaris, the North Star.  Has the spin axis of the North Pole always pointed to Polaris?  No.

Did it point to Polaris 2,700 years ago, in the age of Isaiah, Sennacherib and Hesiod?  No.  Then, the spin axis pointed to Beta Ursae Minoris, or Kochab.  Kochab in Arabic means "Pole Star."  Where will it point 7,000 years from now?  Cepheus.  Why?

The Moon's gravity pulls on the Earth, but not equally.  The attraction is stronger on the equatorial bulge region, because the Earth is not a perfect sphere and there is about 1% more mass in the equatorial bulge zone.  The Earth's equatorial diameter is 26 miles greater than is its polar (and spin axis) diameter.  Thus the Moon puts a slightly stronger torque on the equatorial bulge.  The Sun does also.

Because torques shift at perpendicular angles to the direction of the torque, the Earth's spin axis shifts 90° away from the direction of the Moon's torque.  This force is called "lunar precession."

The Sun also pulls unequally on the Earth's equatorial bulge.  Because of its greater distance, the Sun's force of attraction is slightly less than half of that generated by the Moon, but always, both forces work together.  Their joint effect on the Earth's spin axis is termed "luni-solar precession."

However, there is also a third kind of precession, seldom considered as it is so tiny; it is "planetary precession".  Planetary precession is caused by the remote planets, Jupiter, Saturn et al.  This force is so minute it usually can be ignored.  It is ignored because it is a minute effect in the present age, and it is assumed that what occurs in the present age also occurred in the past age.  Wrong.  In the past age, planetary precession was caused during the l08-year period of Mars flybys.  It was sudden and was far greater than was luni-solar precession.

Due to luni-solar precession, the spin axis precesses slowly eastward.  It requires 71.67 years, about an average life time, for the spin axis to precess one degree.  In 25,800 years, the spin axis precesses a full circle in the heavens, 360°.  Polaris has been the North Star for some 2,000 years.  In 27,000 AD, Polaris once again will become the North Star.

However, overlooked by the astronomical community, during the Mars-Earth Wars era, planetary precession, caused by Mars flybys, overwhelmed all luni-solar precession.  Mars planetary precession continually reset the spin axis back to where Kochab was.  So Kochab continued to be the Pole Star for thousands of years, for the entire Catastrophic Era.

Through it all, one relatively tiny dim star of 4.2 magnitude remained as always being the first star on the eastern horizon at the moment of dawn of March 21, the vernal equinox.

The name of that small star is Mesartim.  In ancient times, Mars-Earth Wars came and went.  Latitudes could shift.  Climates could change.  Killer quakes could recur.  Oceanic tides could overwhelm continental shores and sweep far inland.  The crust could upthrust.  Volcanoes could erupt and re-erupt during the next Mars flyby.  Once an ice dump came, dumping celestially cold ice over our planet's two magnetic polar regions.

Cities or farmlands could be struck with celestial lightning.  The cardinal directions could shift.  The shadows on sun dials could relocate.  But Mesartim continued faithful as the first star on the horizon at dawn, on the vernal equinox.  It and the other fixed stars were about the only thing in the cosmos that didn't shift, shake, swell or spark.

Reference is made to Mesartim's small constellation.  It is a modest, four-star constellation named "Aries."  Aries is not large as constellations go, and its stars are not as numerous as stars are in other constellations.  Its stars are not especially bright.  But, like the month of January on the calendar, the constellation Aries it is well-placed.

This constellation is both the first and the leading constellation in the zone of Aries.  Aries gives its name to an entire 30-degree sector of the fixed stars, the first slice of the zodiac.  So, the zone of Aries, like January on the calendar, is the first zone in the zodiac.  The constellation Aries is like the first week of January.  The star Mesartim was well placed, like New Year's Day, the first star of the new year.

In the constellation of Aries there are only four stars, including Sheratan, magnitude 2.7, Hamal, magnitude 2.0 and Mesartim, a dim star, magnitude 4.2.  Sheratan is the Arabic word for "sign".  Hamal is the Arabic word for "sheep".  Mesartim, the dimmest of the four, in Arabic means an especially fat ram.  Mesartim, like January 1st on the calendar, is the first point of Aries.

Hamal, the Arabic word for "sheep, is the brightest in this small constellation, and has a magnitude of 2.0.  It is sufficiently bright and prominent that navigators on ocean-going ships and submarines do use Hamal for determining location in the middle of the ocean at night.

Mesartim is both a dim star and a double star.  In modern times, astronomers have discovered that it is actually a double star, one star virtually overlapping on top of the other.  Together, their magnitude is only 4.2.  Mesartim is not notable for its brightness.  It is notable for its location.  It is the first star in the 4-star constellation, Aries.  Aries is the lead constellation in the 30-degree zone of Aries.  The zone of Aries is the in the lead of twelve zones of the zodiac.

What is even more interesting and significant is that Mesartim ALWAYS WAS the "First Point of Aries," UNTIL AFTER 701 B.C.E.  That was when Mars flybys ceased, and that was when planetary precession of the spin axis also ceased.

Aries is the leading constellation in the first zone of the zodiac.  THUS MESARTIM HAS ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN AS THE FIRST POINT OF ARIES since the dawn of Sumer and its zodiac.  The zodiac, their map of the heavens, is the earliest idea from ancient pre-flood Sumer of which the modern age is aware.

In 1991, in our serene age of gradualism, Mesartim was listed in Bowditch's Book of Navigation Charts as being at 328°.F4 Hamal is at 332°.  But in ancient times, Mesartim was always at 1° and Hamal at 5°.  The positions of Hamal and Mesartim have shifted due to luni-solar precession over the last 2,700 years.  They have shifted from the leading edge of Aries through Pisces and into Aquarius.

Mesartim was so important to the ancients because it always was the star on the horizon at dawn on March 21, the vernal equinox, the first day of spring and a new year.

Astronomers fail to recognize ancient Mars-induced planetary spin axis precession.  Repeatedly, it overwhelmed the slow, ongoing luni-solar precession.  Ancient literature, which is to the contrary of gradualism, is ignored.

Ancient sun dials, sun caves, sun spirals and other ancient devices for determining changes in latitude and changes in the cardinal directions, are not understood, and hence are usually ignored.  Relocating the cardinal directions is what the remodeling of Stonehenge was about.  Opinions are that Stonehenge was remodeled either four or five times.  This suggests four or five spin axis shifts, or combinations thereof, that the Celtic astronomers considered major.

This also is what the obelisk construction industry in ancient Egypt was all about.  It was important in that age to be able to measure and chart the shadow of the obelisk on key days like the summer and winter solstices, and the fall and spring equinoxes.

Mars shifted the position of the spin axis repeatedly, every century.  In between, the first star in the zodiac (Mesartim) experienced a modest amount of luni-solar precession but then was reset by the next Mars catastrophe.  Mesartim defined the beginning of the zodiac as much as January 1 defines the beginning of the calendar.

As it is with a calendar, so it is with every map of the world or of the heavens.  There has to be an arbitrary starting place.  For the modern calendar the arbitrary starting date is January 1 for whatever reason.

For the rotating Earth and its longitudes, the arbitrary starting place is the Greenwich Meridian, going through East London and the Greenwich Observatory.  Greenwich is at zero longitude; there were laid out 180° of longitude on the Earth both to the east and to the west.  They meet at the International Date Line.  The total thus is 360°, just like the degrees in any circle.

So it is with the ancient zodiac, it also needed an arbitrary starting point.  Mesartim filled that need very well.  One reason the Greenwich meridian is located as it is at London is due to the location of an important 17th century astronomical observatory, the Greenwich observatory.

Another reason is the defeat of the Spanish Armada, which allowed England to become the queen of the seas.  London became the foremost city of the world in banking, in overseas trade, in coinage, in colonizing, in slave trading, in map making and in map marketing.

For a brief time French cartographers placed Paris at 0°, but their maps didn't sell so well.  German map makers centered 0° on Frankfurt.  Portuguese map makers had Lisbon at 0° longitude.  Dutch map makers used Amsterdam.  But standardization was needed, and by 1750, the British system had gained world acceptance.

So it was with the map of the heavens.  The zodiac, a map of the fixed stars, is the earliest idea that is known to have come from Sumer.  It also occurs in India and China.  The time selected to start the zodiac was the moment of dawn on March 21.  This was "Mars' month" and the 30-degree zone of prominence was "Aries."

The ancient calendars had 360 days in Sumer, in India and in China. [n3]  They needed surveys, and they all developed a 360-degree circle; the 360-degree circle also was applied to the heavens.  It was subdivided into twelve 30-degree sectors, just like the months in some of the ancient calendars.

The word "zodiac" may or may not have originated in Sumer, but it clearly has come into English from Rome and Greece.  In Greek, "zoa" means "the animals."  Of the twelve sectors in the zodiac, eight are named after animals and four are named after kinds of people, as follows:

Today, in this celestially serene age, more attention is paid to the brighter Hamal than to the dim Mesartim.  As was mentioned, Hamal is used by ship navigators at night and by nuclear submarine navigators also at night to locate their positions in latitude and longitude.

Published for over a century for the navy, Bowditch's Book of Navigation Charts, publishes star positions for oceanic navigation.  As was mentioned, recently in 1991, Hamal is now listed at 332° (plus or minus a half degree) and Mesartim at 328°. [n4]

In the ancient times, Hamal was not at 332°; it was at 4°.  Mesartim was at one degree, the first point in Aries celestially.

But this is an era where only luni-solar precession is calculated.  For 2,699 years, both Hamal and Mesartim have been shifting slowly eastward, 1° every 71.67 years.  In the 2695 years between 701 B.C.E. and Bowditch's 1991 publication, Mesartim and Hamal have slipped forward somewhere between 35( and 37°.

It is not known how much the spin axis was yanked backward by Mars in 701 B.C.E. as the Earth was also yanked outward.  However a 2-degree yank backward is suspected based on the difference in the locations of the old and the new perihelions. [n5]

Astrologers follow a different zodiac, one that conforms to modern positions, and the history of that issue is not addressed here.  The old zodiac is under discussion here.  2,699 years have produced 37.6° of shift.  That is why Mesartim and Hamal have shifted, on the modern zodiac, out from Aries, all the way across Pisces, and into Aquarius.

Mesartim now is located at about 325.5°.  It has shifted about 37°.  As was mentioned, it shifts 1° in 71.67 years (25,800/360 = 71.67).  Its annual rate of shift is 0.01395° (1/71.67).  Luni-solar precession, uninterrupted by Mars planetary precession, is now 2,699 old, and counting.

An interesting problem arises for anthropologists, archaeologists and some ancient historians who try to date Sumer.  They tend to conform to the style of large year counts.  Some like to date early pre-flood Sumer at 6,100 B.C.E.  But if that dating were correct, and were luni-solar precession always continuing, in 6,100 B.C.E. then Mesartim would have been in Taurus.  WHY THEN WAS MESARTIM CALLED "THE FIRST POINT OF ARIES"?  Why would it not be called "the midpoint of Taurus"?

Other archaeologists date early Sumer at 8,500 B.C.E.  Same question.  Why did the ancients say that Mesartim was "the first point of Aries"?  It would have been in mid Gemini.

Others, even more subject to gradualist dating, like to date Sumer when Mesartim should have been in Cancer, 11,000 B.C.E.  Archaeologists who date pre-flood Sumer so early are sincere; they are merely conforming, and perhaps leading others in this style of dating.

It is the old question as to whether the emperor is or isn't wearing any clothes.  Children and non-conformists say "No" with a giggle or a laugh or two.  Archaeologists, like good citizens of the emperor's domain, maintain dates for Sumer, and Mesartim, that are curious.  Why would Sumerian astronomers name Mesartim for a location it would eventually get to in 2,000, or even in 4,000 years into the future?

Archaeologists do not dare quarrel or challenge the principle of ongoing luni-solar precession; physicists and astronomers would have a fit.  Nor do we.  The only problem is that they overlook Mars planetary precession and the Mars-Earth Wars.  There is quicksand For those who skirt this issue.

To date Sumer, one must also date the zodiac, one of the earliest of the Sumerian concepts.  This includes locating in the cosmos the "First Point of Aries", Mesartim.  Luni-solar precession has no chance as the sole explanation, excluding planetary catastrophism.  It does not have even one chance in a million.  The fixed stars, silent and remote as they are, also have their story for the court.

The first eight clues in combination gave "coincidence" one chance in 2 trillion.  Multiply by at least a million.  Coincidence and l8th-l9th century gradualism now is calculated as having one chance in 2 quintillion of being correct.  Conservatively, that is.

Clues # 10, 11 and 12 are developed in Chapter 12.  Not all of the evidence is yet in court.

There is no scarcity of mathematical clues in this Solar System supporting this model of Mars-Earth Wars, and its extension, Mars-Venus Wars.  Chapters 1 through 8 presented a series of clues from the physical geography of the badly battered Mars and its two severely pitted, poxed satellites.  Gaspra looks like it formerly was with them.

Tables XI, XII and XIII present a logic of how both energy exchanges and angular momentum exchanges agree, and agree simultaneously, at every step.

Story 38 is that the Moon's orbit retro-calculates rather well with this model.

Story 39 is that the orbit of Venus retro-calculates very well also.  Longitude 76 is where the Last Fling between Mars and Venus occurred, and January 24, 701 B.C.E. is the date, plus or minus one day.

Story 40 is that longitude 131 was the last exit location of Mars, crossing and leaving the orbit of Venus; it coincides with the Venusian perihelion.  It is likely that the Venusian perihelion is explained by the first Mars-Venus flyby, with Mars exiting the Venusian orbit at 131°.

Story 41 is that Mars in its modern position also retro-calculates well with this model, featuring the Final Flyby, March 20-21, 701 B.C.E.

Story 42 is that Mars shifted out of resonance with both the Earth and Jupiter.  This is the same ratio of shifts by the asteroids in the two Hecuba clusters of asteroids, surrounding the 2:1 gap.  The new (modern) period for Mars shifted 5.02% in period away from the orbit of Jupiter, and 5.02% in period toward the Earth and the Sun.

Story 43 is that, during the Catastrophic Era, with 12:1 orbital resonance, the Earth's major axis was necessarily perpendicular to Jupiter's major axis.  The Earth and Jupiter were in a 12:1 resonance.  The Earth's semi-major axis still is within 1.4° of being perpendicular with the semi-major axis of Jupiter.  This is another vestige of the Catastrophic Era, another relic in the cosmos.

Story 44 is that the Earth's spin axis has experienced only luni-solar precession in the modern era, over the last 2,699 years.  But before that, planetary precession periodically overwhelmed and reset precession.  In that era, dim Mesartim was repeatedly the "First Point of Aries".

By a study of (a) the chronicles of the Hebrew kings, Judah and Israel, the date of the Final Flyby can be ascertained, March 20-21, 701 B.C.E.  By (b) retro-calculating the position of Jupiter, it can be shown that Jupiter was in Capricorn at 90°, on the date of the Final Flyby.  This harmonizes happily with resonance theory.

By (c) a study of luni-solar precession, the end of the Catastrophic Era can be approximated, though it cannot be precisely dated.  It coincided with the beginning of the modern era.  Other resources are sufficient to tie down the Final Flyby occasion date to the fraction of a day.

The least familiar, and the most remote, but probably the most daunting of all of the evidence presented in this chapter is the modern position of Mesartim, now 37° from its ancient Sumerian mooring.  At 71.67 years per degree there has been 2,700 years of luni-solar precession uncorrected by planetary precession.  The luni-solar precession, uncorrected, is the timer.

The ancients had a lack of faith in the Sun rising from the same place on the horizon, and the stability of the cardinal directions over the centuries.  This belief among people of the 20th century AD is taken for granted.  In the modern era, this fits, but in the Catastrophic Era, it was not the common experience or expectation.

This understanding of the Mars-Earth Wars puts a new light on the extreme interest the ancients had in the constellations and in tracking the planets in their courses across the heavens.  It puts a new light on their interest and practical use of their zodiac, their map of the heavens.

Story 45 is that with this map of the heavens and with accurate historical and astronomical records, prophets, monthly prognosticators, star gazers, astrologers, astronomers and swamis could accurately assess both (a) the date of the most recent celestial holocaust and (b) the timing of the next one.  Studious prophets could predict when the next Mars holocaust would arrive to the day.  That is why their advice was so valuable, and that is why they sat next to kings in the ancient royal councils.

With story 45, the reader now is 87% of the way to the penthouse of planetary catastrophism.  Like it is at Seattle's famous Space Needle, the view is majestic, and the menu is good too.