Home > Constellations, History, Holiday > 06/19/2023 – Ephemeris – Juneteenth and the flight to freedom

06/19/2023 – Ephemeris – Juneteenth and the flight to freedom

June 19, 2023

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Juneteenth, Monday, June 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 11:22 this evening.

In 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the slaves were now free. Until then about the only path to freedom for the slaves was “To follow the Drinking Gourd”, or the Big Dipper, northward. The Big Dipper and the Great Bear, Ursa Major, has, for the last few millennia been the constellation of the north, being closer to the North Pole of the sky than it is now. The Earth’s axis has a slow wobble, called precession, caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on Earth’s slight equatorial bulge of 30 miles wider than the pole to pole distance. That wobble period is nearly 26 thousand years.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The path of the north pole of the sky (celestial sphere) over time. The celestial north pole is still approaching Polaris. In the past the Big Dipper was closer to the north pole of the sky than it is now. Polaris will be it closest to the north pole around the year 2110. Source: taichifuture.com/cosmology.html.
Runaway slaves following the Drinking Gourd
“Follow the Drinking Gourd,” a show at the Virginia Living Museum’s Abbit Planetarium based on Jeanette Winter’s children’s book of the same name, tells the story of a slave family who used the stars to make their way north. Visitors can watch the free show Saturdays in February. (Courtesy of Virginia Living Museum) Via Daily Press, Newport News, VA.
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