Ancient Stargazers

Equinox is the day when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator. This is also the day that the length of day and night is nearly equal. Many civilizations celebrate this day in many ways. A relationship with equinox is also found at the Easter Island, located 2,300 miles from the coast of Chile. More than 880 sacred statues called Moai are left from a previous civilization on the island. Although vast majority of the Moai are located on the beaches and face inland, but the seven moai at Ahu Akivi exactly face sunset during the Spring Equinox and have their backs to the sunrise during the Autumn Equinox. Such an astronomically precise feature is seen only at this location on the island. The site could be a time-keeping (calendar) landmark, used around the 16th century. The B&W image, the highlights the galactic center rising above the site with planets Jupiter (brightest point) and Saturn in the sky.