Argonauts Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Education

Argonauts Club

Locality: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Address: 280 William Street 3070 Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.argonautsclub.org

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25.01.2022 TOMB TELESCOPES Thousands of years ago in Portugal, large stone tombs were built that may have been used as early telescopes to observe the night sky. These 'passage graves' had a large chamber reached only through a long and narrow tunnel. Some of these spooky passage graves were orientated to align with particular stars! One 6,000 year-old passage grave, called the Seven-Stone Antas, has its entrance aligned with the star Aldebaran - the brightest star in the Taurus conste...llation! Image credit ('Aldebaran'): Jerry Lodriguss (2012)

24.01.2022 In our second workshop of the summer kid's workshop series, learn about the discoveries of Archimedes, famous ancient inventor and engineer, and recreate his exciting experiments! Tickets and further information here - https://www.hellenic.org.au/eve/ancient-thinkers-archimedes

22.01.2022 *Celebrating the Sun: NASA's SpacePlace* Learn more about the Sun, Earth, Solar System and Universe through the NASA SpacePlace website! It's filled with fun activities, games, crafts and videos! Check it out here - https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/

21.01.2022 Ahoy Ahoy! This week we will discover the mysterious world of ancient Babylonian astrology, astronomy and sky diaries! Keep an eye out for the Argonauts Newsletter sailing to your inbox soon. In the mean time, have a look at this snappy crash-course introduction to all things Mesopotamia and Babylon; astromony, the first writing, mathematics and divine architecture aplenty! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVf5kZA0HtQ

20.01.2022 This week's Argo Newsletter is here! Join us to discover rockstar Pre- Socratic thinker Anaximander. He was the first to speculate about the gravitational pull of planets, proposed one of the earliest theories of evolution and drew the first map of the known world - predating Isaaac Newton and Charles Darwin by thousands of years! Check out Anaximander's mind boggling theories and why he thought fish gave birth to humans here: https://mailchi.mp//the-first-astronomers-action-neweslett

19.01.2022 In this fortnight's newsletter we discovered astronomically aligned architecture from around the world. See virtual simulations of these amazing monuments below and marvel at the ancients’ ability to live in tandem with the universe!

19.01.2022 Avast, it's here! The Argonauts Newsletter has arrived! Take a look inside to discover the astronomical alignment of the Pyramids, starry secrets of the Sphinx, the glorius Indestructibles and the handy 'Merkhet' which helped create the perfect foundation for Egypts' architectural feats! https://mailchi.mp//the-first-astronomers-action-neweslett

18.01.2022 For more information and to BOOK: https://www.hellenic.org.au//hellenic-in-the-hood-beans-de

17.01.2022 Ahoy Argonauts! And Happy New Year! Our first Argo Newsletter for 2021 is due to sail into your email inboxes soon. The newsletter will reveal our new Argonauts Club Website and why you should smash a pomogranate fruit for luck in 2021!

17.01.2022 ANU Meet the Mesopotamian god Anu- he was thought to be the great god of Heaven, and father of all Mesopotamian gods. The sky and stars above the Equator belonged to Anu. Anu was also the god of Mesopotamian kings and the yearly calendar. Anu’s counterpart in Greek mythology is Ouranos; the primal god of the sky- that is before Zeus the thunderbolt-thrower took over! Below you can see the Cuneiform symbol for ‘An’ which is also the symbol of Anu and Mesopotamian deities.

15.01.2022 THE FIRST ZODIAC? Did you know that the word 'zodiac' comes from an ancient Greek word meaning 'cycle of little animals'? The zodiac is an area of the night sky that is divided into 12 signs, which correspond to a constellation (like Cancer the Crab). The concept of the zodiac was invented by the Babylonians, but the Egyptians also looked to the stars. On the ceiling of the chapel of Osiris at Dendera, Egypt, you can find a replica sky-disk showing the signs of the zodiac. Th...e original carved sky-disk is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Look closely at the fantastic zodiac creatures depicted on the sky-disk. Can you spot your zodiac sign? The zodiac animals and constellations looked pretty different in the days of ancient Egypt- but you might recognise some of them! Image from the Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte (Paris, 1802) by Vivant Denon.

14.01.2022 *Celebrating the Sun: Discovering Sunlike-Stars* Ahoy Argo explorers! Our sun is certainly not the only star in the universe! Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), scientists have recently discovered a multi-planet system (like our solar system), orbiting around a sun-like star! This sun-like star (called TYC 8998-760-1), and it's two orbiting planets, are 300 light-years away from us. If that doesn't sound like a lot, 1 light-year equals 9.5 trillion km! Discovering and photographing sun-like stars will help astronomers learn how planetary systems evolve. Image credit: ESO/Bohn et al.

13.01.2022 Celebrating the Sun: Prometheia While the ancient Kronia is no longer celebrated, the Prometheia is! The Prometheia, a modern festival, is celebrated over a few days at the foot of Mount Olympus. This festival honours the titan Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods to give to humans. Fire gave humans protection and warmth and allowed civilisations to advance. The festival includes a procession, ancient theatre performances, and ancient Greek ceremonies - you can even dress up like an ancient Greek if you like!

13.01.2022 Celebrating the Sun: Helios the Sun The sun wasn't just a star to the ancient Greeks - Helios was the god and personification of the sun! Although he wasn't a major god, like those on Mount Olympus, Helios was thought to be the mighty god of life and creation (like the sun!). Helios was even described as the "god of human joy" in Homer's 'Odyssey'. Every morning, he would ride his golden horse-drawn chariot across the sky and bring the sun with him. It must have been a scenic ride!

13.01.2022 NEWSLETTERS AHOY!! Argonauts, keep an eye on the horizon for this week’s Newsletter it’s coming soon! Inside you will find an awe-inspiring catalogue of astronomical architecture! There’s a Mayan temple that slithers like a snake during the Spring and Autumn Equinox, a dark Celtic tomb that catches the sun standing still and a legendary Greek theatre dedicated to the God of madness and wine, which faces a special constellation! Which amazing architectural monument would you visit? They all stand to this day. Discover them in your email inbox soon!

12.01.2022 ENLIL Meet Enlil- the mighty Mesopotamian god of wind, air and storms. According to the MUL.APIN the northern sky, and the stars that appear there, belonged to Enlil- son of Anu. In the Epic of Gilgamesh (a famous Mesopotamian poem), a mythic and deadly flood is described. According to the ancient Babylonians, Enlil created the flood, to destroy the world and wipe out humans, because they became too noisy and wouldn’t let him sleep!

08.01.2022 Thales: Useful philosophy? As the story goes, the ancient philosopher Thales used his logical thinking and observation skills to predict the weather and a good olive harvest. In one version of this story, after he made the prediction, he secretly bought all the olive presses in Miletus, Tukey. In Finance, Thales’ act of buying all the olive presses to sell to olive oil makers at a later date is considered the first historical use of ‘futures’. Futures is a financial term mea...ning the selling of something at a pre-determined price and specified time in the future. Because of his successful harvest prediction, and clever move to purchase all the olive presses when he knew they would be in demand- Thales made a fortune! Of course, all the oil makers came to Thales to purchase the presses. However, it is thought that Thales’ aim was not to be greedy or wealthy he just wanted to prove to the people of Miletus that philosophy could be useful! Check out a re-constructed ancient olive press and how it works at Nazareth Village in Israel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVENKLP82X8

08.01.2022 EA Meet EA, the god of life, water and Earth. The southern sky, and stars that rise and set there, were considered his domain, even though he resided in a mythic river-ocean under the Earth. Ea created humankind from clay and blood. He was also the divine keeper of Me, about 60 special ideas (like truth, peace and power), practices (like law, art and metal working) and things (like the crown and throne) that made up the gifts of civilisation. In fact, Ea saved human civilisation when he instructed the hero Utnapishtim to build a boat that would carry humanity to safety. For the god Enlil threatened to wipe humans out with a great flood!

08.01.2022 Join the Argonauts Club if thou seek Adventure https://www.argonautsclub.org/join-the-club

07.01.2022 Newgrange in Ireland is a Stone Age passage tomb. It was designed to capture the suns light for only 17 minutes every year during the Winter Solstice, which marks the shortest day of the year and the forthcoming warmer and longer days. See a virtual simulation of the sun lighting the darkness of this magical tomb! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CxtsbO9UWw

07.01.2022 *Celebrating the Sun: Day and Night* Twice a year, day and night are the same length - this is known as an equinox! During an equinox, the centre of the sun sits directly over the earth's equator, giving us 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. The next equinox for this year will be on September 22 - will you mark the occasion?

07.01.2022 GODS OF THE STARS AND UNIVERSE THE MUL.APIN, a Babylonian Cuneiform text explains that the sky was thought to be divided among the three chief Mesopotamian gods- meet them below!

06.01.2022 HOORAY FOR TODAY: Happy Spring Equinox Argonauts! It's the first day of Celestial Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Because the sun is shining directly on the Earth's Equator, the length of the day and night today is nearly equal! Find out more below- and live in tandem with the rhythm of nature and movements of celestial bodies - as the ancients did! https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/september-equinox.html

05.01.2022 LIFE EMERGING FROM THE OCEANS The Greek Pre-Socratic philosopher Anaximander was one of the first to propose that life on Earth originated from water. In many ways Anaximander was correct the first living organisms developed in oceans about 3 billion years ago. What were these first life forms? They were Bacteria. At first, anaerobic heterotrophic bacteria emerged that did not breathe any oxygen, because guess what there was no oxygen on Earth at that time! Then the first autotrophic bacteria, called Cyanobacteria, appeared about 2 billion years ago. Cyanobacteria used a process called Photosynthesis to produce oxygen and enriched the Earth’s atmosphere with it. Thanks to bacteria like this, oxygen appeared on Earth and enabled other animals to evolve under the sea and on land!

05.01.2022 In our final workshop for our summer kid's workshop series, we'll discover the history of beads - the oldest type of jewellery! Together, we'll learn how to make colourful, ancient-inspired beads out of polymer clay and a box to keep them in! Tickets and further information here - https://www.hellenic.org.au/event-details/just-bead-it

04.01.2022 Argonauts, we hope your're getting busy, creating the lost Babylonian tablet of MUL.APIN this week! Follow the instructions in this fortnight's newsletter to observe the sky, moon and stars and create some special omens for the King of Babylon! https://mailchi.mp//the-first-astronomers-action-neweslett

04.01.2022 STARRY SKIES Did you know that the ancient Egyptians decorated the ceilings of their temples with stars and the heavens? The goddess Hathor was known as 'Mistress of the Sky and Stars'. In her temple at Dendera are painted astrological figures, planets and constellations on the ceiling of the outer hall. What mystery and magnificence! Photo credit: instagram.com/egyptologydaily/

04.01.2022 Join us these Summer Holidays for a series of three exciting workshops for kids! Our first workshop explores the world of hoplites (ancient Greek warriors) as we learn all about them, create our own shield and helmet, train and recreate the phalanx formation! Tickets and further information here - https://www.hellenic.org.au//up-in-arms-greek-warrior-acad

02.01.2022 The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens is the most famous stage in modern and ancient Greece! It has witnessed Greece’s greatest and most tragic and funny plays! The theatre is aligned with and salutes the Hyades constellation. This constellation represents the Hyades a cluster of rain nymphs who are thought to have raised Dionysus, god of theatre, wine and madness. See the magnificent theatre! https://www.youtube.com/watch

01.01.2022 Avast Argonauts! We hope you are all exploring lucky Greek traditions for the new year in our recent newsletter. Be sure to purchase a mysterious and magical pomegranate fruit and throw it on the ground. The more red seeds that fall out of the pomegranate the luckier you will be in 2021! Have you tried this old Greek lucky tradition yet? CHECK OUT THE NEWSLETTER HERE: https://mailchi.mp//the-first-astronomers-action-neweslett

01.01.2022 Ahoy Argonauts, even though we are all required to stay at home, this doesn't mean we should forget to wonder. Don't forget to look up at the night sky and dream big! There's a whole Universe waiting out there, that we are all a part of ! What ideas and skills can you work on at home that will make your dreams come true once we are out and about again?