“In the early hours of next Saturday the 16th, in Chichen Itza, the archaeoastronomical phenomenon of the descent of the Lunar Kukulcan will be recorded in the northwest alfarda of El Castillo, which coincides with the Moon of the Crucifixion that marks the Holy Week”, revealed the Yucatecan astronomer Eddie Ariel Salazar Gamboa.
He highlighted the importance of this event, which demonstrates the knowledge of the Mayan astronomer priests, since “it is finer and more fragile”, in addition to the fact that it is played by Uh, goddess of the Moon, starting at three in the morning.
He expressed that both the lunar serpent and Holy Week are regulated by the first full moon after the spring equinox, which is why both events always occur between March 21 and April 25.
On this occasion, this event will take place next Saturday the 16th, between three and five in the morning, when the Moon filters the light through the nine bases of the also called Temple of Kukulcán, said the academic from the Technological Institute of Mérida (ITM).
The Moon will appear on the horizon at 6:48 p.m. on Friday the 15th will set at 5:59 p.m. on Saturday the 16th, and will be in its full moon phase at 1:55 p.m.
The professor emeritus of the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY) mentioned that Kin, the Mayan god of the Sun, will rise at 6:39 a.m. and set at 7:17 p.m. on Saturday the 16th.
The archaeoastronomical phenomenon occurs with the first full moon after the spring equinox, the same one that marks the festivities for the Judaic-Christian religion, added the coordinator of the ITM’s “Hypatia of Alexandria” Astronomy Group.
He explained the “Lunar Kukulcan is a finer phenomenon compared to the solar one”, due to the rapid movement of the Earth’s natural satellite as well as its brightness giving it a more mystical tone.
He added that everything seems to indicate that for the Mayans it was a phenomenon reserved for the elite, because “it is very delicate and impressive since Kukulcán appears with the light reflected by the Moon, which is 400 times less intense than the Sun.”.
The archaeoastronomical phenomenon was discovered in 1987, by the archaeologist of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), Víctor Segovia Pinto, who, supported by the calculations of Salazar Gamboa, realized that the Moon had the same transit through the celestial vault as the Sol had the mere day of the vernal equinox.
The “Jaguar del Turismo 2020” award from the Mexican Association of the Tourism Industry (AMIT) Yucatán recalled after corroborating the existence of the archaeoastronomical phenomenon of the lunar Kukulcán, was officially presented in March 1989. On that occasion, there were no problems, since Chichen Itza only went to a select group.
Subsequently, Segovia Pinto and Salazar Gamboa verified this event, on March 18th, 1992, and on March 27th, 1994.
TYT Newsroom
