Uxmal - Part 2
While
most of the structures at Uxmal were built along a north-south axis, the
Palace of the Governor lies on an axis skewed 19 degrees off to face the
southernmost rising point of Venus. Archaeologists Aveni and Hartung discovered
in 1975 that looking out from the centre room window, a sightline extends
3 miles to Cehtzuc, a pyramid protruding out of the level southeastern
horizon which acts as a marker for the rising star. Along the same sightline
in the courtyard lie a fallen cylindrical stela and a carved platform
with a double headed jaguar - intended or coincidence?
It is important to note here that the Venus only reaches her southernmost rising point once every 8 years. David Rosenthal attempted to photograph the event in 1997 and pointed out Venus' 'Grand Cycle' - that in the course of going through her 584 day synodic cycle, Venus could take 5 different paths, taking a different one each cycle until finally repeating the first path 5 cycles later. The number of days required for the completion of one Grand Cycle - 2920 - is the same as that required for 8 365-day cycles. According to Rosenthal, this is a "compelling demonstration of Venus' divine connections" for the Maya.
Recent research shows that the alignment is more accurate when we follow the sightline in the opposite direction, where it extends towards the northernmost rising point of Venus.