Referring to the ancient Iranian ritual of Shab Cheleh, the director of the Iranian Amateur Astronomy Association emphasized that at 12:50 p.m. on Saturday, January 1, 1403, the Mehr Taban reaches the winter solstice, and said: the length of the night in Shab Cheleh in different places The country is not the same, so the length of night in Chabahar will be 13 hours and 26 minutes, and in Parsabad, Moghan, it will be 14 hours and 39 minutes, and this time will be 14 hours and 16 minutes in Tehran.
Engineer Masoud Atighi in an interview with ISNAstated: Shab Chele ritual is a good legacy left by the pure ancestors of this land, which remains a memory for our generation today and tomorrow, and we should be good inheritors of such rituals.
He added: The interesting point in most Iranian rituals has been the attention to the sky and the ancient knowledge of astrology, and according to these roots, occasions and rituals have become customary in the society.
Atighi added: According to this, the night of Challah, which is often referred to as “Yalda”, refers to the position of the sun in the celestial sphere, where at the moment of the winter solstice, Mehr Taban (the sun) has the greatest angular elongation with the equatorial circle of the sky. It will be equal to 23.5 degrees.
Director of Iranian Amateur Astronomy Association stated: At 12:50 PM on Saturday, January 1, 1403, Mehrtaban reached the winter solstice point and the cold season begins in the northern hemisphere of the earth.
Atighi reminded: As we have mentioned many times, at this time the residents of the southern hemisphere are on the threshold of the hot summer season.
He added: It is not obvious that the interested public should know that the change of seasons is not related to the proximity and distance of the earth from the sun, but due to the 23.5 degree axial tilt of the earth in relation to the plane of its orbit around the sun, and in fact, the image of the earth’s orbit in the sky Or the path of the apparent movement of the sun on the celestial sphere, which is known as the “ecliptic circle”, makes an angle of 23.5 degrees with the celestial equator that divides the celestial sphere into two equal parts.
The beginning of the winter solstice
The director of the Iranian Amateur Astronomy Association pointed out: this same angle of 23.5 degrees causes these two intersecting circles to intersect at two points, which are called “Spring Equinox” and “Autumn Equinox” and the length of night and day. They are equal to each other across the globe.
He reminded: There are revolutions on the sides of the equinoxes, where the sun will be the most distant from the sky’s equator. These two points are called “summer solstice” and “winter solstice”.
The celestial sphere and the location of the equinox points and the summer solstice and winter solstice points
Atigi emphasized: But the important point is that instead of discussing and comparing the length of the Yalda night with the nights before and after it, we should pay attention to the important point that “Cheleh Night” is a ritual and cultural heritage of several thousand years and no one is allowed to use measuring tools. Question it accurately in the 21st century!
He added: On the other hand, due to the fact that the earliest sunset occurs less than two weeks before Yalda and the latest sunset occurs about 2 weeks after Shab Challah, this point has caused some people to mistakenly consider Shab Challah as the longest night of the year. They don’t know, and this is despite the fact that the interval between the sunset on the evening of December 30 and its sunrise on the morning of January 1 is the length of this night, and among the nights of the year, this night is considered the longest.
Atighi added: But normally, our compatriots will experience the longest night of the year on the night of the first day of the year, followed by the shortest day, and this is despite the fact that the difference in the length of the night in different parts of the country is not the same, as in In the south-eastern parts of Iran, including Chabahar, the night of Cheleh will last 13 hours and 26 minutes, and this night in the northwest of our country, such as Parsabad, Moghan, will last 14 hours and 39 minutes.
The director of the Iranian Amateur Astronomy Association continued: Obviously, the length of this night is different in different parts of the world, and for example, we can mention Iceland with a 20-hour long night and European countries such as England and Germany with a 16-hour long night. .
Antique, the length of the night in the capital of Iran; He described Tehran as 14 hours and 16 minutes and said: the interval between sunset on the 30th of December, which is at 16:54 hours, and the moment of the rising of Mehr Taban in the morning of Saturday, the first of January, which is 7:10 hours in the morning, the length of the night is known. will be
daily snack
He pointed out: It has always been said that “Yalda” is a Syriac word that means birth, and this word can refer to the dawn of Mehr Taban after a long night and the overcoming of light over darkness, which is also reminiscent of Yalda or birth.
Atiqi said: In the belief of the ancient Iranians, the night of Challah was the starting point of creation, but the interesting thing is that even though Iranian astronomers in ancient times did not have access to the precise tools of today, they were aware of the slight difference between this night and the previous and subsequent nights. In some texts, this ritual has been prevalent in our country since 8 thousand years ago, and even considering the other name of the sun, which is also referred to as “Khor”; In the religion of Mehr, “Khore Rooz” which is the same as “Sun of the Day”, is the birthday of Mehr and the first day of the new year.
This activist in the field of amateur astronomy stated: Christian sects, with differences, consider the birthday of Jesus Christ as one of the days close to the winter solstice, and according to Abu Rihan Biruni, the starting point of the old Sistani calendar is the beginning of winter, and in the book of Athar al-Baqiyyah, it means Yalda is considered Milad, the birth of Mehr or the sun.
Atighi continued: The point that should be paid attention to is that due to the moment the sun sets in the winter solstice, which can be different from December 30th to December 1st, this will cause the length of the first nights to be measured in the measurement of the night. and the 2nd of January are equal or differ by a second, but as it was emphasized at the beginning, if we want to be a good heir for our ancestors, we must pay special attention to the Yalda ritual and observe it.
He added: Obviously, this night is an excuse to remember the values of the past by reading books and the Shahnameh, reciting Hafez’s divan and expressing the experiences of the elders, while eating snacks. It is the best opportunity for the general public, especially teenagers and young people, to stay away from mass media and virtual space and end the long and cold night in a warm family evening together with each other on this special night.
The Director of the Iranian Amateur Astronomy Association pointed out: The occasion of Shab Challah was registered in the list of national works of the country in 2007, and in 2022 it was registered globally by UNESCO jointly with the country of Afghanistan.
Atighi continued: During some years when the time point of summer solstice is moved to 1st of December, unfortunately we witness that some people, in order to show their scientific accuracy, unknowingly went against the thought and lasting legacy of the elders of this land. And in a way, they question the good ritual of Shab Challah and by stating that the length of the first and second night of Diy is equal or even a little shorter, they try in the age of information explosion and despite Accurate measurement tools make this beautiful movement of thousands of years of our predecessors pale, which is a great surprise and pity!
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