Research Project 1
Final Draft Due: June 13, 2025
Research Project 1 - Archaeoastronomy, Alignments,
and the Celestial Sphere
NATS1745 A - History of Astronomy
Outline and Draft Due: Monday, June 2, 2025 by 11:59pm
Peer Feedback Due: Friday, June 6, 2025 by 11:59pm
Final Draft Due: Friday, June 13, 2025 by 11:59pm
** Any/all GenerativeAI tools are
explicitly forbidden for this project, and
any suspected use will be followed-up
with investigations into Academic
Dishonesty **
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. To apply understanding of the Celestial Sphere to real-life situations
2. To gain experience researching and investigating ancient astronomical sites
3. To develop a working knowledge of the sky’s daily and annual motions
INTRODUCTION
In Part 1 of this research project, you will be investigating an ancient archaeological site
that has alignments with the sky. You will report on these alignments, as well as
investigate the cultural significance, and reflect on its importance to yourself. In Part 2,
you will create your own stone circle that aligns with both the Sun and other objects in
the sky. See below for the instructions for each part.
PRELIMINARY STEPS:
1. Academic Integrity @ YorkU. Complete the 5 modules found at this link: https://
www.yorku.ca/unit/vpacad/academic-integrity/academic-honesty-modules/. This link
is also available in the Research Project 1 section of the course’s eClass site. This
is a requirement of completing this project.
2. Download the project template provided. Download “TEMPLATE - nats1745aresearch-project-1.docx” onto your computer and replace ‘TEMPLATE’ with your
© Jesse Rogerson
Research Project 1
Final Draft Due: June 13, 2025
name in the filename. You must submit your research project using this template (no
cover or title page required).
PART 1 INSTRUCTIONS - INVESTIGATING AN ASTRONOMICALLY
SIGNIFICANT SITE
In this portion of the project, you will investigate an ancient archaeological site that has
demonstrated alignments with the day or night sky. In class, we learned about
Newgrange in Ireland, the Sun Daggers in south western United States, and
Stonehenge in England. We also looked briefly at El Caracol and the temple of
Kukulkan. All of these ancient sites can be shown to have alignments with the Sun, the
Moon, the planets or the stars.
Your task in Part 1 of this project is to choose an ancient site from anywhere in the world
and report on its astronomical connections.
Here are is an outline of what is required:
• You must declare the name of the ancient site and the country it is found in using the
“My Ancient Site Form” found in the Research Project 1 section of the course’s eClass
site. If you do not fill out this form, your project will not be marked.
• The site you choose to investigate should have some kind of connection to you (eg,
family history, cultural connection, geographical connection, you have visited it before,
you want to visit it for some specific reason, etc).
• You may NOT choose any of the ancient sites that have been covered in class.
• You must write between 1000 and 1200 words. No more, no less (you will be
penalized if your word count is outside these bounds).
• This must be done in your own words (NO QUOTES, no GenAI, no ChatGPT).
It is recommended you include information related to the following:
• Name, country, location, and basic description of the site
• Image/schematics/graphics with captions and properly referred to in your writing are
welcome
• When was it built? Who built it? Why did they build it?
• What astronomical alignments exist?
• Cultural, social, religious, or political importance
• A personal reflection on why the site is important to you. Why did you chose this site?
• Multiple connections to what you learned in class so far
Need some help finding a site to investigate? Consult the ‘List of known ancient sites’ in
the Research Project 1 section of the course’s eClass site.
Citations are required for any facts, ideas, or images that are not your own. Note this
means an in-text citation AND a full citation in the Works Cited section is required.
© Jesse Rogerson
Research Project 1
Final Draft Due: June 13, 2025
Your in-text citation can only be a number in brackets that corresponds to a full citation
in the Works Cited section. See ‘How to cite’ in the Research Project 1 section of the
course’s eClass site.
Overall goal for this section: to provide a well-rounded investigation and report on an
ancient site with astronomical alignments that draws many connections to the content in
class. To reflect on the site’s importance both to the culture that built it and to you today.
PART 2 INSTRUCTIONS - CREATING YOUR OWN ALIGNMENT SITE
In this portion of the project, you will create your own alignment site. You have been
assigned a random location on the planet. Using the websites Heavens Above,
Stellarium, or In-the-Sky, you must create a stone circle with a variety of alignments.
Follow the instructions below to draw/create your alignment site.
1. Find your assigned city. In the Research Project 1 section of the course’s eClass
site, there is a link to a spreadsheet entitled “Your Assigned City” Click that link, and
search for your student number. Beside your student number will be your assigned
city. Make note of it.
2. Setting up your Interactive Sky Chart. One of the primary tools used for this
project is the Interactive Sky Chart from Heavens Above. This tool can be found
here:
https://heavens-above.com/skychart2.aspx
At this website, in the top right corner it should indicate that the Location is
‘Unspecified.’ To set your location to your assigned city, follow these instructions:
i. Click on Unspecified
ii. Scroll down (below the map) to the field that says ‘Enter place to
search for.’ Type in your assigned city, and click search
iii. The ‘Search Results’ field should populate with your city, and the map
above should change to that location
iv. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen, and click ‘Update’
v. This will bring you back to the main homepage of Heavens Above, to
return to the sky chart, under ‘Astronomy’ click Interactive Sky Chart
vi. The Location in the top right should now read your assigned city
3. Draw/create a stone circle as seen from above where, if you stood in the middle of
the circle, there is a stone in the direction of:
a. Sunrise/Sunset on both solstices (that’s 4 alignments total)
b. Sunrise/Sunset on both equinox (that’s 2 alignments total)
c. An alignment of at least ONE star rising/setting (that’s 2 alignments total;
consideration may be given for extra alignments demonstrated).
Here are is an outline of what is required:
© Jesse Rogerson
Research Project 1
Final Draft Due: June 13, 2025
• A sketch/drawing of an alignment site with at least 8 alignment stones
• Supporting documentation/clear demonstration that the stones are properly aligned
with the required objects at the required times (see above). To do this, include screen
shots from Heavens Above
NOTE: A sketch/drawing of your alignment site without any screenshots from Heavens
Above is not worth a lot of marks. You must demonstrate that the object would align with
the stones.
HINT: In order to align a stone with the rising or setting of an object, use Heavens
Above to figure out the azimuth of the object when it rises or sets. Then, place a stone
at that azimuth in your drawing.
Overall goal for this section: to create sketch of a stone circle, as seen from above,
with at least 8 stones that align with the required objects. There must be supporting
documentation demonstrating that the stones are in the correct place.
Draft/Outline: Due Date #1 Monday, June 2, 2025 by 11:59pm
Using the template and the instructions above, create an outline/draft of your research
project (including both Part 1 and 2). This outline/draft should include the following:
Part 1: an outline/draft should include a rough outline of what you want to talk about,
some key ideas you have researched, and list of sources
Part 2: a rough sketch of your stone circle, demonstrating an attempt to use Heaven’s
Above to match stones with the rising and setting sun
Submit this draft using the template provided via the TurnItIn link on the course’s eClass
site.
Peer Review: Due Date #2 Friday, June 6, 2025 by 11:59pm
Each student is required to provide feedback on 3 randomly selected drafts of other
students. Within the timeframe from June 2 to June 6, using the same TurnItIn link, find
the ‘Peermark’ section, and complete the reviews.
Final Draft: Due Date #3 Friday, June 13, 2025 by 11:59pm
Using the comments and feedback from your peers, complete a final draft of your
research project and submit it via the same TurnItIn link.
Ensure all sections of the provided template have been filled out, including the works
cited section. Ensure your work has been edited.
© Jesse Rogerson
Research Project 1
Final Draft Due: June 13, 2025
Course Policies on Projects
MISSED DEADLINES and EXTENSIONS:
Late submissions will incur a 10% penalty per day. Technical difficulties are not an
acceptable excuse for missing deadlines. Be sure to attempt your submission at least
one weekday before the deadline so you have time to resolve any technical problems
that may arise. Try coming to an office hour if it's not working for you. If you are 100%
sure that you are unable to upload your submission and you have exhausted all
possible solutions to remedy that situation, then you may email your file to
nats1745@yorku.ca before the deadline so it can be time-stamped. NOTE: if you still
have multiple days before the deadline, then you have not exhausted all possible
solutions. Emailing the professor is meant as a last-resort solution only.
To request an extension, you must attend office hours. An extension will only be
granted after a discussion in office hours. See “Policy on Late Work and
Extension for Projects” in the Course Syllabus.
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism is a major academic offence and carries serious penalties, ranging from a
failing grade on the work in question to a failing grade in the course, or more harsh
penalties. Students who have not conducted University-level writing assignments are
encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Academic Honesty policies at York
University.
ChatGPT and other Generative AI:
Copy/pasting text from ChatGPT is considered plagiarism, as you are passing off an
AI’s work as your own. Everything in this project must be done in your own words, no
quotes.
PLEASE NOTE:
While I appreciate that students are anxious to receive their marks, please be aware
that high-quality and thorough marking of written assignments is a time-consuming
process. Students are therefore asked to refrain from requesting their marks. Marking
updates will be posted via the Course Announcements forum.
If you feel that a marking error has occurred you can report the error to the professor by
attending office hours.
© Jesse Rogerson