Time to run, time to stop

Around 2400 years ago, daoist master Zhuangzi (庄子, 370-301 a.C.) used to tell his disciples this parable:

Once upon a time there was a man that lived allways worried about his own shadow and the footprints he left – he considered them limitations to his freedom. So, he decided to take redeem of them. He began to run, but the footprints would appear so quick as he would put his feet on the floor; the shadow was also always with him, whatever the speed he would run. Then he thought: I should run even faster. And e run faster, faster, till he fall dead.

His mistake, concluded Zhuangzi, was not to understand that, if he would go to a shadowy place, his own shadow would disappear; and if he had stood still, his footprints would not appear again.

So – really there is a time to walk, a time to run, a time do stop and stand still. The science is to know when and where. And it is not so easy, after all.

With wishes of a 2010 suitable with all your expectations, here is some data that may be useful to you:

Chronological eras in 2010*

All data refers to the Gregorian calendar.

The 14th of January is the first of January in the Julian calendar

The year 2010 of the normal or Christ era is the 10th of the XXI century and corresponds to the year 6723 of the Julian period, containing the days 2 455 198 to 2 455 561.

The year 7519 of Byzantine era begins on the 14^th of September.

The year 5771 of the Israelite era begins at sunset of the 8th of September.

The year 4647 of the Chinese era (year of the Tiger) begins at the 14th of February.

The year 2786 of the Olympic era (or second of the 697^th) begins at the 14^th of September, according to the byzantine rite.

The year 2763 of the Foundation of Rome “ab urbe condita”, according Varro, begins at the 14^th of January.

The year 2759 of Nabonassar´s era begins at the 21th of April.

The year 2670 of the Japanese era, or 22 of the Heisei period (following the XÕ-Uá period), begins at the first of January.

The year 2322 of the Greek era (or Seleucida’s) begins, according present Syrian rites, at the 14^th of September or at the 14^th of October; it depends on the religious sects.

The year 2048 of Cesar’s era (or Hispanic), used in Portugal till 1422, begins at the 14th of January.

The year 1932 of the Saka era, in the Indian reformed calendar, begins at the 22th of March.

The year 1727 of Diocletian’s era begins at the 11th of September.

The year 1432 of the Islamic era (or Hegira) begins at the sunset of the 7th of December.

The year 166 of the Bahá’í’s era begins at the 12th of March.

Seasons:

For Portugal, Europe, the North Hemisphere

Spring (equinox) begins on the 20^th of March, at 17:32

Summer (solstice) begins on the 21th of June, at 11:28

Autumn (equinox) begins on the 23th of September, at 03:09

Winter (solstice) begins on the 21th of December, at 23:38

ECLIPSES

2010 will have a partial and a total eclipse of the Sun (January 15th and June 11th) but both phenomena will not be seen in Portugal.

2010 will have a partial and a total eclipse of the Moon (26^th of June and 21th of December), but only the second one will be seen in Portugal.

*Data collected from the Lisbon Astronomic Observatory