The Libra New Moon(Oct.7) always follows the Autumn Equinox, and corresponds with the harvest season in the northern hemisphere, and the beginning of Spring south of the equator. With Saturn, Mercury, the Sun and Moon, all in relationship oriented Libra, it's clear where the focus is now. But Libra is also related to the themes of social justice, fairness, and cooperation.
The current mass protests in Europe against prospective austerity measures, and a general strike in Spain, are partly the result of the Libra influence, but more so from the triple Moon, Jupiter, Uranus conjunction in the Fall Equinox horoscope(Libra solar ingress). One literal interpretation of this combination is large(Jupiter) public(Moon) protests(Uranus). And this conjunction falls in Pisces, a sign which pertains to both sacrifice and victimization. The banks and big-business have actually made out well from all the bail-outs, while the rest of us are suffering through this harsh recession. Many people are simply fed up. (The most powerful focus of the planets this summer is in the Middle East. See my earlier post- Autumn in the Middle East.)
Now that both Venus(ruler of Libra) and Mars are moving through Scorpio, the personal and collective level of intensity is high, wherein, balanced relationships and fairness could feel like matters of life-and-death.
The Oct. 7 New Moon at 14 degrees of Libra conjoins the US natal(7/4/1776) Saturn- ruler of the Sibly 2nd house of money, and also the fixed star Algorab- the crow or raven. The Ascendant and Mercury of the 9/11 attack were conjunct Algorab.
The Constellation Corvus - the Crow or Raven
Influences: According to Ptolemy, Corvus is like Mars and Saturn. It is said to give craftiness, greediness, ingenuity, patience, revengefulness, passion, selfishness, lying, aggressiveness, and material instincts, and sometimes causes its natives to become agitators. (V.Robson)
Astrological influences: Of the nature of Mars and Saturn. It gives destructiveness, malevolence, fiendishness, repulsiveness and lying, and is connected with scavenging. [V.Robson]
A Mars-Saturn star that can show up the more troublesome side of Libra, a variation on the truth when an excuse looks to be safer. [The Living Stars, Dr. Eric Morse]
Delays and restraint are indicated to come about by fiascoes, losses, wrong handling of matters and enmity in general. Accidents or injuries difficult to avoid. [Fixed Stars and Their Interpretation, Elsbeth Ebertin]
The Libra New Moon seems to be mundanely focused in the geographical region of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Venus stations and turns retrograde the same day as the Libra New Moon- adding depth to the beginnings that the start of a lunar cycle naturally evokes. Bright and lovely Venus is not perceived to be as positive an influence when she is in backward motion. In fact- the planet of love and beauty is considered an indication of aggressive and war-like behavior when retrograde- and her passage through passionate Scorpio would seem to add to the emotional focus of fulfilling our desires to connect and find pleasure. Possessiveness, jealousy, and manipulative tendencies, reflect the dark underbelly of the Scorpion.
Generally speaking, the Venus retrograde period might best be spent reviewing and re-evaluating what is important to us in relationships- what we really value. This is an optimal time for introspection. As Venus has an affinity with money, the flow of financial resources can be altered- for better or worse. The natal house in one's chart where Venus is going back-and-forth, is the area most directly affected- along with the houses that have Taurus and Libra(both Venus ruled) on the cusp. If revisions are deemed desirable or necessary, the Nov. 18 direct-station is the green light to move forward with the shifting energy of Venus. Moreover, Venus will be at home in Libra(28th degree) and in a favorable trine to Neptune- the planetary muse of dreams, visions, and inspiration, when she(Venus) changes direction.
The Nov. 5-6 New Moon at the 14th degree of Scorpio appears more intense and potentially explosive. I'll be writing about this in the near future.
"People who love sausage and people who believe in justice should never watch either of them being made." ~Otto Bismark
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Not-so-equal Equinox
By Joe Rao
"The seasons on Earth officially change Wednesday, heralding their shifting nature with an astronomical feat: the autumnal equinox.
On Sept. 22, at 11:09 p.m. EDT (8:09 p.m. PDT), the fall season will begin in the Northern Hemisphere while the Earth's Southern Hemisphere residents ring in their spring. This date one of two each year is called an equinox, from the Latin for "equal night," alluding to the fact that day and night are then of equal length worldwide.
But this is not necessarily so. The definition of the equinox as being a time of equal day and night is a convenient oversimplification.
For one thing, it treats night as simply the time the sun is beneath the horizon, and completely ignores twilight. If the sun were nothing more than a point of light in the sky and if Earth lacked an atmosphere, then at the time of an equinox the sun would indeed spend one half of its path above the horizon and one half below.
But in reality, atmospheric refraction raises the sun's disk by more than its own apparent diameter while it is rising or setting. Thus, when we see the sun as a reddish-orange ball just sitting on the horizon, we're looking at an optical illusion.
It is actually completely below the horizon. So from our point of view, the day on an equinox appears longer than it actually is. This illusion means that the appearance of equal day and night, from a skywatcher's view, will come several days later.
In addition to refraction hastening sunrise and delaying sunset, there is another factor that makes daylight longer than night at an equinox: Sunrise and sunset are defined as the times when the first or last speck of the sun's upper limb is visible above the horizon — not the center of the disk."
Read More->Space.com
"The seasons on Earth officially change Wednesday, heralding their shifting nature with an astronomical feat: the autumnal equinox.
On Sept. 22, at 11:09 p.m. EDT (8:09 p.m. PDT), the fall season will begin in the Northern Hemisphere while the Earth's Southern Hemisphere residents ring in their spring. This date one of two each year is called an equinox, from the Latin for "equal night," alluding to the fact that day and night are then of equal length worldwide.
But this is not necessarily so. The definition of the equinox as being a time of equal day and night is a convenient oversimplification.
For one thing, it treats night as simply the time the sun is beneath the horizon, and completely ignores twilight. If the sun were nothing more than a point of light in the sky and if Earth lacked an atmosphere, then at the time of an equinox the sun would indeed spend one half of its path above the horizon and one half below.
But in reality, atmospheric refraction raises the sun's disk by more than its own apparent diameter while it is rising or setting. Thus, when we see the sun as a reddish-orange ball just sitting on the horizon, we're looking at an optical illusion.
It is actually completely below the horizon. So from our point of view, the day on an equinox appears longer than it actually is. This illusion means that the appearance of equal day and night, from a skywatcher's view, will come several days later.
In addition to refraction hastening sunrise and delaying sunset, there is another factor that makes daylight longer than night at an equinox: Sunrise and sunset are defined as the times when the first or last speck of the sun's upper limb is visible above the horizon — not the center of the disk."
Read More->Space.com
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Harvest Moons and the Seeds of Our Faith
How the fall equinox, and the science of ancient astronomy, helped shape religions.
From The Wall Street Journal, by Zeeya Merali:
"Next Wednesday heralds the official end of summer—the autumnal equinox —when the length of day and night are equal (circa 11:09 p.m. ET). In the 21st century, this astronomical event is little more than a passing curiosity. But rewind by about three millennia to the time of the ancient Babylonians, and the autumnal equinox marked the start of the "minor new year." Not only did celestial events define sacred festivals. Conversely, religion powered the development of astronomy, the first science.
Today, science and religion are often thought to be very different, unconnected disciplines. But looking back at our ancient past, we see that the development of religion and early science have really gone hand-in-hand, shaping some of the characteristics of mainstream religion in ways we may not realize.
For instance, while the Babylonians celebrated their "main new year" in the spring, their tradition of having a minor autumnal new year has carried over into both mainstream religion and secular practice. Nick Campion, a historian of cultural astronomy at the University of Wales, notes two echoes of ancient autumn observances today. "It's a custom inherited by Jews—hence Rosh Hashanah," he told me, "while the beginning of the academic year in autumn is a secular legacy."
The Babylonians made meticulous records of celestial events. To them, as to many ancient civilizations, the sky was thought to be the writing pad of the gods, while the stars and planets were the ink used to communicate divine messages.
Through today's lens, the practices of star-gazing Babylonian priests may appear to be based mostly in superstition. Each night they searched the sky for omens sent by the great god Marduk or one of his entourage of lesser deities. Unexpected wanderings of the planets might foreshadow a poor harvest in the village, while the early risings of the moon could portend malformed births. By far the worst harbinger was a lunar eclipse, which signaled that the gods were angry with the king and called for his death.
Much early astronomy dealt with developing techniques to predict these omens, allowing crucial time for pre-emptive prayers and rituals to ward off misfortune.
Despite being tied to religious ritual (and often to gruesome sacrifice), the work of these priests marks the beginnings of science, says John Steele, a historian of ancient astronomy at Brown University. "They were making mathematical predictions based on empirical observations, which is astronomy by definition," he says.
An even more detailed understanding of celestial phenomena influenced the decline of polytheism. As more sophisticated science showed that the astronomical events were routine and could be predicted, they lost their ability to inspire fear. By the 5th century B.C., Greek philosophers were developing a view that the universe originated from one divine source.
Nick Campion adds that with the rise of the monotheistic Abrahamic religions, the need to "secularize the planets"—stripping them of divine agency—became even more pressing. Astronomy could not be written out of religion completely, in part because in people's minds the celestial patterns were so clearly tied to the changing of the seasons. So monotheistic religious leaders emphasized the importance of sacred calendars governed by predictable celestial motions.
They argued also that understanding the behavior of planets and stars was the route to revealing what Mr. Campion calls the "unfolding of God's plan." For a time, he notes, astronomy actually became a tool of power for the religious elite to wield, The better religious scholars were at predicting astronomical events, the more society was seen to be successfully harmonizing with God.
In the early Islamic empire, astronomical patterns dictated not only the calendar, but also the architecture of cities. Mr. Campion has studied the original plans for building Baghdad, which was designed to be laid out in seven concentric circles––to mimic the geocentric view of the cosmos held at the time, with earth at its center, and the sun, the moon and the five then-known planets in orbit around it.
Although those plans were partially abandoned, the ultimate framework of the city was indeed circular and its foundations were laid on a day calculated to coincide with the time that Jupiter, then thought to be the supreme power-giving planet, rose above the Eastern horizon. "Baghdad was literally a cosmopolis," says Mr. Campion.
Baghdad is one example of how an ancient society was built to celestial blueprints. To fully appreciate some of our religious practices today––and sometimes even the layout of the ground under our feet––we must look back to the earliest science and the influence of the night skies."
The Autumn Equinox occurs on the evening of Sept. 23 at 8:09 pm(PDT), 11:09 pm(EDT).
And the Full Moon in Aries is exact about 5 hours later. Enjoy...
From The Wall Street Journal, by Zeeya Merali:
"Next Wednesday heralds the official end of summer—the autumnal equinox —when the length of day and night are equal (circa 11:09 p.m. ET). In the 21st century, this astronomical event is little more than a passing curiosity. But rewind by about three millennia to the time of the ancient Babylonians, and the autumnal equinox marked the start of the "minor new year." Not only did celestial events define sacred festivals. Conversely, religion powered the development of astronomy, the first science.
Today, science and religion are often thought to be very different, unconnected disciplines. But looking back at our ancient past, we see that the development of religion and early science have really gone hand-in-hand, shaping some of the characteristics of mainstream religion in ways we may not realize.
For instance, while the Babylonians celebrated their "main new year" in the spring, their tradition of having a minor autumnal new year has carried over into both mainstream religion and secular practice. Nick Campion, a historian of cultural astronomy at the University of Wales, notes two echoes of ancient autumn observances today. "It's a custom inherited by Jews—hence Rosh Hashanah," he told me, "while the beginning of the academic year in autumn is a secular legacy."
The Babylonians made meticulous records of celestial events. To them, as to many ancient civilizations, the sky was thought to be the writing pad of the gods, while the stars and planets were the ink used to communicate divine messages.
Through today's lens, the practices of star-gazing Babylonian priests may appear to be based mostly in superstition. Each night they searched the sky for omens sent by the great god Marduk or one of his entourage of lesser deities. Unexpected wanderings of the planets might foreshadow a poor harvest in the village, while the early risings of the moon could portend malformed births. By far the worst harbinger was a lunar eclipse, which signaled that the gods were angry with the king and called for his death.
Much early astronomy dealt with developing techniques to predict these omens, allowing crucial time for pre-emptive prayers and rituals to ward off misfortune.
Despite being tied to religious ritual (and often to gruesome sacrifice), the work of these priests marks the beginnings of science, says John Steele, a historian of ancient astronomy at Brown University. "They were making mathematical predictions based on empirical observations, which is astronomy by definition," he says.
An even more detailed understanding of celestial phenomena influenced the decline of polytheism. As more sophisticated science showed that the astronomical events were routine and could be predicted, they lost their ability to inspire fear. By the 5th century B.C., Greek philosophers were developing a view that the universe originated from one divine source.
Nick Campion adds that with the rise of the monotheistic Abrahamic religions, the need to "secularize the planets"—stripping them of divine agency—became even more pressing. Astronomy could not be written out of religion completely, in part because in people's minds the celestial patterns were so clearly tied to the changing of the seasons. So monotheistic religious leaders emphasized the importance of sacred calendars governed by predictable celestial motions.
They argued also that understanding the behavior of planets and stars was the route to revealing what Mr. Campion calls the "unfolding of God's plan." For a time, he notes, astronomy actually became a tool of power for the religious elite to wield, The better religious scholars were at predicting astronomical events, the more society was seen to be successfully harmonizing with God.
In the early Islamic empire, astronomical patterns dictated not only the calendar, but also the architecture of cities. Mr. Campion has studied the original plans for building Baghdad, which was designed to be laid out in seven concentric circles––to mimic the geocentric view of the cosmos held at the time, with earth at its center, and the sun, the moon and the five then-known planets in orbit around it.
Although those plans were partially abandoned, the ultimate framework of the city was indeed circular and its foundations were laid on a day calculated to coincide with the time that Jupiter, then thought to be the supreme power-giving planet, rose above the Eastern horizon. "Baghdad was literally a cosmopolis," says Mr. Campion.
Baghdad is one example of how an ancient society was built to celestial blueprints. To fully appreciate some of our religious practices today––and sometimes even the layout of the ground under our feet––we must look back to the earliest science and the influence of the night skies."
The Autumn Equinox occurs on the evening of Sept. 23 at 8:09 pm(PDT), 11:09 pm(EDT).
And the Full Moon in Aries is exact about 5 hours later. Enjoy...
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Harvest Moon, Jupiter, and Autumn Equinox
The Harvest Moon and the blazing planet Jupiter shine all night long tonight to commemorate the first full night of the autumn season. By common practice, we use the September equinox to mark the start of autumn, and call the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox the Full Harvest Moon. In 2010, the Harvest Moon comes only 6 hours after the September equinox.
If you live in the southern hemisphere, the September equinox signals the beginning of spring, and this full moon counts as the first full moon of spring.
The September equinox falls on Thursday, September 23, at 3:09 Universal Time. Converting the equinox time to North American clocks, that places the equinox on Wednesday, September 22, at 11:09 p.m. Eastern Time, 10:09 p.m. Central Time, 9:09 p.m. Mountain Time and 8:09 p.m. Pacific Time.
For the moon and Jupiter to shine all night long on any equinox, these three events – the opposition of Jupiter, the equinox and full moon – all have to happen in close conjunction. In 2010, the three events follow one another like falling dominos, with the whole procession taking less than two days time.
September 2010 presents the only time in your lifetime that you’ll be able to witness the moon and Jupiter’s simultaneous all-night appearance on the equinox. On this the first full night of autumn, watch the Harvest Moon and Jupiter as they sail westward across the sky tonight! (EarthSky.org)
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| From 2010 - 2012 |
If you live in the southern hemisphere, the September equinox signals the beginning of spring, and this full moon counts as the first full moon of spring.
The September equinox falls on Thursday, September 23, at 3:09 Universal Time. Converting the equinox time to North American clocks, that places the equinox on Wednesday, September 22, at 11:09 p.m. Eastern Time, 10:09 p.m. Central Time, 9:09 p.m. Mountain Time and 8:09 p.m. Pacific Time.
For the moon and Jupiter to shine all night long on any equinox, these three events – the opposition of Jupiter, the equinox and full moon – all have to happen in close conjunction. In 2010, the three events follow one another like falling dominos, with the whole procession taking less than two days time.
September 2010 presents the only time in your lifetime that you’ll be able to witness the moon and Jupiter’s simultaneous all-night appearance on the equinox. On this the first full night of autumn, watch the Harvest Moon and Jupiter as they sail westward across the sky tonight! (EarthSky.org)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Solar Cell that Renews Itself
This story is the kind that astrologers have been anticipating during the Jupiter-Uranus conjunctions, that are in effect from June 2010 into January 2011. The 2nd exact alignment of these planets occurs Sept. 18 at the 29th degree of Pisces. And then a few days later, the Sun activates the potentially brilliant inventiveness of the Jupiter-Uranus pair, that often reflects sudden breakthroughs in science and technology. Awakenings and discoveries of all sorts are furthered under this particular planetary combination.
Jesse Emspak for The International Business Times 9/7/10:
"Plants use sunlight for energy, and do so every day for years. But humans haven't been able to duplicate that feat - until now.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, scientists have found a way to get energy from sunlight with chemicals similar to those plants use. In addition, it works for long periods of time, with the chemicals used able to reassemble themselves.
Michael Strano, an associate professor of chemical engineering, says he has been studying plant biology for some time. He wanted to see if he could duplicate photosynthesis, turning sunlight into power as efficiently as plants do. "It's not at all like static photovoltaic cells," he said. "I'm just fascinated by it."
What he did was to take a chemical called a phospholipid, and put it in a solution of water with carbon nanotubes and molecules called reaction centers.
Phospholipods are a combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic, meaning the molecule is attracted to water on one side and repels water on the other. In water, the hydrophobic side tries to push away from the surrounding molecules. That forces the phospholipid into a tiny disc shape.
Next the nanotubes, which also repel water, are attracted to the phospholipids. That makes a configuration of a layer of nanotubes sandwiched between two phospholipids.
The reaction center is then attracted to one side of the "sandwich." Strano likened it to an olive on a stick stuck in a hamburger. The toothpick is the side of the molecule that is forced into the bun by the water.
When sunlight hits the reaction center is generates a tiny current. Millions of them together generate more. The amount is measured in billionths of an ampere, Strano says.
Ordinarily that would be the end of the story. But as the solution generates power, it loses efficiency, because each time the photons hit the reaction center it changes the molecule.
In order to solve this problem, Strano mixed the solution with a surfactant called sodium cholate, which breaks up proteins. It is, Strano said, similar to soap. "You could wash your hands with it, even." he said. Similar chemicals are used to break up oil spills.
The sodium cholate breaks the bonds between the carbon, the phospholipids and the reaction centers, turning them back into a soupy solution. The solution doesn't do anything until you take the sodium cholate out by passing the mixture through a porous tube and pure water. Once the sodium cholate is gone, the three components reassemble themselves, ready to generate power again. Strano said he was able to keep the process going for a week.
The next step is to concentrate the solution more, to generate more power. "We'd have to make it more like a gel," Strano said. While the reaction centers convert energy with 40% efficiency - far above the figure for a photovoltaic cell - only a small amount of sunlight hits the molecules because the solution is clear, and the light mostly passes through it.
The big advantage over regular batteries is that the proteins harvesting the light can come from plants. "You could use grass clippings," said Strano. Liquid fuels are often made from biomass, and this is little different, he added."
************ ************ ************
On Sept. 29, the Montreal Gazette featured a story apparently related to the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction.
First potentially habitable planet found outside our solar system: NASA:
"A team of "planet hunters" has announced the discovery of the first planet with the potential to harbour life outside our solar system.
Researchers from the University of California Santa Cruz and the Carnegie Institution of Washington said Wednesday the planet has three times the mass of Earth and orbits its star at a distance that places it smack in the middle of the star's "habitable zone" — the vital zone where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface.
If confirmed, it would be the most Earth-like exoplanet yet discovered and the first strong case for a potentially habitable one, NASA and the U.S.-based National Science Foundation said in a statement. Both organizations sponsored the research."
Read More
Jesse Emspak for The International Business Times 9/7/10:
"Plants use sunlight for energy, and do so every day for years. But humans haven't been able to duplicate that feat - until now.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, scientists have found a way to get energy from sunlight with chemicals similar to those plants use. In addition, it works for long periods of time, with the chemicals used able to reassemble themselves.
Michael Strano, an associate professor of chemical engineering, says he has been studying plant biology for some time. He wanted to see if he could duplicate photosynthesis, turning sunlight into power as efficiently as plants do. "It's not at all like static photovoltaic cells," he said. "I'm just fascinated by it."
What he did was to take a chemical called a phospholipid, and put it in a solution of water with carbon nanotubes and molecules called reaction centers.
Phospholipods are a combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic, meaning the molecule is attracted to water on one side and repels water on the other. In water, the hydrophobic side tries to push away from the surrounding molecules. That forces the phospholipid into a tiny disc shape.
Next the nanotubes, which also repel water, are attracted to the phospholipids. That makes a configuration of a layer of nanotubes sandwiched between two phospholipids.
The reaction center is then attracted to one side of the "sandwich." Strano likened it to an olive on a stick stuck in a hamburger. The toothpick is the side of the molecule that is forced into the bun by the water.
When sunlight hits the reaction center is generates a tiny current. Millions of them together generate more. The amount is measured in billionths of an ampere, Strano says.
Ordinarily that would be the end of the story. But as the solution generates power, it loses efficiency, because each time the photons hit the reaction center it changes the molecule.
In order to solve this problem, Strano mixed the solution with a surfactant called sodium cholate, which breaks up proteins. It is, Strano said, similar to soap. "You could wash your hands with it, even." he said. Similar chemicals are used to break up oil spills.
The sodium cholate breaks the bonds between the carbon, the phospholipids and the reaction centers, turning them back into a soupy solution. The solution doesn't do anything until you take the sodium cholate out by passing the mixture through a porous tube and pure water. Once the sodium cholate is gone, the three components reassemble themselves, ready to generate power again. Strano said he was able to keep the process going for a week.
The next step is to concentrate the solution more, to generate more power. "We'd have to make it more like a gel," Strano said. While the reaction centers convert energy with 40% efficiency - far above the figure for a photovoltaic cell - only a small amount of sunlight hits the molecules because the solution is clear, and the light mostly passes through it.
The big advantage over regular batteries is that the proteins harvesting the light can come from plants. "You could use grass clippings," said Strano. Liquid fuels are often made from biomass, and this is little different, he added."
************ ************ ************
On Sept. 29, the Montreal Gazette featured a story apparently related to the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction.
First potentially habitable planet found outside our solar system: NASA:
"A team of "planet hunters" has announced the discovery of the first planet with the potential to harbour life outside our solar system.
Researchers from the University of California Santa Cruz and the Carnegie Institution of Washington said Wednesday the planet has three times the mass of Earth and orbits its star at a distance that places it smack in the middle of the star's "habitable zone" — the vital zone where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface.
If confirmed, it would be the most Earth-like exoplanet yet discovered and the first strong case for a potentially habitable one, NASA and the U.S.-based National Science Foundation said in a statement. Both organizations sponsored the research."
Read More
Close Encounter with Jupiter
From NASA Science News:
Sept. 15, 2010: Been outside at midnight lately? There's something you really need to see. Jupiter is approaching Earth for the closest encounter between the two planets in more than a decade--and it is dazzling.
The night of closest approach is Sept. 20-21st. This is also called "the night of opposition" because Jupiter will be opposite the sun, rising at sunset and soaring overhead at midnight. Among all denizens of the midnight sky, only the Moon itself will be brighter.
Earth-Jupiter encounters happen every 13 months when the Earth laps Jupiter in their race around the sun. But because Earth and Jupiter do not orbit the sun in perfect circles, they are not always the same distance apart when Earth passes by. On Sept. 20th, Jupiter will be as much as 75 million km closer than previous encounters and will not be this close again until 2022.
Read More
Sept. 15, 2010: Been outside at midnight lately? There's something you really need to see. Jupiter is approaching Earth for the closest encounter between the two planets in more than a decade--and it is dazzling.
The night of closest approach is Sept. 20-21st. This is also called "the night of opposition" because Jupiter will be opposite the sun, rising at sunset and soaring overhead at midnight. Among all denizens of the midnight sky, only the Moon itself will be brighter.
Earth-Jupiter encounters happen every 13 months when the Earth laps Jupiter in their race around the sun. But because Earth and Jupiter do not orbit the sun in perfect circles, they are not always the same distance apart when Earth passes by. On Sept. 20th, Jupiter will be as much as 75 million km closer than previous encounters and will not be this close again until 2022.
Read More
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Rafael Nadal is Amazing
From BBC News:
"Rafael Nadal joined the ranks of the all-time greats of tennis as he beat Novak Djokovic to win the US Open and complete his set of Grand Slam titles.
The Spaniard, 24, won a rain-interrupted final 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 at Flushing Meadows in New York. Nadal's first US Open victory takes him to nine Grand Slam titles. And he becomes only the seventh man in history to complete the set of majors - Wimbledon, the French, Australian and US Opens.
Nadal joins Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry in having swept the board, and also becomes the first man since Laver in 1969 to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year.
"That's more than I dreamt," Nadal said at the trophy presentation. "It's just amazing to be here in this final, just to arrive in this final. To have this trophy here in a few seconds, with my hands, is going to be unbelievable."
Read More
Rafael Nadal is highly mercurial- quick and agile, with his Sun, and a well-placed Mercury in Gemini. Benefic Jupiter- the most dignified planet in his horoscope, is the apex(or focal planet) of a dynamic t-square with Mercury(reflexes) and Uranus(brilliance). And the Virgo New Moon(16 Virgo) earlier this month, completed a grand mutable(adaptable) cross with this natal t-square.
The other t-square aspect in Nadal's birth chart features an exalted Mars(23 Capricorn), the planet of sports and competition on the apex, in square to the Moon and the fateful Nodal axis. This powerfully focused Mars(will) was activated by the 1/15/10 solar eclipse at 25 Capricorn, and then more recently by the total solar eclipse(19 Cancer) of 7/11/10.
It would seem that Nadal's favorable Jupiter return is still in effect, as Jupiter stations-direct Nov. 18 within 2 degrees of his natal Jupiter- which is again, the most dignified planet in his birth chart.
Interestingly, Rafael's Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all out-of-bounds(beyond the declination of the Sun at solstice), with the potential for extreme and/or extraordinary expression.
"Rafael Nadal joined the ranks of the all-time greats of tennis as he beat Novak Djokovic to win the US Open and complete his set of Grand Slam titles.
The Spaniard, 24, won a rain-interrupted final 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 at Flushing Meadows in New York. Nadal's first US Open victory takes him to nine Grand Slam titles. And he becomes only the seventh man in history to complete the set of majors - Wimbledon, the French, Australian and US Opens.
Nadal joins Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry in having swept the board, and also becomes the first man since Laver in 1969 to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year.
"That's more than I dreamt," Nadal said at the trophy presentation. "It's just amazing to be here in this final, just to arrive in this final. To have this trophy here in a few seconds, with my hands, is going to be unbelievable."
Read More
 |
| From Mundane Chart Gallery |
Rafael Nadal is highly mercurial- quick and agile, with his Sun, and a well-placed Mercury in Gemini. Benefic Jupiter- the most dignified planet in his horoscope, is the apex(or focal planet) of a dynamic t-square with Mercury(reflexes) and Uranus(brilliance). And the Virgo New Moon(16 Virgo) earlier this month, completed a grand mutable(adaptable) cross with this natal t-square.
The other t-square aspect in Nadal's birth chart features an exalted Mars(23 Capricorn), the planet of sports and competition on the apex, in square to the Moon and the fateful Nodal axis. This powerfully focused Mars(will) was activated by the 1/15/10 solar eclipse at 25 Capricorn, and then more recently by the total solar eclipse(19 Cancer) of 7/11/10.
It would seem that Nadal's favorable Jupiter return is still in effect, as Jupiter stations-direct Nov. 18 within 2 degrees of his natal Jupiter- which is again, the most dignified planet in his birth chart.
Interestingly, Rafael's Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all out-of-bounds(beyond the declination of the Sun at solstice), with the potential for extreme and/or extraordinary expression.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Arabic in the Sky
From about the 8th to the 15th century, Arab astronomers and astrologers, in a region stretching from Islamic Spain across North Africa and the Middle East to India, dominated worldwide scientific endeavor.
Written by Robert Lebling:
"On March 3, 1995, when American astronomers Andrea Dupree and Ronald Gilliland trained the orbiting Hubble Telescope on the constellation of Orion the Hunter, they captured a historic photograph: the first-ever direct image of the disk of a star other than the Sun.
Until then, star photographs had shown only points of light, but Dupree and Gilliland produced an image large enough to give the star a shape. The center of the bright orange image showed a mysterious hot spot twice the diameter of the Earth's orbit, surrounded by an ultraviolet atmosphere that emits prodigious amounts of radiation.
The star was Betelgeuse, one of the most famous of the red supergiants and the second brightest star in Orion. The odd name of Betelgeuse, in the constellation Orion, comes from an Arabic original whose first letter was inadvertently changed by a 13th-century astronomer.
Betelgeuse (pronounced beetle-jooz or sometimes bet-el-juice) is an odd name—but then most of the common star names sound strange to the western ear. The reason is that most of them are of Arabic origin: Aldebaran (“The Follower”), Algol (“The Ghoul”), Arrakis (“The Dancer”), Deneb (“Tail”), Fomalhaut (“The Fish's Mouth”), Rigel (“Foot”), Thuban (“Snake”), Vega (“Plunging [Eagle]”).… The list goes on."
Saudi Aramco World
Al Biruni and Arabic Astrology, by David Plant:
Skyscript
Written by Robert Lebling:
"On March 3, 1995, when American astronomers Andrea Dupree and Ronald Gilliland trained the orbiting Hubble Telescope on the constellation of Orion the Hunter, they captured a historic photograph: the first-ever direct image of the disk of a star other than the Sun.
Until then, star photographs had shown only points of light, but Dupree and Gilliland produced an image large enough to give the star a shape. The center of the bright orange image showed a mysterious hot spot twice the diameter of the Earth's orbit, surrounded by an ultraviolet atmosphere that emits prodigious amounts of radiation.
The star was Betelgeuse, one of the most famous of the red supergiants and the second brightest star in Orion. The odd name of Betelgeuse, in the constellation Orion, comes from an Arabic original whose first letter was inadvertently changed by a 13th-century astronomer.
Betelgeuse (pronounced beetle-jooz or sometimes bet-el-juice) is an odd name—but then most of the common star names sound strange to the western ear. The reason is that most of them are of Arabic origin: Aldebaran (“The Follower”), Algol (“The Ghoul”), Arrakis (“The Dancer”), Deneb (“Tail”), Fomalhaut (“The Fish's Mouth”), Rigel (“Foot”), Thuban (“Snake”), Vega (“Plunging [Eagle]”).… The list goes on."
Saudi Aramco World
Al Biruni and Arabic Astrology, by David Plant:
Skyscript
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Autumn in the Middle East
The Middle East would seem to be ground zero for the most important planetary energies during the Fall season. Pluto on the IC(4th house cusp) @ Baghdad suggests extreme crisis-like conditions and upheavals in Iraq. While Saudi Arabia and Iran also appear subject to some possible hardships and power struggles. Moreover, the Obama administration's renewed interest in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian's fits the Autumnal alignments focused over that region.
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| From Asia & Mideast |
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