Saturday's Tweets

The 2012 eclipses are a topic of discussion on Twitter today.

1. The Nov. 13 total sol eclipse is a SuperMoon event with Luna at perigee- followed by 11/28 lunar eclipse 7 Gemini.

2. SuperMoons have a stronger tidal and seismic influence. A total solar eclipse in Scorpio is intense anyway.

When asked if the 11/13/12 SuperMoon eclipse would affect the emotional tides...
3. Of course! The 11/13/12 eclipse S.Node conjoins Algol Beta Persei- the Medusa's Head/Eye...the dark feminine.

Lunar probes to resolve mystery of Moon's interior

(Reuters)- "Two robotic NASA probes are due to arrive at the moon this weekend to resolve a long-standing mystery of what is inside Earth's natural satellite and how it got there.

The 667-pound (303-kg) craft of the U.S. space agency's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission have been flying to the moon since their joint launch in September.

GRAIL A is due to begin a 40-minute braking maneuver to put itself into orbit around the moon at 4:21 p.m. ET on Saturday, with GRAIL B following suit 25 hours later. Both are needed for the intricate gravity-mapping mission scheduled to begin in March.

"We won't be celebrating a lot until after we get GRAIL B into orbit late afternoon on New Year's Day," said project manager David Lehman with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Once in position 34 miles above the moon's surface, the GRAIL probes will fly in a line, speeding up and slowing down in response to minute gravitational tugs.

By constantly measuring changes in the distance between the two craft, scientists can create a gravity map of the moon. The changes in speed will be as subtle as a fraction of a micron per second. A micron is about the width of a red blood cell.

The data will be used to model the moon's interior, a key piece of information still missing despite more than 100 previous missions to the moon.

Scientists believe the moon formed when an object about the size of Mars smashed into Earth shortly after the formation of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago.

"We understand little really of how this formation happened and how it cooled off after the violent event," said GRAIL lead scientist Maria Zuber with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

One long-standing puzzle is why the far side of the moon is so different from the side that permanently faces Earth. The near side is filled with large, dark plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions but the far side is virtually all highlands.

"It seems that the answer is not on the surface," Zuber said. "We think the answer is locked in the interior."

Zuber and the team have 82 days to make their measurements. If the solar-powered probes, built by Lockheed Martin Corp, survive beyond the next lunar eclipse in June, the $496 million mission could be extended for a detailed mapping survey from as close as 15.5 miles above the moon's surface."

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Quote of the Day: “joy and sorrow are inseparable. . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.” ~Khalil Gibran

Solar Eclipse Tweet

Dec. 30 Tweet:
The May 20, 2012 annular solar eclipse that conjoins Alcyone of the Pleiades, is visible here in the SF Bay Area. NASA eclipse

Also tweeted today: We have 3 events in 2012 linked to the Maya- sol eclipse conjunct Pleiades; VE-SU inferior conjunction; end Mayan long count.

Evidence for a Spinning Black Hole

From Images 108

In the center of a swirling whirlpool of hot gas is likely a beast that has never been seen directly: a black hole. Studies of the bright light emitted by the swirling gas frequently indicate not only that a black hole is present, but also likely attributes. The gas surrounding GRO J1655-40, for example, has been found to display an unusual flickering at a rate of 450 times a second. Given a previous mass estimate for the central object of seven times the mass of our Sun, the rate of the fast flickering can be explained by a black hole that is rotating very rapidly. What physical mechanisms actually cause the flickering- and a slower quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO)- in accretion disks surrounding black holes and neutron stars remains a topic of much research. (APOD)

Full Moon Tweet

Dec. 29 Tweet:
The Jan. 8 Cancer Full Moon looks relatively intense here in the SF Bay Area- whatever form that takes. AS = 7 Libra; MC = 8 Cancer = Pluto.

From California & San Francisco

For those not conversant in astrological notation- AS = Ascendant (1st house cusp), MC = Medium Coeli or Midheaven (10th house cusp), and Pluto is the planet of extremes and upheavals.

Construction of World's Largest Telescope Begins in 2012

"The European Southern Observatory's plan to begin construction of the world's largest telescope- the European Extremely Large Telescope- will take a big step forward in 2012 now that early funding for the project has been secured.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) governing body approved the 2012 budget, which paves the way for preparatory work to begin at the planned site of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) at the Cerro Armazones mountain in the central part of Chile's Atacama Desert.

The telescope, which represents a joint collaboration between 15 countries, will be the world's largest ground-based optical telescope. Builders selected the observatory's location in Chile because of the optimal weather conditions in the area, where skies are clear overhead roughly 320 nights of the year, ESO officials have said.

The E-ELT's primary mirror will be a staggering 138 feet (42 meters) wide. For comparison, the Keck Observatory in Hawaii has a mirror that measures 33 feet (10 meters) wide, and the Subaru telescope, also in Hawaii, has a primary mirror that is 27 feet (8.2 m) wide."
Read More-> SPACE.com

Conjunction at Sunset

From Images 108

While Comet Lovejoy entertained early morning risers in in the southern hemisphere, a lovely conjunction of a young crescent Moon and Venus graced western skies at sunset. Captured on December 26th the conjunction, with beautiful sunset colors above and below, is seen here over Viverone Lake near Turin, Italy. But if you've been outdoors at all lately enjoying sunsets on planet Earth, then you've probably noticed Venus low in the west as the season's brilliant evening star. Sometimes mistaken for a terrestrial light near the horizon, Venus is the third brightest celestial beacon, after the Sun and Moon. That distinction is particularly easy to appreciate in this peaceful scene. (APOD)

Quote of the Day: "The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!" ~Edward Payson Powell

Peak Moments of 2012

and Forecast for Each Sign
by Tem Tarriktar: The Mountain Astrologer

2012- Keep Paying Your Bills, It's Not the End of the World:
Michael Lutin's column

Goddess Astrology Podcast

Tue, 20 December 2011
4th Gate: Conjunction
Venus will soon make Her fourth conjunction with a waxing crescent Moon (Dec. 26) in the western evening sky since her return to visibility in September. This 4th gate on the journey to wholeness correlates with the 4th chakra and the 4th operation of alchemy, Conjunction. Join Gary and Jim in exploring the images and activities associated with Conjunction and illustrate these in the chart of rock musician Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame.
GAP link

Quote of the Day: "I make no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me." ~Anaïs Nin

The Dumbell Nebula

From Images 108

The first hint of what will become of our Sun was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, the type of nebula our Sun will produce when nuclear fusion stops in its core. M27 is one of the brightest planetary nebulae on the sky, and can be seen toward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula) with binoculars. It takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, shown above in colors emitted by hydrogen and oxygen. Understanding the physics and significance of M27 was well beyond 18th century science. Even today, many things remain mysterious about bipolar planetary nebula like M27, including the physical mechanism that expels a low-mass star's gaseous outer-envelope, leaving an X-ray hot white dwarf. (APOD)

Dec. 26 Tweet: "One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this:  To rise above the little things."  ~John Burroughs

John Major Jenkins 0n 2012

The 2012 Story + Q&A - filmed at the Megalithomania Conference in Glastonbury, 16th May 2011.

The untold story of the incredible sequence of events, discoveries and insights that has unlocked the secret of the Mayan calendar end-date of 2012, from one of the worlds leading scholars on the subject.
YouTube

John Major Jenkins & the December 2012 Galactic Alignment:
The Awakening Shift

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The message is simple- purification, and renewal. The global paradigm shift is one of consciousness, as the world is a reflection of our consciousness.
Hopi Reflections on 2012:
YouTube

Mayan Elder and 13th Generation Shaman
Don Alejandro Perez Oxlaj: YouTube video

Chasing the Aurora Borealis

From BBC News:

In America "storm-chasers" are the intrepid types who pursue tornadoes, and sometimes hurricanes. But the Arctic Circle has its aurora chasers - people who speed around in search of the best views of the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.

"Last week we saw one that had everything - spiralling, curtains, ribbons, greens and reds, and the whole sky lit up. We were amazed at what was unfolding before us," says Andy Keen.

Five years ago he left his job running a charity in the UK to move to Ivalo, a remote village in northern Lapland, Finland, latitude 68 degrees - two degrees above the Arctic Circle.

"I saw a TV documentary about the Northern Lights. So I went there to have a look. Now I'm absolutely addicted," he says.
Read More

A Raging Storm on Saturn

From Images 108

It is one of the largest and longest lived storms ever recorded in our Solar System. First seen late last year, the above cloud formation in the northern hemisphere of Saturn started larger than the Earth and soon spread completely around the planet. The storm has been tracked not only from Earth but from up close by the robotic Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn. Pictured above in false colored infrared in February, orange colors indicate clouds deep in the atmosphere, while light colors highlight clouds higher up. The rings of Saturn are seen nearly edge-on as the thin blue horizontal line. The warped dark bands are the shadows of the rings cast onto the cloud tops by the Sun to the upper left. A source of radio noise from lightning, the intense storm may relate to seasonal changes as spring slowly emerges in the north of Saturn. (APOD)

Quote of the Day: "For last year's words belong to last year's language...And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."
~T.S. Eliot

A Small Spanish Town Wins the Lottery

From BBC News:

"A small Spanish town has become 720m euro richer after winning the top prize in the country's national Christmas lottery. El Gordo, which means the fat one, was handing out 2.5bn euros ($3.2bn, £2bn) to winners across Spain. The winning numbers were picked and announced by pupils from a school in Madrid in a nationally televised draw.

About 1,800 residents in the town of Granen, in the north eastern Los Monegros area, were due to receive around 400,000 euro each. It is common for people to join together to buy shares of several tickets, meaning multiple prizes can go to the same town.

Spain is struggling to emerge from a near two-year recession that has left it with an unemployment rate of 21.5 percent."

Jupiter, the planet of growth and opportunities, is now transiting the Venus-ruled Taurus, the sign most related with money and wealth. But since Aug. 30 Jupiter's been retrograde, so not as good an influence as it could be. Lucky Jupiter goes direct on Xmas Day- hallelujah! When Jupiter first ingressed Taurus the Bull on June 4, 2011, an exalted Saturn (in Libra) rose in Granen, Spain- and Venus, lord of the Libra Ascendant and dispositor of Jupiter (in Taurus), fell in the 8th house of other people's money. The Ascendant ruler (and planets near the Ascendant) of an ingress chart signify prospective local conditions and the health of it's citizens. As Venus was favorably dignified by sign, it presaged a financial gain for the people of Granen, Spain, sometime during Jupiter's passage through Taurus (6/4/11 - 6/11/12). And this positive indication was supported and perhaps timed by the Dec. 10 lunar eclipse, and the Capricorn solar ingress (Winter Solstice) charts.

From Mundane Charts 2

Eclipsed Moon in the Morning

From Images 108

December's lunar eclipse graced early morning skies over the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, USA. There, this wintry scene finds the Moon in a cold blue twilight sky near the western horizon, above the snowy North American Continental Divide. About 22 minutes before the sunrise, the reddened lunar disk is almost completely immersed in Earth's dark shadow. This dramatic Rocky Mountain moon set during the eclipse total phase. But all parts of the geocentric celestial event were seen from Pacific regions, Asia, and Australia, including the entire 51 minutes of totality, and parts of the final eclipse of 2011 were shared in skies around much of planet Earth. (APOD)

Quote of the Day: “You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” ~Eckhart Tolle

New Moon in Capricorn: LUA Astrology

Hubble Spots Complex Carbons on Pluto

"The Hubble Space Telescope has sniffed out evidence of complex carbon molecules, the building blocks of life in this corner of the cosmos, lying on the frozen surface of Pluto. The distant dwarf world is known to harbor methane ice and other frigid compounds, but this is the first time scientists have suggested there could be other complex carbon chemicals, too.

Something is absorbing ultraviolet light on Pluto’s surface, and it may be organic compounds or some nitrogen-containing material, according to scientists at the Southwest Research Institute. That’s organic not as in life, but as in carbon-based compounds that make up the building blocks of life as we know it.

“This is an exciting finding because complex Plutonian hydrocarbons and other molecules that could be responsible for the ultraviolet spectral features we found with Hubble may, among other things, be responsible for giving Pluto its ruddy color,” said Alan Stern of SwRI in a statement.

The team found the high UV absorption using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, a new instrument installed during the final Hubble servicing mission in 2009. The new data marked the first time the COS was turned to Pluto and its largest companion, Charon. The COS is designed to split light apart and measure its components.

During measurements made in 2010, the team also discovered evidence of changes in Pluto's ultraviolet spectrum compared to earlier measurements from the 1990s. This indicates the dwarf planet’s surface might be changing, due to some unknown influence, or its atmosphere might have increased in pressure. The paper, published in the Astronomical Journal, shows there’s a lot left to be learned about Pluto, Stern said. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will be able to answer some questions when it arrives in 2015."
POPSCI

Was the Star of Bethlehem a Star, Comet ... or Miracle?

By Joe Rao:
"As a young boy, one of my highlights of the Christmas season was visiting New York's Hayden Planetarium where they would stage their traditional sky show in which astronomers pondered the age-old question of the possible origin of the Star of Bethlehem. 

Between 1935 and 1959, Hayden's very first Zeiss projector (three others have been installed since) was run back some 2,000 years in an attempt to reproduce the positions of the planets around the time of the birth of Christ. The entire procedure would take four hours with the planets engaged in an incredible fast-moving dance while the moon flipped around the sky a hundred times a minute! 

Ultimately, the projector was brought to a halt on Feb. 25 in the year 6 BC with the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars forming a triangle low in the western sky.

In those days, a silhouette of the skyline of New York was a permanent fixture around the periphery of the planetarium dome, so the planet trio was depicted not above a Middle East desert, but Midtown Manhattan. The audience was then asked: "Was the star seen by the Wise Men an unusual, eye-catching gathering of naked eye planets, or was that fabled 'sign in the sky' a meteor, comet, nova, or something supernatural?"
Read More->SPACE.com

The Lunar Eclipse and Iraq

A Wave of Bombings in Baghdad

The total lunar eclipse of Dec. 10 foreshadowed a heightened violence in already fractured Iraq. The eclipse Ascendant at Baghdad was 29 Gemini, conjunct the massive red star known as Betelgeuse, long associated with violent disasters. (Both 9/11 and the Boxing Day (Sumatra-Andaman) earthquake-tsunami featured the Moon conjunct Betelgeuse.) And the eclipse Mars was in a critical position at the IC-4th house cusp in Iraq's capital, where it's poised to do the most domestic damage possible. As Mars was square the Moon's fateful Nodes when the eclipse occurred, this t-square was sharply focused in Baghdad- forming a tense grand cross with the eclipse Midheaven.

From Mundane Charts 2

Sunset at the Spiral Jetty

From Images 108

In dwindling twilight at an August day's end, these broad dark bands appeared in the sky for a moment, seen from Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty on the eastern shore of Utah's Great Salt Lake. Outlined by rays of sunlight known as crepuscular rays, they are actually shadows cast by clouds near the distant western horizon, the setting Sun having disappeared from direct view behind them. The cloud shadows are parallel, but seem to converge in the distance because of perspective. Coiled in the salt-encrusted lake surface, Smithson's most famous earthwork provides a dramatic contrast to the converging lines. The Spiral Jetty was constructed in 1970, when the water level was unusually low and was completely submerged in a few years as the level rose. Now just above water again, it has spent much of its existence submerged in the briny lake.

Quote of the Day: "The love of heaven makes one heavenly." ~William Shakespeare

Kim Jong-un, the Morning Star King

NewsScope for November 29, 2010
by Michael Wolfstar
NeptuneCafe

The BBC's profile of Kim Jong-un.

The 2011 Winter Solstice

The 2011 Winter Solstice occurs on Dec. 21 at 9:30 pm, PST. This marks the shortest day(s) in the northern hemisphere, and the return of the light as the days gradually become longer. Astrologers also refer to the Winter Solstice as the Capricorn solar ingress, because this is when the Sun enters the Saturn-ruled earth sign of Capricorn the Goatfish. Many western cultures see this solstice/ingress as the beginning of the new year, but most astrologers see the Vernal Equinox-Aries ingress as the true birth of the new year. The Sun actually crosses the equator in the east at the Aries ingress-Vernal Equinox.

Although the Aries solar ingress has pride of place in determining prospective events for the coming year, the Capricorn ingress is specifically relevant to the planetary trends for the Winter season. Simply put, the 2011 Capricorn ingress with Pluto at the IC-4th house cusp in Washington, DC and New York City, suggests further problems for the housing market, and the party in power- upheavals. The Winter weather in the US is likely to be more extreme then normal too, as the 4th house cusp/angle refers to weather conditions, including earthquakes.

The Capricorn New Moon on Xmas Eve follows shortly after the Winter Solstice. This New Moon (3 Capricorn) translates the epic Uranus-Pluto square which reflects breakdowns and breakthroughs, but also trines stationary Jupiter. Benefic Jupiter goes direct on Xmas Day after being retrograde since Aug. 30. It's this trinal aspect between the New Moon in Capricorn and hopeful Jupiter that offers the prospect of real progress. Set your intentions concerning long-term goals at the New Moon for best results. And enjoy the renewed sense of faith and enthusiasm that Jupiter brings.

Capricorn the Goatfish, by Deborah Houlding:
Skyscript

Quote of the Day: “Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.” ~Goethe

Dancing in the Dark at the Winter Solstice 2011

Winter Solstice Sun Illuminates California Mission

2011 Winter Solstice Report

By Barbara Hand Clow:

"Humans and societies function within cycles that are mirrored in the sky by the locations of the planets and the Moon going around the Sun. Just as it is possible to consider the basic personalities of the people invited to a party and predict what kind of party might result, it is possible to use planetary analysis to anticipate the qualities of the human social field on Earth during a given period of time. Astrology can predict how individuals might be feeling, just by knowing the archetypal influence of each planet plus the Moon. Just like a wild rock-n-roll dance party is very different from a black-tie dinner party, life on Earth is very different during wartime than it is during peacetime. Astrology also states clearly when an influence begins and is finished; this makes it possible to look back or go forward in time to identify patterns."
Read More

Mexico Mayan Prepare for Dec. 21, 2012

MEXICO CITY (AP)- Seize the day.

"Only 52 weeks and a day are left before Dec. 21, 2012, when some believe the Maya predicted the end of the world.

Unlike enthusiasts of other doomsday theories who suggest putting together survival kits, southeastern Mexico, the heart of Maya territory, plans a yearlong celebration.

Mexico's tourism agency expects to draw 52 million visitors by next year only to the regions of Chiapas, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Campeche. All of Mexico usually lures about 22 million foreigners in a year.

It's selling the date, the Winter Solstice in the coming year, as a time of renewal. Many archeologists argue that the 2012 reference on a 1,300-year-old stone tablet only marks the end of a cycle in the Mayan calendar.

"The world will not end. It is an era," said Yeanet Zaldo, a tourism spokeswoman for the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, home to Cancun. "For us, it is a message of hope."
Read More

A Horseshoe Einstein Ring

From Images 108

What's large and blue and can wrap itself around an entire galaxy? A gravitational lens mirage. Pictured above, the gravity of a luminous red galaxy (LRG) has gravitationally distorted the light from a much more distant blue galaxy. More typically, such light bending results in two discernible images of the distant galaxy, but here the lens alignment is so precise that the background galaxy is distorted into a horseshoe -- a nearly complete ring. Since such a lensing effect was generally predicted in some detail by Albert Einstein over 70 years ago, rings like this are now known as Einstein Rings. Although LRG 3-757 was discovered in 2007 in data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the image shown above is a follow-up observation taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3. Strong gravitational lenses like LRG 3-757 are more than oddities -- their multiple properties allow astronomers to determine the mass and dark matter content of the foreground galaxy lenses. (APOD)

Quote of the Day:
Here's a sigh to those who love me,
And a smile to those who hate;
And, whatever sky's above me,
Here's a heart for every fate.
~Lord Byron

2012 Lunation Charts

The Sculptor Galaxy

From Images 108

NGC 253 is not only one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, it is also one of the dustiest. Discovered in 1783 by Caroline Herschel in the constellation of Sculptor, NGC 253 lies only about ten million light-years distant. NGC 253 is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest group to our own Local Group of Galaxies. The dense dark dust accompanies a high star formation rate, giving NGC 253 the designation of starburst galaxy. Visible in the above photograph is the active central nucleus, also known to be a bright source of X-rays and gamma rays. (APOD)

Typhoon Washi Strikes Mindanao

Reuters video

We would expect the recent lunar eclipse to portend such a natural disaster- and in hindsight, it does. The planet Mercury is astrological ruler of wind, and both the lord of the Gemini eclipse and the eclipse chart Ascendant at Cagayan de Oro. This Mercury was at it's most critical position in Mindanao- conjunct the eclipse IC-Nadir (the weather), and square the eclipse Ascendant (2 Virgo) which it rules.

Chiron in Pisces and Neptune, lord of the seas, were both angular (powerful), as we would expect given the nature of this tragic event. Chiron first entered the watery sign of Pisces the exact day of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. While mythological Chiron's accidental wounding makes it a key significator in charts for injuries suffered by accident. And of course, astrological Neptune is primarily related with water, the oceans, and flooding.

From Mundane Charts 2

So in hindsight, the Dec. 10 total lunar eclipse did foreshadow a natural disaster involving wind and water at Mindanao.

The Star of Bethlehem Discovered

From The Christian Post:
"When former high school astronomy teacher Irene Worthington Baron received 60 astronomy computer programs from NASA for her classroom, she started wondering if she could use them to prove there really was a Christmas star.

Baron, recently retired after almost 40 years of teaching, just released a new ebook, Unraveling the Christmas Star Mystery. In it, she explains how she used ancient astronomy symbols and modern computer programs to uncover events surrounding the birth of Christ.

She told The Christian Post, “I always thought there was one Christmas star and I wanted to find it.” So she started studying the symbols of ancient astronomers.

In her book, Baron claims that her findings reveal there were 10 major, celestial events announcing the birth of Jesus Christ, the last being the position marker over Bethlehem.

She writes, “The sixth significant event of Jesus’ birth announcement occurred on September 1st, 0004 when a spectacular solar eclipse occurred close to Mars, Venus, and Saturn while the Sun was partially eclipsing the slow moving Saturn. The Moon then moved in front of the Sun and totally eclipsed it. To have the Sun eclipsing Saturn and the Moon eclipsing the Sun simultaneously is an extremely rare event at any time, let alone for a dawn sky.”

She told CP that the “Christmas star was, in fact, Saturn.” It was on the other side of the sun during that time and was very bright in the night sky. It was moving right over Bethlehem during a two-week time period.

The author began using the NASA programs to research the dawn sky around the time of Christ’s birth. Baron figured she could go back in time with the computer programs to look at what the star patterns were like during that time.

She set all calculations during her computer searches for dawn in the local time zone of Bethlehem while using the correct latitude and longitude for that location. The computer programs would then go back in time and print out sky maps from the time and place in the sky she indicated.

When the computer would finally print something out, sometimes after days of waiting, Baron would look at the sky charts for unusual patterns like eclipses.

Once she located different sky patterns she would then look at the symbolism of ancient cultures during the time around the birth of Christ that had also noted similar occurrences. She began an extensive study of books written by historians and archeologists. Their data was based primarily on historical records, paintings and carvings on ancient temples, coins and legal seals.

The planets and stars have set patterns, so astronomers as far back as 4,000 years ago, beginning in Babylonian times, could use mathematics to predict how the celestial objects would move for a year or more in advance. For ancient cultures, each motion, interaction, and happening in the sky meant something.

They used their symbolism to interpret what happened in the sky. And each planet or star symbolized a god. When they began seeing the eclipses surrounding the birth of Christ, they took this to symbolize a larger more powerful god was coming to earth.

Because of this, Baron said, the wise men had advance knowledge through their study of the stars that Christ would be born because of different happenings among the movement of the planets and stars. So they were able to have enough time to travel from their homelands to Bethlehem to pay homage to Jesus.

In her ebook, Baron provides charts and pictures to further explain her findings. She says her research “will confirm what Christians believe, and validate the Bible.”

The digital book, being sold on Amazon, was written and illustrated by the author to enable persons ages 12 and older to understand the information presented, and the birth announcement events are explained in an easy-to-comprehend format."
The Christian Post

Moon and Mars Conjoin Tonight

"If you're out during the very late evening hours tonight (Dec. 16), check out the eastern sky just before midnight.

There you'll see a waning gibbous moon less than a day before it arrives at last quarter (half) phase. Hovering well off to its left and at a slightly higher altitude above the horizon is a rather conspicuous "star," shining with a fiery tint, which is the planet Mars."
read more-> SPACE.com

Mars turns retrograde on Jan. 24 (GMT) at 23 Virgo, and stations-direct Apr. 14 (GMT) at 4 Virgo. More on the important Mars retrograde in future posts. But in the meantime, it will be interesting to watch if Mars triggers the latent power of the Dec. 10 lunar eclipse (18 Gemini) when the red planet reaches 18 Virgo on Xmas Eve.

Red Moon Rising

From Images 108

This surreal, wintry scene is a composite picture recorded on December 10 as the Moon rose behind the Zagros Mountains of Iran. A total lunar eclipse was already in progress. The image combines nearly 500 successive frames taken over 1.5 hours beginning in twilight as the eclipsed Moon steadily climbed above the rugged landscape. The reddened lunar disk and deep blue twilight make for a striking contrast, yet the contrasting colors have the same root cause. The eclipsed Moon is red because the Earth's umbral shadow is suffused with a faint red light. The ruddy illumination is from all the reddened sunsets and sunrises, as seen from a lunar perspective. But the sunsets and sunrises are reddened because the Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light more strongly than red, creating the twilight sky's dim, blue glow.

Virgo Moon Quote: "The first duty of a human being is to assume the right functional relationship to society- more briefly, to find your real job, and do it." ~Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Umbra of Earth

From Images 108

The dark, inner shadow of planet Earth is called the umbra. Shaped like a cone extending into space, it has a circular cross section most easily seen during a lunar eclipse. For example, last Saturday the Full Moon slid across the southern half of Earth's umbral shadow, entertaining moonwatchers around much of the planet. In the total phase of the eclipse, the Moon was completely within the umbra for 51 minutes. Recorded from Beijing, China, this composite eclipse image uses successive pictures from totality and partial phases to trace out a large part of the umbra's curved edge. Background stars are visible in the darker eclipse phases. The result shows the relative size of the shadow's cross section at the distance of the Moon, as well as the Moon's path through Earth's umbra.

Quote of the Day: "In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices." ~Deepak Chopra

Apples Fall From Sky over Coventry

From The Telegraph - Dec. 15:
"An avalanche of more than 100 apples rained down over a main road in Keresley, Coventry on Monday night.

The street was left littered with apples after they pelted car windscreens and bonnets just after rush-hour.

The bizarre downpour may have been caused by a current of air that lifted the fruit from a garden or orchard, releasing it over the junction of Keresley Road and Kelmscote Road.

One driver said: "The apples fell out of the sky as if out of nowhere. They were small and green and hit the bonnet hard.

"There were other cars on the road at the time too and everyone had to stop their cars suddenly.

"It wouldn't surprise me if some cars were damaged. I know the area well and there are no apple trees around."

Yesterday, the smashed apples could still be seen up and down the 20-yard stretch of road.

Dave Meakins, a retired fork lift truck driver, said he thought the apples had been thrown as a prank by children.

"I honestly don't know where the apples could have come from," he said.

"I assumed kids must have thrown them because we do get the occasional egg and apple thrown but there's way too much for that.

"I would love to know where they came from."

Some said they thought the apples had fallen from a passing plane.

Keresley parish councillor Sandra Camwell said a freak black-out happened on the same road last year.

She said: "Strange things do happen in this part of the world. I think it's highly likely that apples did fall from the sky.

"We're in an area with a spooky history, where there have been witches for centuries, after all."

The Met Office said it was possible the apples had been scooped up by a tornado.

He said: "It's hypothetically possible that a tornado could have picked them up and that they were transported in turbulent air until they fell."

Jim Dale, senior meteorologist, from British Weather Services, said: "The weather we have at the moment is very volatile and we probably have more to come.

"Essentially these events are caused when a vortex of air, kind of like a mini tornado, lifts things off the ground rising up into the atmosphere until the air around it causes them to fall to earth again.

"Returning polar maritime air is such an unstable condition and it basically means air returning from the polar regions which is very unstable.

"We've all heard of the fish and frogs falling from the sky and apples is certainly unusual because they have some weight to them but it is not out of the realms of possibility." The Telegraph

Although this odd event occurred on Monday evening, the total lunar eclipse in the mutable air sign of Gemini was Saturday. And perhaps most importantly- the eclipse chart Ascendant in Coventry was 26 Taurus conjunct the powerful star Algol Beta Persei- the Medusa's head or eye. Algol is an eclipsing binary also known as Gorgonia Prima, the Demon Star. Apples falling from the sky was strange, but possibly the least malefic event possible with Algol on the eclipse Ascendant.

From Mundane Charts 2

Lunar Eclipse over Peace Pagoda

From Images 108

Our Moon turned red last week. The reason was that during December 10, a total lunar eclipse occurred. The above digitally superimposed image mosaic captured the Moon many times during the eclipse, from before the Moon entered Earth's shadow until after the Moon exited. The image sequence was recorded over a Shanti Stupa Peace Pagota near the center of New Delhi, India. The red tint of the eclipsed Moon was created by sunlight first passing through the Earth's atmosphere, which preferentially scatters blue light (making the sky blue) but passes and refracts red light, before reflecting back off the Moon. Differing amounts of clouds and volcanic dust in the Earth's atmosphere make each lunar eclipse appear differently. The next total lunar eclipse will occur only in 2014.

The Cone Nebula

From Images 108

Strange shapes and textures can be found in neighborhood of the Cone Nebula. The unusual shapes originate from fine interstellar dust reacting in complex ways with the energetic light and hot gas being expelled by the young stars. The brightest star on the right of the above picture is S Mon, while the region just below it has been nicknamed the Fox Fur Nebula for its color and structure. The blue glow directly surrounding S Mon results from reflection, where neighboring dust reflects light from the bright star. The red glow that encompasses the whole region results not only from dust reflection but also emission from hydrogen gas ionized by starlight. S Mon is part of a young open cluster of stars named NGC 2264, located about 2500 light years away toward the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The origin of the mysterious geometric Cone Nebula, visible on the far left, remains a mystery.

Mars in Virgo tweet

The Mars in Virgo energy is excellent for cleaning and organizing- getting things in order.

Also tweeted...The Cap ingress (Winter Solstice) with Pluto at IC in DC and NYC suggests further problems for housing market, and party in power- upheavals.

Mars Triggers the Eclipse Degree

Transiting Mars will trigger the Dec. 10 lunar eclipse degree (18 Gemini) on Dec. 24, and Feb. 20, 2012. Thus the latent power of the eclipse may be released around these dates.

The Capricorn New Moon (3 Capricorn) occurs on Dec. 24 Xmas Eve. This New Moon translates the epic Uranus-Pluto square which is shaking the status quo, but also trines stationary Jupiter. Benefic Jupiter goes direct on Xmas Day after being retrograde since Aug. 30. It's this trinal aspect that offers the prospect of real progress. Set your intentions concerning long-term goals at the New Moon for best results.

As of today, Mercury is still retrograde. But the planetary messenger goes direct tomorrow (Dec. 13) at 5:44 pm, PST. The flow of information and communication will slowly star to improve from that point on- although some would argue that we are still in the shadow phase until Jan. 1, 2012, when Mercury reaches the 20th degree of Sagittarius- where it went station-retrograde Nov. 24.

The Asteroid Ceres

As of today, Ceres is located at 20 degrees of Pisces, and enters the first sign of Aries on Jan. 19, 2012.

Ceres
By Barbara Fahringer

Finally! The asteroid that should seriously be considered for planetary ranking has received an upgrade. Why should it be considered? Ceres is:

1.located where Bode's law says a planet should be located

2.was the first asteroid discovered

3.is the largest asteroid

NCGR article

Eclipse over Indiana

From Images 108

Quote of the Day: ‎"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rahu the God of Eclipses

Rahu is the Moon's North Node or Dragon's Head. Ketu is the Moon's South Node or Dragon's Tail.
Rahu the God of Eclipses

Total Eclipse of the Moon

From NASA Science News:
Dec. 2, 2011: Waking up before sunrise can be tough to do, especially on a weekend.  On Saturday, Dec. 10th, you might be glad you did.  A total eclipse of the Moon will be visible in the early morning skies of western Northern America.
The action begins around 4:45 am Pacific Standard Time when the red shadow of Earth first falls across the lunar disk.  By 6:05 am Pacific Time, the Moon will be fully engulfed in red light. This event—the last total lunar eclipse until 2014—is visible from the Pacific side of North America, across the entire Pacific Ocean to Asia and Eastern Europe.
Read More 

From Images 108

Total Lunar Eclipse Animation

South Nodal Lunar Eclipse

If the point was not emphasized before- the Dec. 10 total lunar eclipse conjoins the Moon's South or Descending Node. Astrologically, the South Node of the Moon (Ketu in Jyotish) pertains to endings and loss. Energy is dissipated or released at the South Node, as planets here are losing latitude as they cross the Moon's orbital plane in a southerly direction. And this why the South Node of the Moon is considered somewhat regressive or even negative- as it signifies the past and habitual tendencies. But endings lead to new beginnings. And the light that is eclipsed returns in due time.

A graphic mundane event related to the eclipse at the Moon's South Node, is Friday's tragic fire in Kolkata (Calcutta), India- where the eclipsed Moon/South Node (midpoint) is sharply focused at this time and location. In notation form the planetary picture looks like this:
Dec. 10 lunar eclipse Moon/S.Node (loss) = 16.14 Gemini = Ascendant/Midheaven (at this time & place) 15.32 Gemini @ Kolkata-Calcutta.
Deadly hospital fire in eastern India

Quote of the Day: ‎"The moon was as though drenched with blood." ~refers to a lunar eclipse in AD 734...from The Anglo Saxon Chronicles

The Deeper Meanings of the Moon's Nodes: Hank Friedman

Eclipsed Moon in the Morning

From Images 108

Tomorrow, December 10, the Full Moon will slide through planet Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse. The entire eclipse sequence, including 51 minutes of totality, will be visible from Asia and Australia, but moonwatchers in Europe and Africa will miss out on the beginning partial phases because for them, the eclipse will start before moonrise. In central and western North America the earlier phases of the eclipse will be in progress as the Moon sets. In fact, while those in the east will miss out, North Americans far enough west could see a scene very much like this one, with a mostly eclipsed Moon low and near the western horizon during morning twilght. This morning twilight view of another lunar eclipse approaching its total phase at moonset was captured in 2008 on February 21, from the Zagros Mountains of Iran.

From Images 108

LRO Observes Final Eclipse of 2011: NASA

Eclipses and the Moon's Nodes

By Dwight Ennis:
"Few astronomical phenomenon are as impressive as an eclipse. Whether it be a total eclipse of the Sun, with the turning of day into night, and the filmy, iridescent corona surrounding a black disk where, moments before, the fiery brightness was blinding, or a total eclipse of the Moon, when its usually silvery disk turns blood-red, eclipses have awed man since history began. Historically, they have been said to be harbingers of catastrophe, and astrologers have always placed great meaning upon them. Part of the reason for this is that they always happen in proximity to one of the Moon's Nodes - either North or South - bringing an additional energy into an otherwise normal New Moon. Additionally, the declinations of the Sun and Moon are always the same, or nearly so, during an eclipse, adding a Parallel Aspect between the two, and throwing further "fuel on the fire." There are, naturally enough, astronomical principles at work behind these events. Explaining these principles is the purpose of this article."
Read More

Sh2-239: Celestial Impasto

From Images 108

The cosmic brush of star formation composed this alluring mix of dust and dark nebulae. Cataloged as Sh2-239 and LDN 1551, the region lies near the southern end of the Taurus molecular cloud complex some 450 light-years distant. Stretching for nearly 3 light-years, the canvas abounds with signs of embedded young stellar objects driving dynamic outflows into the surrounding medium. Included near the center of the frame, a compact, tell-tale red jet of shocked hydrogen gas is near the position of infrared source IRS5, known to be a system of protostars surrounded by dust disks. Just below it are the broader, brighter wings of HH 102, one of the region's many Herbig-Haro objects, nebulosities associated with newly born stars. Estimates indicate that the star forming LDN 1551 region contains a total amount of material equivalent to about 50 times the mass of the Sun.

Quote of the Day: "Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer." ~Shunryu Suzuki

One Year of the Moon in 2.5 Minutes

This animation shows the geocentric phase, libration, position angle of the axis, and apparent diameter of the Moon throughout the year 2011, at hourly intervals.
NASA

Anti-Putin Protest in Moscow

From BBC News:
"Russian protesters defying a police ban on unapproved rallies in Moscow have been facing off with Putin supporters on a square in the city centre.

Protesters chanted slogans against the ruling party as the Putin loyalists beat drums and chanted "Putin, Russia", and police made arrests.

Police and elite interior troops have been patrolling the city since a rally on Monday over alleged election fraud.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has played down losses by his party.

United Russia won Sunday's parliamentary election with just under 50% of the vote, a sharp drop in its support.

Correspondents say the result reflects Mr Putin's declining popularity ahead of his bid for the Russian presidency in March.

Observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) say the election was slanted in favour of Mr Putin's party, United Russia."

The rare June 8, 2004 Venus transit/passage (inferior conjunction) at 18 Gemini fell in the 10th house of government in Moscow. The Sun is a symbol of masculine leaders- and Venus signifes popularity, or the loss thereof in this case. The Dec. 10 total lunar eclipse (18 Gemini) is exactly opposing the 2004 Venus transit (18 Gemini). Benefic Venus is great afflicted at this point in her synodic cycle- both combust and retrograde. And the eclipse activation would seem to be a timing factor. Transiting Mercury opposing the radix (2004 Venus transit) 10th house Mercury- dispositor of the Venus-0-Sun (18 Gemini) and lord of the Midheaven, is another relevant trigger. Mercury actually stations-direct on Dec. 14 at 4 Sagittarius, tightly -180- the radix Mercury (5 Gemini).

From Mundane Charts 2

December's lunar eclipse also activates the 2011 Aries ingress chart for Moscow which reflects the tone of national events for the whole year. Transiting Saturn conjunct the Aries ingress Midheaven suggests restrictions and hardships for Putin and the Russian government in power.

From Mundane Charts 2

Cerro Paranal

From Images 108

Quote of the Day: "Be a lamp, a lifeboat, a ladder. Help someone's soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd." ~Rumi

Astronomers Confirm 'Earth Twin'

"Astronomers have confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet in the "habitable zone" around a star not unlike our own. The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light-years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22C. It is the closest confirmed planet yet to one like ours- an "Earth 2.0".

However, the team does not yet know if Kepler 22-b is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid. During the conference at which the result was announced, the Kepler team said that it had spotted some 1,094 new candidate planets.

The Kepler space telescope was designed to look at a fixed swathe of the night sky, staring intently at about 150,000 stars. The telescope is sensitive enough to see when a planet passes in front of its host star, dimming the star's light by a minuscule amount.

Kepler identifies these slight changes in starlight as candidate planets, which are then confirmed by further observations by Kepler and other telescopes in orbit and on Earth.

Kepler 22-b was one of 54 candidates reported by the Kepler team in February, and is just the first to be formally confirmed using other telescopes.

More of these "Earth 2.0" candidates are likely to be confirmed in the near future, though a redefinition of the habitable zone's boundaries has brought that number down to 48.

Kepler 22-b lies at a distance from its sun about 15% less than the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and its year takes about 290 days. However, its sun puts out about 25% less light, keeping the planet at its balmy temperature that would support the existence of liquid water.

The Kepler team had to wait for three passes of the planet before upping its status from "candidate" to "confirmed".

"Fortune smiled upon us with the detection of this planet," said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at Nasa's Ames Research Center.

"The first transit was captured just three days after we declared the spacecraft operationally ready. We witnessed the defining third transit over the 2010 holiday season."

The results were announced at the Kepler telescope's first science conference, alongside the staggering number of new candidate planets. The total number of candidates spotted by the telescope is now 2,326- of which 207 are approximately Earth-sized.

In total, the results suggest that planets ranging from Earth-sized to about four times Earth's size- so-called "super-Earths"- may be more common than previously thought." BBC News

From

Aries Moon Quote

"It began with a life-or-death decision to remove the Needle of False Security from my arm, turn away from the Medusa of Routine, part the Veil of Bogus Guarantees and pass on into that vital place where, regardless of the question, all you have to say is yes." ~Sol Luckman

As Above, So Below

From Images 108

A single, long exposure captured these star trails above a remarkably colorful sea of clouds. As seen from Medvednica mountain, the surrounding peaks and lights illuminating the clouds from below are north of Zagreb, Croatia. Near the center of the also colorful star trail arcs, the North Celestial Pole is off the upper right edge of the frame. Even though this is the age of the digital camera, the well composed skyscape was recorded using color slide film in a medium format camera. The dreamlike scene's starry sky and ephemeral ocean could be reminiscent of an older age still, when the Pannonian Sea covered this part of central Europe some 10 million years ago.

Mexico glyphs don't predict apocalypse

I think we all knew this already.

MEXICO CITY(AP)— "The end is not near. At least that's according to a German expert who says his decoding of a Mayan tablet with a reference to a 2012 date denotes a transition to a new era and not a possible end of the world as others have read it.
The interpretation of the hieroglyphs by Sven Gronemeyer of La Trobe University in Australia was presented for the first time Wednesday at the archaeological site of Palenque in southern Mexico.

His comments came less than a week after Mexico's archaeology institute acknowledged there was a second reference to the 2012 date in Mayan inscriptions, touching of another round of talk about whether it predicts the end of the world.

Gronemeyer has been studying the stone tablet found years ago at the archeological site of Tortuguero in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Tabasco.

He said the inscription describes the return of mysterious Mayan god Bolon Yokte at the end of a 13th period of 400 years, known as Baktuns, on the equivalent of Dec. 21, 2012. Mayans considered 13 a sacred number. There's nothing apocalyptic in the date, he said.

The text was carved about 1,300 years ago. The stone has cracked, which has made the end of the passage almost illegible.

Gronemeyer said the inscription refers to the end of a cycle of 5,125 years since the beginning of the Mayan Long Count calendar in 3113 B.C.

The fragment was a prophecy of then ruler Bahlam Ajaw, who wanted to plan the passage of the god, Gronemeyer said.

"For the elite of Tortuguero, it was clear they had to prepare the land for the return of the god and for Bahlam Ajaw to be the host of this initiation," he said.
Bolon Yokte, god of creation and war, was to prevail that day in a sanctuary of Tortuguero.

"The date acquired a symbolic value because it is seen as a reflection of the day of creation," Gronemeyer said. "It is the passage of a god and not necessarily a great leap for humanity."

Last week, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology said a second inscription mentioning the 2012 date is on the carved or molded face of a brick found at the Comalcalco ruin, near the Tortuguero site. It is being kept at the institute and is not on display.

Many experts doubt the second inscription is a definite reference to the date cited as the possible end of the world, saying there is no future tense marking like there is in the Tortuguero tablet.

The institute has tried to dispel talk of a 2012 apocalypse, the subject of numerous postings and stories on the Internet. Its latest step was to arrange a special round table of Mayan experts this week at Palenque, which is where Gronemeyer made his comments."

Solar Eclipse over Antartica

From Images 108

Last Friday, the fourth and final partial solar eclipse of 2011 was only visible from high latitudes in the southern hemisphere. If you missed it, check out this dramatic picture of the geocentric celestial event from a very high southern latitude on the continent of Antarctica. From a camera positioned at San Martín Station (Argentina) near the antarctic peninsula mountain range, the picture looks toward the south and east. The Sun and silhouetted lunar disk are seen through thin, low clouds. Perhaps fittingly, the mountainous slope in the foreground is part of the larger Roman Four Promontory, named for its craggy, snow covered face that resembles the Roman numeral IV. For 2011, there is actually one more eclipse to go, a total eclipse of the Moon. Parts of that eclipse be visible from most of planet Earth (but not Antarctica ...) on December 10.

Quote of the Day: "Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself." ~Hermann Hesse