Astronomy in December you don't want to miss.

[JimD]

----------------- #1221 - December, 2010 will be Spectacular !!!

- December, 2010 has a spectacular Lunar Eclipse and many astronomical wonders that you need to partake in. This review is a calendar of events and an explanation of the Earth’s shadow passing over the Moon.

- Attachments - Lunar Eclipse

- The Moon is experiencing a Total Eclipse in the Earth’s shadow on December 21st. Starting at midnight. Mark your calendars, you can not miss this one. It is also the Winter Solstice. Winter begins with the longest length of the night and the shortest length of the day. The shortest day but not the coldest because the Earth is a big rock and still cooling down.

- The Moon is also a Full Moon on the 21^st. And, it is the first Lunar Eclipse in the 21^st Century. And, on the 21^st the Full Moon is the highest in the sky. With the bright Full Moon you can count 120 stars in the night sky. During the eclipse the sky darkens to where you can count 2,600 stars.

- The Eclipsed Moon gets scattered light from Earth’s atmosphere and can appear a faint red in color. Or, a pale pink, or, a beige, or even black depending on the dust and clouds you are peering through. If the Moon is coppery red then that means the atmosphere is perfectly clear.

- There is still another coincidence. The Earth’s orbit about the Sun creates a circular plane. The Milky Way Galaxy rotates in a disk that creates another circular plane. Then, the sky’s circling meridian running through the celestial poles in the precise direction of the Earth’s 23 ½ degree tilt creates another plane. All three planes intersect at the time of the Lunar Eclipse. At Total Eclipse the darkened Moon will be aligned with the Milky Way plane, the Solar System plane, and the plane of the Earth’s tilt axis. An amazing coincidence.

- At the Winter Solstice the Sun stands directly above the Tropic of Capricorn,23 ½ degrees south of the equator. The Sun has reached its southern most excursion on the ecliptic, its orbit across the sky. At that time the night is its longest and the day is its shortest. From that time on the days are getting longer and the nights shorter. On the Solstice, on the 21^st the Sun stands as close to the southern horizon as it ever gets.

- On December 1 the Moon passes south of Saturn

- On December 2 the Moon passes south of Venus.

- On December 7 the Moon passes north of Mercury, 1:00 A.M.

- On December 13 the Moon passes north of Jupiter , 6:00 P.M.

- On December 14 the Moon passes north of Uranus, 10:00 P.M.

- On December 21, 2010 The Moon has a total eclipse,12:00 A.M. The Full Moon is the highest it gets in the sky.
- On December 28 the Moon passes south of Saturn, 7:00 P.M.

- On December 31 the Moon passes south of Venus, 8:00 P.M. Venus is its brightest and -4.9 Magnitude, 25 times brighter than Sirius.

- When the eclipse occurs the surrounding background stars are in Gemini “the Twins” the stars Pollux and Castor, in Orion “ the Hunter” the star Betelgeuse, in Taurus “the Bull” the star Aldebaran, and in Auriga “the Charioteer” the star Capella.

- If you want to do a little more astronomy get out an star map and find the Constellation Peresus “ the Hero”. It is in between Cassiopeia, “the Queen of Ethiopia”, the big “W” in the sky and the star cluster “Pleiades” in Taurus ,”the Bull”. The two brightest stars in Peresus are Mirfak and Algol. Algol is a binary star. It dips in brightness from 2.0 to 3.5 every 3 days ( stars are visible to the naked eye up to 6.0 Magnitude. The larger the number the dimmer the star.) The bigger star in the binary is blue-white in color, the companion star is yellow in color. The yellow star eclipses the blue-white star every 3 days causing it to dip in brightness. The two stars are only 6,000,000 miles apart.

- The Moon moves across the sky its own diameter every 2 minutes. It appears to go west to east due Earth’s rotation 30 moon diameters an hour. Relative to the stars the Moon is going east one moon diameter per hour. The Moon rises 50 minutes later every day as a result. ( See calculations in footnote 1).

- Because the Full Moon is opposite the Sun in the sky The Full Moon must rise around sunset, reach its highest point in the sky at midnight, and set around sunrise . The Full Moon this month occurs on the 21^st.
The First Quarter Moon occurs on December 15^th. Then the Moon is 90 degrees East of the Sun so it rises around noon, reaches its highest point around 6:00 P.M. and sets around midnight.

- When the Lunar Eclipse occurs the Earth’s shadow is 2 2/3rds times larger than the Moon’s diameter. Moon diameter = 2,160 miles. Earth’s shadow = 5,760 miles when it is 240,000 miles away.

- For the Moon to cross the entire shadow it takes 3 hours and 24 minutes. That is with the Preumbra. The Umbra, the darkest part of the shadow, the Total Eclipse, lasts 1 hour and 18 minutes. The diameter is 2,160 miles and the Moon is traveling 2,277 miles per hour, so a little over an hour to cross the diameter. (See calculations in footnote 1).

- Hipparchus the Greek calculated the distance to the Moon in 150 B.C. He got 30 Earth diameters. Eratosthenes the Greek calculated the Earth’s circumference to be 25,000 miles, a diameter of 8,000 miles. So the distance to the Moon is 240,000 miles. It takes about 3 moon diameters to pass through the shadow. So the diameter of the Moon must be about 2,700 miles. However, the arch of the Earth’s shadow on the surface of the Moon corresponded to a radius of 3,000 miles or a shadow diameter of 6,000 miles not 8,000 miles, and, it took about 3 moon diameters to pass through the shadow. The Moon’s diameter must be about 2,000 miles.
( See more accurate calculations in footnote 3)
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(1) The radius of Moon’s orbit is 240,000 miles. The circumference of Moon’s orbit is 2* pi * radius = 1,508,000 miles. It takes the Moon 27.3 days to complete one orbit. 1,508,000 miles in 655 hours is a speed of 2,300 miles per hour. The actual speed is 2,277 miles per hour because the Moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle like our calculation assumed. The Moon’s diameter is 2,160 miles. So, the Moon is traveling about one moon diameter per hour west to east.

(2) However, the Earth is rotating west to east 360 degrees in 24 hours = 15 degrees per hour. The diameter of the Moon is ½ degree, so, the Moon appears to us to be moving 30 moon diameters per hour. The ratio of the 1 moon diameter the Moon is traveling to the 30 moon diameter the Earth is rotating causes the Moon to rise 1/30 * 24 hours = 50 minutes later every day.

(3) The light passing through the Earth’s atmosphere bends causing the shadow on the Moon to be 5,760 miles diameter at that distance instead of the 7,926 mile Earth Diameter. Actual radius of shadow = 2,880 and diameter = 5,760. Actual Moon diameter is 2.67 times to cross the shadow = 2,160 miles.

(4) See Review #64 to learn more, “ What You Did Not Know About the Moon.” 11-11-04.
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707-536-3272, [email protected] Saturday, November 20, 2010

[Claire]

Thanks Jim, for bringing the cosmos in.
Speaking of seasons, here in Northern California, we naturally follow the Celtic calender. The longest, dark night of Midwinter is indeed the Solstice, but by then we're about to turn the days towards more light. Then, by Imbolc (February 2nd) we have sure harbingers of Spring.
We suddenly feel the light, the ground is fecund, and the seeds are awakening, maybe sprouting. Even the acacias are in bloom by then, normally.
While much of the country is still frozen or thawing, over here, we are headed into the yeehah! of Spring.
Weird how Imbolc was co-opted, like the other great sacred Celtic days. Instead of being the powerful fire feast of Brigid, Goddess of the hearth and home and so much more, it has devolved into Groundhog Day, but don't get me started....
~Claire
ps. It all sounds like quite a party. Intense, to the point, you know da kine.
Winter Solstice: the gateway to Epiphany!

[divine inspiration]

"- The Moon is experiencing a Total Eclipse in the Earth’s shadow on December 21st. Starting at midnight. Mark your calendars, you can not miss this one. It is also the Winter Solstice.....

- There is still another coincidence. The Earth’s orbit about the Sun creates a circular plane. The Milky Way Galaxy rotates in a disk that creates another circular plane. Then, the sky’s circling meridian running through the celestial poles in the precise direction of the Earth’s 23 ½ degree tilt creates another plane. All three planes intersect at the time of the Lunar Eclipse. At Total Eclipse the darkened Moon will be aligned with the Milky Way plane, the Solar System plane, and the plane of the Earth’s tilt axis. An amazing coincidence."

I am praying for clear skys, because this sounds cool. If only my friends were not all too old to stay up, I'd have a party!
I have a question that perhaps you can answer. the second part of what you were talking about sounds like what they are calling the Gallactic Alignment for 2012. That is supposed to be when the solar system is at the center of the Galaxy. Is it the same alignment? Kinda close? Why is it happening now when I thought it was the alignment for 2012?
And secondly, if the Galactic Alignment has to do with the procession of the equinoxes, does that mean we are coming back to center with the earth wobble, and the differences between tropical and siddereal zodiac are less important at this point in the wobble?
Inquiring minds want to know...

[Dixon]

...this sounds cool.

It sure does!

...the second part of what you were talking about sounds like what they are calling the Gallactic Alignment for 2012. That is supposed to be when the solar system is at the center of the Galaxy.

Wha...? The solar system is nowhere near the center of the galaxy, and hopefully never will be, 'cause if it was, we'd all be inside the monstrously huge black hole there (most, maybe all galaxies have a mega black hole at the center), and we'd be smoooooshed to atoms (or smaller)! Our solar system is a not particularly impressive star system (I love it anyway, but I'm biased) in the boondocks of one of the Milky Way galaxy's arms.

I strongly urge you to get astronomical info from real astronomy sources, not astrologers or other woowoo hucksters. The real stuff is amazing and inspiring enough without the kind of pseudo-spiritual cosmic debris that some will try to sell you. Is someone really saying that the solar system is gonna be in the center of the galaxy? Who?

Anyway, enjoy the eclipse!

[JimD]

"- The Moon is experiencing a Total Eclipse in the Earth’s shadow on December 21st. Starting at midnight. Mark your calendars, you can not miss this one. It is also the Winter Solstice.....

- There is still another coincidence. The Earth’s orbit about the Sun creates a circular plane. The Milky Way Galaxy rotates in a disk that creates another circular plane. Then, the sky’s circling meridian running through the celestial poles in the precise direction of the Earth’s 23 ½ degree tilt creates another plane. All three planes intersect at the time of the Lunar Eclipse. At Total Eclipse the darkened Moon will be aligned with the Milky Way plane, the Solar System plane, and the plane of the Earth’s tilt axis. An amazing coincidence."

I am praying for clear skys, because this sounds cool. If only my friends were not all too old to stay up, I'd have a party!
I have a question that perhaps you can answer. the second part of what you were talking about sounds like what they are calling the Gallactic Alignment for 2012. That is supposed to be when the solar system is at the center of the Galaxy. Is it the same alignment? Kinda close? Why is it happening now when I thought it was the alignment for 2012?
And secondly, if the Galactic Alignment has to do with the procession of the equinoxes, does that mean we are coming back to center with the earth wobble, and the differences between tropical and siddereal zodiac are less important at this point in the wobble?
Inquiring minds want to know...

----------------- #1221 - December, 2010 will be Spectacular

- Hi Devine Inspiration:

Thank you for your questions. Is the Milky Way plane, the Solar System plane and the plane of the Earth’s tilt axis plane alignment that occurs December 21, 2010 the same as the “ Galactic Alignment of 2012”? No, these are different celestial alignments. The terms become confusing so I will try to explain my understanding of the 2012 astronomical events.

- First the Solar System, the Sun and its planets, orbit the Milky Way Galaxy center 26,000 lightyears away. It takes us 230,000,000 years to complete one orbit about the center of our galaxy. We have only completed some 20 orbits since the Earth first formed as a planet.

- Next, the “ Galactic Equator” refers to the Milky Way galaxy having a plane cut through the center of the bulge and galactic disk dividing the galaxy in half. Much like the Earth’s equator divides the Earth in to the northern and southern hemispheres.

- Next, the precessions of the equinoxes. The Earth is spinning like a top with one rotation per day, but, it has a slow wobble like a spinning top often has. The spinning axis slowly rotates in a circle, or precession in a circle, at a much slower rate than the spinning rate. In Earth’s case it takes 26,000 years to complete one circle. This means that the spinning axis of the Earth is pointing at different directions during that 26,000 year rotation. Tonight the Earth’s rotational axis is pointing towards the North Star, Polaris. After years of slow precession, in 13,000 years from now, the spinning axis will be pointing towards the star Vega. Vega will be come the new North Star, not Polaris.

- The constellations associated with the equinoxes and solstices gradually change due to this same precession. 2,000 years ago the Sun was in the Constellation Cancer at the time of the Summer Solstice. Now, the Summer Solstice appears in the Constellation Gemini. The name Tropic of Cancer came about 2,000 years ago when the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth’s axis put the Sun directly overhead at that latitude in the Constellation Cancer. The same situation holds true for all the astrological Sun Signs that were named 2,000 years ago when the Sun was in those constellations.

- The Earth is not a perfect sphere and it is the unbalanced gravity that causes the Earth’s rotation axis to wobble. The wobble does not slow down the rotation. The Earth’s rotation is maintained be the law in physics, the Conservation of Angular Momentum.

- The “Galactic Alignment of 2012” refers to the Sun being aligned with the Galactic Equator when the Sun is in the December Solstice. The December Solstice is when the Sun is lowest in the southern horizon and the nights are the longest. This alignment of the Sun with the Galactic Equator actually last for 72 years. The precession takes 26,000 years divided by 360 degrees moves one degree in 72 years. The Sun is ½ angular degree wide so it takes 36 years for the Sun to cross the Galactic Equator. The crossing began in 1980 and completes in 2016, so the midpoint was 1998. 2012 was chosen as an alignment for celebration probably because the date 2012 came out of the Mayan calendar. In any case, the “Galactic Alignment” will be celebrated December 21, 2012. I hope to celebrate the event. I am also praying for clear skies on Monday night, December 20-21 midnight, for the Lunar eclipse of the Full Moon high in the sky overhead in Santa Rosa. Should be fun.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copy to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email. Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: [email protected]. or, use www.facebook.com, or , www.twitter.com.
707-536-3272, [email protected] Thursday, December 16, 2010