Where to FInd Good Astronomy Info

Mars magnified

DO NOT listen to your friends, rumors, internet rumours saying that the Mars will look as big as the moon etc. that's all living example of how, even though we have the World wide web on our phones now, so much misunderstanding, rumour, word of mouth can still travel amongst us. misinformation. 


good sources: Wikipedia's good for explaining phenomenon like the Equinoxes, and listing ones like the phases of the Moon. the World Almanac is good for listing most of the highlights of the year. e.g. they list the several eclipses (around 6) per year around the world. so next time you hear a religious nut saying there are a freakish 6 eclipses that year, you know it's bs. 


 my favorite astronomy website is http://earthsky.org/, an excellent one for telling you what's going on in the skies. note the far right, TONIGHT, where they tell you what's going on every night of the year. so next time you hear or even read that rumour (the Mars one is maybe the biggest, rumour that is), check the site. 

Daylight Savings Negatives, Positives

not sure how much i like daylight savings because as we know I'm a bit of an astronomical purist, and messing with the clock messes with the system. for instance high noon isn't at 12 during DST, half the year: it's 1:00 since we move the clock ahead. that's even on the highest noon day, the SUmmer solstice.

but i have to admit it is kind of cool on nights (yes, "those Summer Nights") where the sun lasts til after 8 during times like the Solstice. kicks ass.

End of Winter?

Add caption

this is  another "contrary to popular belief. "


on average the coldest days are in Dec, Jan, Feb. in the North hemisphere. starting at the begin. of March they gradually raise up. the coldest days  of the year are  usually around mid Jan. so you can say that Winter ends at the end of Feb, about 6 weeks after the shortest day (Solstice), March is  little by little the  begin. of Spring. 


yes i know there are usually cold days in March, snow can happen in April etc. but again we're talking averages and slow change. and remember there can be very warm days in Jan, etc. 


seems everyone, including most of the media,  thinks that  Spring suddenly begins on the Equinox. but again it's just that: the time that the Equator lines up directly with the Sun. it's not all the sudden a time of flowers, warm weather, animals etc. again it's all a gradual, average  process. 

Half way Between Solstice and Equinox

great light and heat

is around this time now. so holidays have popped up thru human history, starting with Pagan ones of course like Imbolc, a time of the Sun returning more and purification. again we're half way between the Solstice, longest night oaf the year, and Equinox, equal light and dark. 


of course the Christians had to have a holiday to "replace"  the Pagan one, hence Candlemass. don't know where Groundhog day came from, don't care really. 


but obviously it's a time of strengthening of the SUn and light, coming back, warming, lightening the world etc. Northern hemisphere of course.

Real Deal: Coldest Month

ice ice baby

a lot of folks think that Feb is the coldest. for the most part this is bullshit in the Northern hemisphere. on average, most years, Jan is the coldest. 


what happens is the shortest days (least Sun light) are in Dec (like the Winter Solstice). it takes some time for the Earth to cool down. about a month. so a month after the shortest days are the coldest days. the real dead of winter. of course it's  opposite in the southern hemisphere. 


as far as snow goes that's a different ball game, changes year to year with La Nina etc. not sure of that phenomenon. 

the Birth of a Religion

as we all should know, the Christians took most of the traditions celebrated before them by Scandinavian pagans, Roman pagans etc and Incorporated (double meaning intended) into Christmas. most traditions were pre Christan: the tree, gifts, feast etc.

this time of year was the beginning of my entry towards Paganism in many ways. years ago  i started to wonder why a holiday like Christmas is celebrated like it is. why the tree, fire, incense etc.

i started to look into the origins of the holiday and others. i found that most holidays, especially American christian ones, have their roots (as far as the practices, celebrations) in pagan traditions.

Paganism started to make more sens to me, including practices like seeing the evergreen as a great symbol of the strong Earth (and the Solstice as the time of the  turn around of the SUn to stronger light), which led to stronger belief in the power of the Earth, environment etc. it meshed well with the facts of the strengths  of nature, the bounty of Earth etc.

and that's how much of it began for me. not with the birth of a a human savior, but in my mind,  great gods like the Earth and Sun, and ancestors that have given us all so much.

What Happens During Eclipses

I was at Columbia university the other night, one of the best places to see the eclipse in NY City.  i discovered that the AAA (not the car stuff, Amateur Astronomy association) gathered there that night to see it.

now i don't care how smarty pants ivy league Columbia is, you know how many of them there didn't know what the hell goes on during an eclipse? a lot. didn't know anything.

basically: an eclipse is like a shadow cast from Sun to other body. you ever hang in the shade? well that building, tree etc is eclipsing the Sun. by the way, notice that the shade isn't pitch black? similar principal to why the Moon isn't pitch black during the eclipse: there's still Sun shine around, just not as direct. same deal in space (you ever see a photo of a total solar eclipse? even though it's total, you still have to wear special glasses because of the overwhelming sunlight).

anyway in a lunar eclipse the Earth appears to cover the Sun and cast a shadow over the Moon. we see that shadow over the Moon. since the Earth is much bigger than the Moon, it's more likely to see a lunar eclipse than a solar, and over a greater area (like the whole moon)

in a solar eclipse, since the Moon is smaller, it casts a much smaller shadow over the earth, hence a smaller area gets a solar eclipse, and for a much shorter time, and there are more likely to be partial ones etc. from Earth, the Moon covers the Sun. during a lunar eclipse, from the Moon, the Earth covers the Sun.

so again that's what happens: a body covers another body in front of the Sun, and casts shadows.

Happy Winter Solstice

no it's not the first day of Winter. for those in NY this year especially, notice that on average the coldest days of the year start around the begin. of Dec. 


the Solstice is when the southern tropic, Capricorn, lines up directly with the Sun. so more day light in the Southern hemisphere, it's Summer etc. 


up here, since the Sun is lined up with the South, the Sun appears to us further south, less Sun, Winter. longer nights.


 that's what happens every year. 


on a spiritual note, a time of darkness yet introspection, spirituality. maybe a time to remember the spirits who have passed and give thanks. the spirits that have given, continue to give. 


also a time to look forward to the days getting longer from now til Summer Solstice. 

Real 10 10 (10?) Today

December, supposed to be tenth month (dec like decade), tenth day. tenth year isn['t my deal either, 2010 a.d., anno Domini, year of our lord (their lord, christian).

day to use decimals, be with perfect 10s or at least read the mag (wink), watch 10, play 10s in lottery etc.

Seasons of GIving and THanks

still in love 

im not sure about Thanksgiving being in late NOv, after so many harvest festivals that are in most of the Northern hemisphere,  Aug (Lughnassad), Harvest Moon, etc.

however it's perfect timing with gift giving of the Solstice (Xmas): at Thanksgiving, i begin to think about the year past, who has been nice not naughty, who i should maybe give a token (gift of appreciation) to, and you have a whole month to get it and give it. so good timing.

the Solstice makes sense in biological terms: times of darkness and cold, so  time to get together with folks, joy, gift giving etc. So looking backwards, Thanksgiving in late Nov makes sense.

is that how Lincoln et al decided upon it? don't know. also not sure if there is any history in it being at that time (Pilgrims etc). have a feeling  they did it nearer to more astronomical harvest times mentioned above.

Darker Holidays, (short) Text

Halloween: half way between Equinox (equal dark and night), and Solstice (darkest)= darker days= more spirituality begin. (begin. Celtic year, Samhain, All Souls, Christmas etc)

Thanksgiving: harvest, think of who to thank, what etc ur thankful for, non naughty/nice list, gifts at holidays

please go to below pod cast

the Real 9 9

Fellini Schmellini

another day  that's supposed to be numerologically  interesting: November should be the 9th month, (Nov), today the 9th day. again counting months from the spring (Equinox) month, March, this holds true. 


so a day to listen to the Beatles: "One after 909", 'Revolution 9', a song where if you listen careful you can literally hear Yoko breaking up the Beatles (especially if you listen backwards).. also  i once came up with a tune in a dream, "9 for 9", about a guy so obsessed with his girlfriend's past 9 fuck buds  that he became a serial killer to gun them all down like an animal. so as you can see, it's a kids song!  


also: the musical 9 (based on Fellini's great film 8 1/2, which meant that it was his film number  8 1/2). 


also considered sort of a perfect number, where it's the trinity 3 times e.g. 


other uses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_(number).

Souls, Ancestors, the Season etc

world's best mausoleum

this time of year  obviously there's more darkness. we're past Equinox where the Equator  lines up with the Sun, and the Southern hemisphere is getting more Sun, us less. so this brings on Halloween. it roughly  marks the half way point between Equinox and Solstice, sort of the begin. of the darkest days of year, hence belief in the supernatural, the "other world" active and  coming to Earth, but also spirituall belief in contact respect, thanks etc for ancestral spirits. this continues on to the Solstice (Xmas etc). 


as usual with original Pagan holidays, the Christians "adopted' the holiday, probably couldn't and can't stamp it out, and turned it into their "all saints, souls" or whatever. thankfully it's survived as Halloween but of course much of the commercial  superficial aspects survive, less the spiritual with US (this is one case where our "invading' friends from down south, Mexicans, can help us maybe in learning to pay more respect to passed loved ones etc.)


as many of you know, i think there should be times to celebrate, remember, give thanks etc to our passed loved ones, and this is a major time for such practice, with the dark days, spend. time  indoors, spending the holidays  unfortunately without them.  i think it  should be a time to remember them, welcome them back to our souls (or minds at least). small sacrifice, small energies, large thanks, large respect. 

"Rocktober"

Lenin,  Lennon (born Oct)

 when i was younger  i listened to much too much classic rock (even when rap, pop, New wave etc were cutting edge), a lot of the stations used to love to promote "Rocktober" and i've always thought of  that this month.


as i learned more it did seem like  a time for '"revolution" kind of: i think the main Communist revolution in Russia was called the "oktober revolution' even though in our western calendars i think the date of ascension of Lenin etc was in Nov. some deal with the Eastern orthodox calendar or something made it Oct maybe. and one of the great Eisenstein's films was called October, or Ten Days that  Shook the World, about the revolution. 


it also always  seemed like a dark time where a lot of wildness could come out, hence Halloween (time when the supernatural forces were active on earth). and even the ubiquitous trees changed and shed, bared their hearts. 


  getting back to Rocktober, of course the coolest rock shirts were concert shirts that were black, featuring acts that actually looked like Halloween characters: Ozzy Osborne, Alice Cooper, Kiss. 


well i can't name many  rock bands or artists that are prominent right now, and im tired of a lot of classic rock,  but still, rock on all! 

Steve Hawking, "God," Paganism

great god

Hawking backed up  why i follow science so fervently, and why that has led me to Paganism. i think his viewpoint  is that physics, creation, the cosmos, matter, life, energy,  death, etc has occurred greatly and vastly  in the Universe, probably always has, always will, and for those events, entities, evolutions etc, "God';, the "invisible man in the sky" master, doesn't have to exist. physics, science, evolution etc can happen without his "invisible hand". 


i realized the above at least in part  in my agnosticism, then my Paganism. that the world, Universe, Earth, Sun, were miraculous enough to worship without a ghost, a supernatural figure to guide them all. we realize that more and more now as more worlds, planets, stars etc are discovered. in my Paganism, the  deities are  the scientific  bodies that as a matter of fact create life: Sun, Earth (and probably more bodies). life is our greatest gift, and again we  do not see a need to worship the supernatural, invisible, theoretical, mythical, folkloric,  faith based. 


i have never claimed that science and/or paganism can explain everything, especially phenomenon like the  big bang, "in the beginning", is there an afterlife etc. but as the Pagan deities have given us so much, they are more than qualified to earn us our utmost worship, thanks, energies. 

Equinox Full Moon (no it's not the new Twilight book)

rare today, that we have the Equinox and a full Moon. near even amounts of day and night with top lunar brightness.

a lot of folks think a lot of bs about the Equinox: first day of Autumn (wrong: hottest days end around Labor day). me and many others used to say that it was the one day you can balance an egg on end (also wrong: can be done any day).

it's actually not that complicated: Equinox sounds like Equator. hence it's the exact time that the Equator lines up directly with the Sun. "Summer" in Tropics ( kind of), begin. darker days here, Sunnier days in SOuthern hemisphere. near equal light and dark most everywhere. that's about it. but again most technical: Equinox and Equator.

Martha's Vineyard weekend

Martha's Vineyard lighthouse

yeah i have the opportunity to go,  a friend of mine is into it. 


but  remember biggest meteor shower of year is peaking late Thurs nite to Fri a.m. check weather forecast, not much of a moon. will also be good other days: http://earthsky.org/tonight/wheres-the-radiant-point-for-the-perseids. 


so i'll try to write postings and schedule them for a couple of days. and i should be able to predict the future with pin point accuracy haha. haven't done the scheduling deal yet so hopefully it goes.. 


also watch out for Fri 13. 


i'll be with 2 of my old friends. male. off the coast of Cape cod. camping. sharing tents?  beach. looking at the stars. sun downs.  for days. totally heterosexual bromance! 

8/8?

solar time

as i mentioned before im into  numerology a bit, like with  Fri the 13 and 26th, Sunday oneday etc.

but many try to do it on days like this, so called 8/8, August 8. but you have to realize  that the calendar month names don't line up numerically: September (Sept) is supposed to be the 7th month, October the 8th etc. ..

Spring, e.g. the Equinox, is in March, and that's where i think a lot of calendars started. as ours is supposed to: if you count, the 7th month from March is Sept,  etc. as a Pagan i agree with that.

starting the calendar year Jan 1st, Jesus' circumcision (which it almost certainly wasn't just as his birth is most certainly not Dec 25), was decided by some monk in the mid ages or something. the new year then, for some reason.

so Aug 8 doesn't line up, but Oct 8 would. 8 8. more about that later probably.

Why: June Sunniest, July Hottest

the Solstice happens in June (im talking about the northern hemisphere of course, for southern, reverse the facts). so June is the sunniest month, the one with the most sun light. but on average, July is the hottest in most of the hemisphere.

the reason is that it takes the Earth some time to be heated. so temperatures lag by some time. so we get the most sunlight in June (because the Earth is tilted most towards the Sun at the time), heats up the Earth, then hottest month in July.

as i've mentioned before, the phenomenon can be witnesses daily: high noon is at 12 or 1 (daylight savings), yet again it takes some time for the Earth to heat up, so the hottest time of the day is a couple hours later. happens almost every day, barring storms etc. .

the Summer Solstice

what actually happens at the Solstice is that the northern tropic, Cancer, is directly lined up with the Sun. it's the northernmost that the sun is directly in line with the earth, which is why there's tropics. so maximum Sun in the northern hemisphere (all this of course is the opposite in the south).

the "beginning of Summer" belief is pretty much bs: warmest days start begin. June thru begin. of Sept on average. peak in July since the Earth takes a little time to be heated up. this can be observed daily: highest Sun is at noon, but it takes a couple of hours for the Earth to be heated, so usually hottest time of day is a couple hours past noon.

so a good time of course to enjoy the Sun and Earth, but also to give thanks, maybe even energy and a little sacrifice (of your time and effort at least) for all that they provide, life, and all parts of which humans survive. giving us nature, vegetation, feed etc. not to mention enjoyment, other health (e.g sunlight stimulating vitamins within us), the mental and physical light of day. a great great entity unto itself.