I hope the rest of your day and evening is relaxing, filled with fun and love. Blessed be.
Day: February 20, 2024
Flowers/Plants: Dinosaur Evergreens Thought Extinct for 2Mil Years Discovered by Park Ranger, 90-Tree Grove is ‘Find of the Century’
From Australia comes a story too cool to believe. Like a vegetable version of Jurassic Park or King Kong, a copse of pine trees from a species that evolved in the Cretaceous Era were found high in the mountains.
These living fossils, to use the classic phrase, survived both the comet impact and subsequent global firestorm that killed the dinosaurs, as well as two intervening ice ages to make it to our time, and Australian botanists are treating the specimens as a top-secret national treasure.
The Wollemi pine evolved 91 million years ago and went extinct according to the fossil record 2 million years ago, but in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, a stand of 90 specimens were found high in the more remote peaks in 1994.
For the past three decades, and in extreme secrecy, a team of specialists from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of Australia has been gradually planting small clumps of the Wollemi pine in other locations to help ensure it has every chance to see another 91 million years.
It helps the story that the Wollemi doesn’t look much like any pine tree you’ve seen in the woods by your house. Sporting Granny Smith apple-green foliage that grows in a pattern similar to a fern, it has a covering of bark reminiscent of Coco-puffs.
“Wollemi Pine seedlings and saplings grow less than one centimeter a year. They won’t mature until they can reach the rainforest canopy and access the sunlight above,” research scientist Berin Mackenzie told national news, adding that they grow extremely slowly.
February 20 and 21, 2024 Current Moon Phase for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres
You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious, you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else was born.
Source: MoonGiant.com
Northern Hemisphere
February 20, 2024
The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waxing Gibbous phase. Visible through most of the night sky setting a few hours before sunrise. This phase is when the moon is more than 50% illuminated but not yet a Full Moon. The phase lasts about 7 days with the moon becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon. This September Full Moon will be the forth and final supermoon of 2023.
During a Waxing Gibbous the moon rises in the east in mid-afternoon and is high in the eastern sky at sunset. The word Gibbous first appeared in the 14th century and has its roots in the Latin word “gibbosus” meaning humpbacked.
Visit the February 2024 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.
Today’s Waxing Gibbous Phase
The Waxing Gibbous on February 20 has an illumination of 86%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On February 20 the Moon is 11.11 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.
Phase Details
Illumination: 86%
Moon Age: 11.11 days
Moon Angle: 0.50
Moon Distance: 394,696.09 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,926,590.64 km
Useful Moon Resources
Check the weather before a night of Moon gazing at weather.com
For a list of all the current meteor showers visit American Meteor Society
The 8 Lunar Phases
There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.
Southern Hemisphere
21 February 2024
The Moon’s current phase for today and tonight is a Waxing Gibbous phase. Visible through most of the night sky setting a few hours before sunrise. This phase is when the moon is more than 50% illuminated but not yet a Full Moon. The phase lasts about 7 days with the moon becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon. This September Full Moon will be the forth and final supermoon of 2023.
During a Waxing Gibbous the moon rises in the east in mid-afternoon and is high in the eastern sky at sunset. The word Gibbous first appeared in the 14th century and has its roots in the Latin word “gibbosus” meaning humpbacked.
Visit the February 2024 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.
Today’s Waxing Gibbous Phase
The Waxing Gibbous on February 21 has an illumination of 92%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On February 21 the Moon is 12.03 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.
Phase Details
Phase: Waxing Gibbous
Illumination: 92%
Moon Age: 12.03 days
Moon Angle: 0.50
Moon Distance: 398,435.24 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,959,197.51 km
Illumination: 92%
Moon Age: 12.03 days
Moon Angle: 0.50
Moon Distance: 398,435.24 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,959,197.51 km
Useful Moon Resources
Check the weather before a night of Moon gazing at weather.com
For a list of all the current meteor showers visit American Meteor Society
The 8 Lunar Phases
There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.
A Thought for Today
Dear Sisters, Brothers, and Honored Guests welcome to WOTC!
If you would to see some information on any tradition of witchcraft please put it in the comment section. I will try to find some information to post about it.
May your life be filled with all things positive!
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