All Signs

This week vague reasons allegedly for the common good will be used to justify acts of insurrection; while the real motive is greed and power. (Ah ha!) Neptune at odds with Mars indicates manipulation by others. Hey, when issues are fuzzy, or you suspect you’re being played, remember: you are responsible for your own decisions. You are responsible for your own actions. You are your own person. As long as you come from a place of kindness, honesty and a genuine desire to benefit – that’s all you can do. In fact, if you can do that, bravo! Personally, I’m lucky. Where I live, it’s so laid back, if someone waves a knife, it has butter on it. Hot tip: You can click http://www.againstmalaria.com and buy a mosquito net for $2 and save the life of a child in Africa. Hello? Two bucks? The life of a toddler? No brainer. Start this year with the highest good.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that with the Sun and Venus at the top of your chart, you are admired and respected. People see you as talented, capable and on top of your game. (Regardless of what’s really happening.) In fact, a romance with a boss could blossom. (Old bosses, parents and people in authority from your past are emerging out of the ether.) The bad news is you might become a victim of propaganda and fast talk by persuasive people who want your support. Don’t believe everything you hear. Think for yourself. Someone might try to talk you into agreeing with them. If you think something fishy is going on – it is!

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Keep your wits about you this week. You might make travel plans for the future, especially plans to recoup a cancelled trip. Why? Mercury goes retrograde this week and it loves to replay the past. Don’t be unwittingly seduced by propaganda that is not true. It might appear to be for a good cause, which seduces you to support it. But is this the real truth? It’s important to know. “You take the blue pill… You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill …and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Go forward with plans for travel, further education and exploring opportunities in medicine and the law. Think carefully about everything else.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

This week is full of positive energy; and yet, it’s prone to possible deception, dupery and dissimulation. To say nothing of the hyperbole of alliteration. (Ah, never miss a chance to feed the soul of a wordsmith.) To get right down to it, on the one hand, gifts, goodies and favours from others will come your way. You might get a loan or a mortgage. However, on the other hand (yes, you have different rings) you could be the victim of some double-dealing. Someone might cloud an issue or veil the truth. They might trick you to get something from you or your share of something. (Wow, keep your eyes open!)

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Relations with partners, close friends and members of the general public are blowing hot and cold. One complication could be that old friends and ex-partners are back on the scene. (Could be a sticky wicket.) Relations with others are warm and bonding; however, there is a chance of confusion, veiled facts and misperceptions. “Natasha?” “Heathcliff?” “No, it’s Boris!” Be certain of your facts before you agree to anything important, especially when discussing matters with those who are closest to you. Remember, often when we are fooled, we are really fooling ourselves.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

You’re ready to work hard and party hard. A great balance if you can swing it. You want to be productive and accomplish a lot. You want your efforts to count, which is why you want to be efficient. (You’re making lists.) Meanwhile, some of your ego is tied up in creative projects, socializing with others and dealing with kids. But somewhere along the line, an element of confusion might make you question yourself. You might even question your good impulses? Don’t let others make you lose faith in yourself. You are Leo the Lion – King of the Jungle. (And it’s a jungle out there.)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

This week you seek a balance between social occasions, sports, fun times with kids and dealing with old flames who are back in your life – versus – dealing with increased chaos at home and within your family. Oy! Conflict at home might drive you to seek fun escape with others. Your challenge will be to make sure that in both areas (home and family as well as your social world) that people are being straight with you. The truth is someone might be dealing from the bottom of the deck. You are perceptive! You’re the most observant sign in the zodiac! Keep your eyes open and trust your intuition.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Your focus on home and family continues. Some are entertaining, or redecorating and tweaking your digs. (You love to do this and you’re good at it.) You will socialize with your safe cabal of friends and family. Mercury will go retrograde this week and attract relatives and family back into your world, especially people you haven’t seen for a while. Be aware that the confidence with which you will assert yourself this week (and you will be confident in conversations with others) might be unsettled for some reason. You might wonder if you’re losing your touch. Relax. This shaky feeling will be gone before you can say creme brulee.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

You’re busy! Fortunately, you find it easy to be charming, which is why people want to see you. This week is peppered by disruptions, delays, transportation problems, missed buses, confused communications and missed appointments. They are minor aggravations, but frustrating! Don’t worry, you’re not losing it. What’s happening is Mercury is going retrograde in the part of your chart that deals with ground transportation, daily communications, and your daily habits. On top of this, confusion and possible deception about money, cash flow, earnings and possessions might cloud things. It’s all a bit maddening but this is nothing you can’t handle. Entertain loved ones.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

You have strong energy this week because fiery Mars is in your sign. Naturally, this indicates a time of great activity in your life, when you will work hard to further your own interests. This is why you won’t hesitate to assert yourself among others. Because you will be more proactive and much more of a fighter for your own rights than usual, relations with those who are closest to you might be sensitive. Meanwhile, personally you are focused on money, cash flow and your possessions. No question. How is it then that something will happen or someone will say something that makes you question your right to do what you want to do? This is unnerving. Fortunately, it’s a passing thing.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

You feel cocky and confident with the Sun, Mercury and Venus in your sign. The Sun boosts your confidence and attracts good things to you. Venus makes you charming and sociable. Admittedly, Mercury goes retrograde this week, which will create silly errors, mixed-up communications, misplaced items, traffic problems, transportation glitches as well as machinery breakdowns – including computers. No! Unfortunately, yes. But the challenges of Mercury retrograde are never big. They’re just irritating. Your greatest challenge week will be self-doubt and a shaky confidence. Something going on behind the scenes makes you nervous. The truth is it has no basis and will be quickly gone.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Friendship is important to you, and indeed, you are a good friend to others. However, this week it seems like so much is going on behind the scenes. Financial matters look strong. Likewise, you are confident as you have set off on a new path in the last year. But privately, something requires your attention. For some of you, it’s a secret love affair. Others might feel challenged or downcast or disappointed by dealing with a friend or a group. You might feel that people question your integrity. (This would be a blow.) More likely, someone is feeding your insecurities. The thing to know is that this dark cloud on your horizon is gone in a week. Courage!

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Many people are making demands on your time right now. They want to see your face. They want to connect with you. They want your advice and they want your company. On top of that, suddenly, old friends from the past and people from organizations from the past are coming out of the woodwork. You’re more involved with creative, artistic people, as well. While this is going on, privately, your ambition is aroused and you want to make a name for yourself. Natch! It’s the beginning of the year and you intend to sparkle! (And of course, you will because Jupiter is in your sign for the first time since 2010.) Don’t let anyone rain on your parade. Things might happen that make you question your success. You might be afraid you’ll be “found out.” (I’m navel lint!) These insecure feelings will be gone in a week

January 9, 2022 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Northern Hemisphere’s Moon Phase and Planetary Positions

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, you know was on the date the person was born.

From Moongiant.com

Today and tonight the Moon will be in a First Quarter phase. This phase occurs roughly 7 days after the New Moon when the moon is one quarter of the way through its orbit around the earth. Exactly half the moon will be illuminated and half dark. On the day of the First Quarter phase the moon is high overhead at sunset and is visible until mid-night when it sets in the west. The First Quarter phase is a one-day event and in the following days enters a Waxing Gibbous phase becoming more illuminated each day until the Full Moon.

Visit the January 2022 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s First Quarter Phase

The First Quarter on January 9 has an illumination of 47%. 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 January 9 the Moon is 7.12 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.

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.

Phase Details

Phase: First Quarter
Illumination: 47%
Moon Age: 7.12 days
Moon Angle: 0.51
Moon Distance: 392,887.23 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,113,714.56 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

If you need to calculate the planetary positions for a specific use and time, click on this link

Currentplanetarypositions.com

To figure out GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) to your local time use this link

For Your Local Time and Date

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Los Angeles, California, USA

January 09, 2022
12:00 am GMT 4:00 PM PST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:18 Capricorn 41
Moon:09 Aries 57
Mercury:07 Aquarius 47
Venus:18 Capricorn 44 Rx
Mars:18 Sagittarius 48
Jupiter:02 Pisces 09
Saturn:12 Aquarius 47
Uranus:10 Taurus 52 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 49
Pluto:26 Capricorn 12

True Lunar Node:00 Gemini 32 Rx

Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 06 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):19 Gemini 21
Chiron:08 Aries 38
Ceres:28 Taurus 05 Rx
Pallas:18 Pisces 33
Juno:20 Capricorn 30
Vesta:28 Sagittarius 49
Eris:23 Aries 41 Rx

Fire:5
Earth:7
Air:4
Water:3

Cardinal:7
Fixed:5
Mutable:7

Obliquity of the Nine Planets

Northern Hemisphere

The time for this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Chicago, Illinois, USA

January 09, 2022
11:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:19 Capricorn 40
Moon:21 Aries 57
Mercury:08 Aquarius 33
Venus:18 Capricorn 09 Rx
Mars:19 Sagittarius 30
Jupiter:02 Pisces 21
Saturn:12 Aquarius 54
Uranus:10 Taurus 51 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 51
Pluto:26 Capricorn 14
True Lunar Node:00 Gemini 32
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 03 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):19 Gemini 27
Chiron:08 Aries 39
Ceres:28 Taurus 03 Rx
Pallas:18 Pisces 49
Juno:20 Capricorn 53
Vesta:29 Sagittarius 20
Eris:23 Aries 41 Rx

Fire:5
Earth:7
Air:4
Water:3

Cardinal:7
Fixed:5
Mutable:7

Obliquity of the Nine Planets

Northeastern Hemisphere

The time for this Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

9 January 2022
04:00 pm GMT 5:00 PM CEST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:19 Capricorn 22
Moon:18 Aries 20
Mercury:08 Aquarius 20
Venus:18 Capricorn 20 Rx
Mars:19 Sagittarius 17
Jupiter:02 Pisces 18
Saturn:12 Aquarius 52
Uranus:10 Taurus 51 Rx
Neptune:20 Pisces 50
Pluto:26 Capricorn 13
True Lunar Node:00 Gemini 32 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:29 Taurus 04 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):19 Gemini 25
Chiron:08 Aries 38
Ceres:28 Taurus 04 Rx
Pallas:18 Pisces 44
Juno:20 Capricorn 46
Vesta:29 Sagittarius 10
Eris:23 Aries 41 Rx
Fire:5
Earth:7
Air:4
Water:3
Cardinal:7
Fixed:5
Mutable:7

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 January 9

Hubble’s Jupiter and the Shrinking Great Red Spot

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, OPAL Program, STScI; Processing: Karol Masztalerz

Explanation: What will become of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot? Gas giant Jupiter is the solar system’s largest world with about 320 times the mass of planet Earth. Jupiter is home to one of the largest and longest lasting storm systems known, the Great Red Spot (GRS), visible to the left. The GRS is so large it could swallow Earth, although it has been shrinking. Comparison with historical notes indicate that the storm spans only about one third of the exposed surface area it had 150 years ago. NASA’s Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program has been monitoring the storm more recently using the Hubble Space Telescope. The featured Hubble OPAL image shows Jupiter as it appeared in 2016, processed in a way that makes red hues appear quite vibrant. Modern GRS data indicate that the storm continues to constrict its surface area, but is also becoming slightly taller, vertically. No one knows the future of the GRS, including the possibility that if the shrinking trend continues, the GRS might one day even do what smaller spots on Jupiter have done — disappear completely.

Tuesday over Zoom: APOD editor to present the Best APOD Space Images of 2021