Category: Articles

Sky This Week for July 25 to July 31, 2016

Freya - Norse Mythology 4

Sky This Week for July 25 to July 31, 2016

This week is all about the planets, the Moon, and the Delta Aquarid meteor shower.
By Richard Talcott

Monday, July 25

Look toward the south-southwest as darkness falls and you can’t help but see Mars. The Red Planet shines brilliantly at magnitude –0.9 — trailing only Jupiter after dusk — against the much fainter background stars of Libra. And it remains visible until it dips below the southwestern horizon shortly after 1 a.m. local daylight time. When viewed through a telescope, Mars’ orange-red disk spans 14″ and shows a number of subtle dark markings.

Tuesday, July 26

Last Quarter Moon occurs at 7:00 p.m. EDT. It doesn’t rise until nearly 1 a.m. local daylight time, however, by which time its phase has diminished almost imperceptibly to 46 percent lit. Earth’s only natural satellite appears against the relatively inconspicuous background stars of northeastern Cetus.

Wednesday, July 27

Pluto reached opposition and peak visibility nearly three weeks ago, and it remains a tempting target all night. It glows dimly at magnitude 14.1, however, so you’ll need an 8-inch or larger telescope with good optics to spot it visually. Pluto currently lies in northeastern Sagittarius, some 0.8° west-southwest of 3rd-magnitude Pi (p) Sagittarii and 0.7° northeast of 4th-magnitude Omicron (o) Sgr. See “The quest for distant Pluto” in the July Astronomy for complete details on finding this world.

The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point in its orbit around Earth, at 7:37 a.m. EDT. It then lies 229,698 miles (369,662 kilometers) away from us.

Thursday, July 28

The Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower reaches its peak overnight. Although the waning crescent Moon rises around 2 a.m. local daylight time tomorrow morning, it doesn’t really detract from the show. The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Aquarius, which rises in late evening and appears highest in the hours before dawn. At its best, the shower produces 15 to 20 meteors per hour under a dark sky, a rate that stays nearly constant for a couple of days on either side of the peak.

Friday, July 29

The Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower isn’t the only event you’ll want to keep an eye on this morning. As the waning crescent Moon marches eastward relative to the background stars of Taurus, it passes directly in front of the Bull’s luminary. Our satellite occults 1st-magnitude Aldebaran for observers south of a line that runs from southern New Mexico to northern Maine. While viewers north of this line will see the Moon and star just miss each other, those along the line will witness the star skimming Luna’s northern limb. Be sure to set up ahead of time, center the star in your telescope’s field of view, and watch the magnificent show.

Uranus’ eastward motion against the background stars comes to a halt at 10 p.m. EDT. This so-called stationary point marks the beginning of the best period to observe the outer planet. Uranus rises before midnight local daylight time and appears more than halfway to the zenith in the southeastern sky as morning twilight commences. The magnitude 5.8 planet lies in Pisces, 2.7° due north of magnitude 4.8 Mu (m) Piscium. A telescope reveals Uranus’ blue-green disk, which spans 3.6″.

Saturday, July 30

Although Saturn reached its peak nearly two months ago, it remains a lovely sight. You can find the planet nearly due south around 9 p.m. local daylight time. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.3 and appears far brighter than any of the surrounding stars of southwestern Ophiuchus. When viewed through a telescope, the planet measures 18″ across while its dramatic ring system spans 40″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight.

Sunday, July 31

The two inner planets lurk low in the western sky shortly after sunset all week. Your best chance to spot them comes when they lie highest in the twilight this evening. If you scan the western horizon through binoculars 30 minutes after sunset, you should pick up Venus standing just 3° high. It shows up only because in shines so brightly, at magnitude –3.9. Mercury appears 6° above the horizon but will be harder to see because it glows more dimly at magnitude –0.2. And if you have a haze-free sky, you might spot the 1st-magitude star Regulus between the two planets.
Reference:
Astronomy Magazine

The Sun & Moon Data for Monday, July 25th

Ancient civilizations Gods--Athena Greek Goddess

The Sun & Moon Data for Monday, July 25th

The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 81.94° E
Sun Altitude: 22.47°
Sun Distance: 94.413 million mi
Next Equinox: Sep 22, 2016 9:21 AM (Autumnal)
Sunrise Today: 5:54 AM↑ 65° Northeast
Sunset Today: 8:07 PM↑ 295° Northwest
Length of Daylight: 14 hours, 12 minutes

 

The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 232.18° SW
Moon Altitude: 42.43°
Moon Distance: 230302 mi
Next New Moon: Aug 2, 20163:44 PM
Next Full Moon: Aug 18, 20164:26 AM
Next Moonset: Today11:56 AM
Current Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination 66.1%
Reference:
timeanddate.com

It is a Glorious & Beautiful Monday Morning! Blessings to All My Family & Friends Who I love So Much! Goddess Bless You!

Ancient Babylonia Three Bau ~ Goddess of the Dark Dark Sea

May the Goddess hear you in the day of trouble,
May She give you a place of refuge
And defend you from your fears.
Let help come to you from the mighty forest
And strength from the roots of the Locust.
May the rivers and streams ease you
And the birds bear assurance in their wings,

I will rejoice at your rising up,
Giving thanks that the requests of your heart
have been poured out.
I know you sit in the palm of the hand of the
Universe,
That the heavens rain down all you require.
Some trust in money, and some in knowledge;
But we trust in Love and the cycles of life.

May you rise up with singing,
Knowing that the whisper of your heart
Is precious and never goes unheeded.
Rise up and give thanks!

 

—-Earth Psalms
Angela Magara

 

A Very Beautiful & Blessed Sunday To All My Wonderful Family & Friends!

good afternoon
Good Sunday Afternoon, my sweets! It seems like it has been forever since I have talked to you. Of course, I see Mystie has been doing a lot of talking, LOL! I appreciate her doing the postings but there are somethings she didn’t need to tell. But that is just Mystie what can I say? I just needed time to get my head on straight and cleared. Kiki’s death was sudden and unexpected. Whose life wouldn’t get thrown into a whirlwind?

 

I went to the dog pound yesterday to just look and Mystie threw a fit about me going. Couldn’t figure out why, so she finally told me. She said that everyone here had pitched in and collected enough money for a new little Pom to be delivered to our doorstep. That was a shock to say the least and something I never expected. The little fellow hasn’t arrived yet but he is suppose to be here next week. They delayed shipping him because of the weekend coming up is what Mystie told me. He should be here around Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. She handed me this lovely card and inside it was picture of my new Pom. He is absolutely adorable and I can’t wait for him to get here. It said on the card, “We love you, Lady A! From All The Members of the WOTC!” I don’t know what to say except thank you for caring and loving me the way you do. You are truly an amazing group of people. The things you have done for the WOTC and me are incredible. I can never ever say thank you enough and that I love you. What is very special to me is when you do something like this I know my love is returned, I know I truly have a family here. We might just be a spot on the internet but the WOTC and its members are much, much more than that. We have a bond not only of friendship but of love. A love I will cherish always, my dear brothers and sisters. It is just at times, thank you doesn’t seem adequate, really it doesn’t. You are outstanding, caring, loving and passionate people. When you are surrounded by those kind of people, the kind you all are, I wonder if I can ever say thank you enough or let you know how much I truly do love you. Thank you again so very much.

 

Besides thanking you for being incredible, loving people, I wanted to let you know that we will resume full operations Monday. Our routine has been out of sorts for a while but now it is time to return to doing the Goddess’ work. We are going to start our daily posts earlier than we usually do and we are also going to try to keep the Southern Realm site running and up to speed. The Great Morrighan was the one who pointed out the need for a site for our Southern Hemisphere brothers and sisters. I don’t want to disappoint Her or our Divine Mother. We still have plenty of work ahead of us and it is pass time to get back to it.

 

Take the rest of the day off to kick back and relax on your Sunday afternoon. We will see you tomorrow, ready to go. Thank you again for your love. I am so grateful for it and I can never repay you enough for it. I am truly blessed to be able to call you my brothers and sisters, my family.

 

I love you all,

Lady A

Astronomy Picture of the Day – Dark Dunes on Mars

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.

2016 July 20

Dark Dunes on Mars (Horizontally Compressed)
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

 

Explanation: How does wind affect sand on Mars? To help find out if it differs significantly from Earth, the robotic Curiosity rover on Mars was directed to investigate the dark Namib Dune in the Bagnold Dune Field in Gale Crater. Namib is the first active sand dune investigated up close outside of planet Earth. Wind-created ripples on Earth-bound sand dunes appear similar to ripples on Mars, with one exception. The larger peaks visible on dark Namib dune, averaging about 3 meters apart, are of a type seen only underwater on Earth. They appear to arise on Mars because of the way the thin Martian wind drags dark sand particles. The featured image was taken last December and is horizontally compressed to show context. In the distance, a normal dusty Martian landscape slopes up in light orange, while a rock-strewn landscape is visible on the far right. Curiosity unexpectedly went into safe mode in early July, but it was brought out last week and has now resumed exploring the once lake-filled interior of Gale Crater for further signs that it was once habitable by microbial life.

Earth Sky News for July 20: Sun enters Cancer on July 20

Sun enters Cancer on July 20

By

On July 20, 2016, if you could see stars at daytime, you’d see the sun leaving the constellation Gemini and entering the constellation Cancer the Crab. The sun will remain within Cancer’s borders until August 10, 2016, at which time the sun will move into the constellation Leo the Lion.

As seen from Earth, the sun appears to travel full circle (360o) in front of the 13 constellations of the zodiac in one-year’s time. However, this supposed eastward movement of the sun through the background stars of the zodiac is actually a reflection of our planet Earth circling the sun.

Previously, we stated that the Earth goes full circle around the sun in one year. We should amend that statement to specify that Earth goes full circle around the sun, relative to the stars of the Zodiac, in one sidereal year. So one sidereal year later, on July 20, 2017, the sun will again be at the border of the constellations Gemini and Cancer.

Some of you may know that the sun enters the sign Cancer every year on or near June 20, or precisely at the instant of the June solstice. That’s in spite of the fact that the sun enters the constellation Cancer about one month later, on or near July 20.

Have a globe? Look for the tropic of Cancer at about 23.5o north latitude. To this day, we still say the sun at its northernmost point on the June solstice resides at zenith (straight overhead) over the tropic of Cancer.

However, if we had a time machine, and could transport ourselves back to the year 12 B.C., we’d actually find the sun entering the constellation Cancer on the June solstice. The sun would also be entering the sign Cancer as well, when the constellation Cancer and the sign Cancer were in alignment on the sky’s dome over two thousand years ago.

The seasonal or tropical year, as measured by successive returns to the June solstice, is about 20 minutes shorter than the sidereal year – the year as measured by the backdrop stars. For that reason, the June solstice point has shifted about 30o westward relative to the constellations of the Zodiac since the year 12 B.C. That means the sun on the June solstice now shines at the border of the constellations Gemini and Taurus, rather than at the border of the constellations Cancer and Gemini.

Signs of the tropical zodiac remain fixed relative to the equinox and solstice points. Therefore, the sun always enters the sign Cancer on the June solstice, irrespective of which constellation backdrops the sun at this time.

In our day and age, the sun enters the constellation Cancer each year on or near July 20, and then enters the sign Leo approximately two days thereafter, on or near July 22.

Bottom line: You may know that the sun enters the sign Cancer every year at the June solstice. The sun enters the constellation Cancer a month later, on or near July 20.

 

BRUCE MCCLURE

Bruce McClure has served as lead writer for EarthSky’s popular Tonight pages since 2004. He’s a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also writes and hosts public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York.

Article published on EarthSky

The Wisdom of Buddha

The Wisdom of Buddha

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

Your Daily Influences for July 20, 2016

Your Daily Influences
July 20, 2016 

 

Seven of Cups
Deception, an overactive imagination, and the illusion of success. Strengths are not consolidated to work as one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fehu
Fehu reversed represents material stagnation, possibly poverty as well as infertility.

 

 

 

 

Sagittarius the Archer
This aspect of your life will be strongly influenced by a person who is blindly optimistic, careless, irresponsible, superficial, tactless and restless. This is a person who makes you nervous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Daily Influences represent events and challenges the current day will present for you. They may represent opportunities you should be ready to seize. Or they may forewarn you of problems you may be able to avoid or lessen. Generally it is best to use them as tips to help you manage your day and nothing

Your Daily Charm for July 20 is The Heart

Your Daily Charm for Today

Today’s Meaning:
A course of events that cannot be altered has been set in motion within this aspect. Accept whatever happens in the near future and do not waste your time fretting about it–you can do nothing.

General Description:
This was a favourite charm in Egypt, worn in order to frustrate magicians, sorcerers and evil wishers from bewitching the wearer and stealing the soul from the heart; for it was the general belief that if the soul left the heart, the body would soon fade away and perish. The ancient Egyptians also believed that, after death, the heart was taken, in the underworld, and weighed against the symbols of the law; if found perfect, it was restored to the body, which at once came to life again and enjoyed everlasting felicity

Your Ancient Symbol Card for July 20 is The Sword

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Today

The Sword



The Sword is a a call to action. It indicates challenges are before you and to attain your goals you will have to address them. The Sword does not suggest rash or underhanded behavior on your part. Indeed, while actions indicated by The Sword are decisive, they are based on the power of your wisdom and ethics. The strength of The Sword lies in the moral purity of your actions.

As a daily card, The Sword suggest a time in which you will face external challenges to attaining your goals. These trials are likely to come from a person or persons who stand to gain from your loss or delays in you moving forward. You can expect underhanded play and surprises. Fortunately your position is far stronger than those who scheme to usurp you. Address challenges as they arise and all will be well.

Your Daily Influences for July 20 Using the Minchiate Tarot Deck

Your Daily Influences for Today

 

Tarot Influence:

Knight of Cups

Grace mixed with laziness. Preoccupation with sensual fantasies. Look for a message, opportunity or invitation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Astrological Influence

Libra Reversed

Libra reversed denotes a lack of fairness, imbalance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Element Influence

Fire

Fire denotes the unleashing of raw energy and change. The status quo may be about to crumble, but will be replaced something better. Fire also provides light to those in the dark and warmth for a cold body and spirit.