Category: Articles

The Sky This Week: May 25 – May 29

Greek Goddesses

The Sky This Week: May 25 – May 29

Mars is the star of the show this week, but comet fans and a few gas giants will make welcome appearances in the night sky.

By Richard Talcott

Wednesday, May 25

• Brilliant Jupiter appears high in the southwest as darkness falls and remains on display past 2 a.m. local daylight time. The giant planet shines at magnitude –2.1 — tying Mars as the brightest point of light in the night sky — against the backdrop of southern Leo the Lion. Jupiter appears equally dazzling through a telescope, which reveals a wealth of atmospheric detail on a disk that spans 38″. Notice in particular the two parallel dark belts that straddle a bright zone coinciding with the planet’s equator.

Thursday, May 26

• One of the spring sky’s finest deep-sky objects, the Beehive star cluster (M44) in the constellation Cancer the Crab, lies about one-third of the way from the western horizon to the zenith after darkness falls. With naked eyes under a dark sky, you should be able to spot this star group as a faint and fuzzy cloud. But the Beehive explodes into dozens of stars through binoculars or a small telescope at low power.

Friday, May 27

• Although Saturn will reach opposition and peak visibility one week from today, observers will be hard-pressed to see it as inferior this week. The ringed planet rises before 9 p.m. local daylight time and appears highest in the south around 1:30 a.m. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.0 and stands out against the relatively dim background stars of southern Ophiuchus. If you target the beautiful world through a telescope, you’ll see its 18″-diameter disk surrounded by a ring system that spans 42″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight.

Saturday, May 28

• Mars’ westward motion relative to the background stars carries it from Scorpius into Libra today. But for a quick change of pace, grab your binoculars tonight and target Zubenelgenubi (Alpha [a] Librae), the modestly bright star on the constellation’s opposite side. With even the slightest optical aid, Zubenelgenubi resolves into two stars. Nearly 4′ separate the 3rd-magnitude primary from the 5th-magnitude secondary.

See “10 tempting spring binocular targets” in the May issue of Astronomy for other treats visible through binoculars.

Sunday, May 29

• Last Quarter Moon arrives at 8:12 a.m. EDT. It rises around 1:30 a.m. local daylight time and climbs higher in the southeast as dawn approaches. During this period, our half-lit satellite lies near the center of Aquarius the Water-bearer.

 

Source

Astronomy Magazine

 

 

Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Wednesday, May 25th

goddess of storms

Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Wednesday, May 25th

Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 102.79° ESE
Sun Altitude: 51.28°
Sun Distance: 94.163 million mi
Next Solstice: Jun 20, 2016 5:34 PM (Summer)
Sunrise Today: 5:39 AM↑ 63° Northeast
Sunset Today: 8:04 PM↑ 298° Northwest
Length of Daylight: 14 hours, 25 minutes

Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 257.78° WSW
Moon Altitude: -14.69°
Moon Distance: 243533 mi
Next New Moon: Jun 4, 20169:59 PM
Next Full Moon: Jun 20, 20166:02 AM
Next Moonrise: Today11:15 PM
Current Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 86.7%

 

Source

timeanddate.com

Good Wednesday Morning To All Precious Family & Friends! May Goddess Bless You & Yours!

goddess of deep sea

Warnings

Attention: carelessness is hazardous
to your health and others’;
So always do your homework
And be scrupulous and thorough
Guard against intemperance
But lapse not into total abstention
Let your ambitions be small and healthy
Your intentions ever useful and kind
For if you wreak changes too large
Chaotic principles will apply
If you are not careful you can harm
Even more than if you intentionally try
So do what you will if you may
Never forgetting the rule of three
And ever take care not to play out
Someone else’s version
of who you are going to be.

—Poetry, Songs, and Enchantments: A Pagan Sourcebook
Gwenhwyfar Rhwwttchen

 

The Element Earth

earth element

EARTH

Finally we come to the Element of Earth. The source and provider of all our needs. Represents sensations, decay, patience, stability, strength, health, warmth and comfort, animals and animal instincts, farming and physical labor.

Its feeling is dry and cold, its season is Winter, its colors are Browns, Blacks, Purples and some Greens. Its symbol is the Pentacle or Rice, Salt or grain in a brass or terra cotta bowl or a Stone. Its Moon phase is the Fourth Quarter and its favored time is Midnight. A high Earth person seems a practical sort and quite “down to earth”. A hard worker, stable and a good provider. Can be a little too stubborn sometimes however. A low Earth person can seem confused, insecure and alone, unable to feel wanted and the work may be affected.

Earth Magick can involve the use of herbs and plants. Using the correct herb to attain your desire along with the other tools can be very effective. Burying something and making some offerings to the Earth such as planting trees is a form of Earth Magick. Using your gems or crystals and burying them in the Earth under the appropriate tree while making your wish is also effective.

Another type which is considered Earth Magick is any type of routine magick. Anything you do on a routine basis can be used as a magickal vehicle. While performing something you do at the same time everyday, prepare yourself and use this period for clarity on a subject, figure the best course of action in a situation or to find just where you are in the course of your life.