Your Sun & Moon Data for Sunday, May 1, Beltane

 

Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 112.43° ESE
Sun Altitude: 49.84°
Sun Distance: 93.679 million mi
Next Solstice: Jun 20, 2016 5:34 PM (Summer)
Sunrise Today: 5:59 AM↑ 70° East
Sunset Today: 7:44 PM↑ 290° Northwest
Length of Day: 13 hours, 44 minutes

Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 216.80° SW
Moon Altitude: 34.87°
Moon Distance: 232128 mi
Next New Moon: May 6, 20162:29 PM
Next Full Moon: May 21, 20164:14 PM
Next Moonset: Today2:01 PM
Current Moon Phase: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 34.0%

Source

timeanddate.com

Am Beannachadh Bealltain

(The Beltane Blessing)

Bless, O threefold true and bountiful,
Myself, my spouse, my children.
Bless everything within my dwelling and in my possession,
Bless the kine and crops, the flocks and corn,
From Samhain Eve to Beltane Eve,
With goodly progress and gentle blessing,
From sea to sea, and every river mouth,
From wave to wave, and base of waterfall.

Be the Maiden, Mother, and Crone,
Taking possession of all to me belonging.
Be the Horned God, the Wild Spirit of the Forest,
Protecting me in truth and honor.
Satisfy my soul and shield my loved ones,
Blessing every thing and every one,
All my land and my surroundings.
Great gods who create and bring life to all,
I ask for your blessings on this day of fire.

Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert

Poem published on & owned by About.com

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 April 29

Fermi’s Gamma-ray Moon
Image Credit: NASA, DOE, International Fermi LAT Collaboration

 

Explanation: If you could only see gamma-rays, photons with up to a billion or more times the energy of visible light, the Moon would be brighter than the Sun! That startling notion underlies this novel image of the Moon, based on data collected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope’s Large Area Telescope (LAT) instrument during its first seven years of operation (2008-2015). Fermi’s gamma-ray vision doesn’t distinguish details on the lunar surface, but a gamma-ray glow consistent with the Moon’s size and position is clearly found at the center of the false color map. The brightest pixels correspond to the most significant detections of lunar gamma-rays. Why is the gamma-ray Moon so bright? High-energy charged particles streaming through the Solar System known as cosmic rays constantly bombard the lunar surface, unprotected by a magnetic field, generating the gamma-ray glow. Because the cosmic rays come from all sides, the gamma-ray Moon is always full and does not go through phases. The first gamma-ray image of the Moon was captured by the EGRET instrument onboard the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory, launched 25 years ago.

Last quarter moon rises around midnight

onight – April 29, 2016 – the moon won’t rise over your eastern horizon until late, likely after midnight. Given clear skies, you should easily see the moon in the morning sky, even after sunrise, on April 30. The moon will be at or near its half-lit last quarter phase, when the moon’s disk appears half-illuminated in sunlight and half-immersed in its own shadow. It’ll look like the image at the top of this post, which is by Lilliana Mendez of North Bergen, New Jersey.

In the larger view, of course, the moon is always half-illuminated. Now we’re seeing half the moon’s day side, and half its night side.

The terminator – shadow line dividing the lunar day and night – shows you line of sunset on the waning moon. It’s along the terminator that you have your best views of the lunar terrain through binoculars or the telescope.

You might think the half-illuminated quarter moon should be about half as bright as the full moon. But that’s not the case. The last quarter moon is about 1/12th as bright as a full moon. Astronomers say the moon’s rough, sphere-shaped surface accounts for the surprising difference in the amount of moonlight cast by the quarter moon versus the full moon.

Meanwhile – and this might surprise you – the first quarter moon is slightly brighter than the last quarter moon. It shines at about 1/11th a full moon’s brightness (in contrast to 1/12th).

The last quarter moon is slightly less bright than the first quarter moon. That’s because illuminated side of the last quarter moon is more covered over by maria – low lying plains of hardened volcanic basalt.

The dark maria reflect sunlight less effectively than do the lighter-colored lunar highlands.

Bottom line: Watch for the moon at or near its last quarter phase. It’ll likely rise after midnight on the morning of April 30, 2016.

 

Author

Bruce McClure

Article published on EarthSky

The Words of Confucius

The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.

Your Daily Influence

April 29th, 2016

 

 

The Devil Reversed
The reversed Devil signifies a spiritual rebirth, freedom from the preoccupation with the secular and the overcoming of pride and selfishness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Berkano
Berkano reversed may foretell family problems and dissatisfaction. Your life path my not be clear to you at this time. Be careful to protect that which is yours.

 

 

 

 

The Tortoise
The tortoise represents the dome of the sky, the universe. It tells you to take slow, deliberate steps and you can acheive everything you desire.

 

 

 

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 more.

Your One Ancient Charm Card Drawing for the Upcoming Weekend

 

Ah, The Caduceus, Involves Your Physical Health This Weekend

 

You will find you have within you the ability to resolve all conflicts and disagreements with regard to this aspect. You will find an eloquence you did not realize before.

A little background on The Caduceus

The staff of Mercury was given to him by Apollo in exchange for the lyre. The rod was endowed with the remarkable power of deciding all quarrels and bestowing wonderful eloquence upon its possessor. Mercury proved this when he saw two serpents fighting. Placing the rod between them and using his eloquence he reconciled the serpents, who then embraced each other, and becoming attached to the rod formed the caduceus. The pine cone is credited with health giving power, and the wings symbolize speed and the flight of thoughts between friends. This ancient talisman was supposed to be a charm fo prosperity, rendering its possessor healthy, wealthy and wise.