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The following is the New
Moon Report given by Nehemia Gordon of Jerusalem, Israel.
“On August 1, 2000 the New Moon was seen from Jerusalem by Nehemia Gordon and Devorah Gordon. The moon was first sighted by Nehemia at 19:48 and by Devorah at 19:50. Sunset was observed at 19:29.”
The
first day of the 5th Hebrew month, the month of Av, began at sunset
on August 1, 2000. The next New Moon
will most likely be seen around sunset on August 30.
CLOSE CONJUNCTION OF MARS AND MERCURY
On August 10, Mars and Mercury will be in a
very close conjunction as they pass to within 1/10th of a degree
from one another. Charts 163 and 164 show
the positions of the two planets when they come into conjunction in the
constellation Cancer. The planets
appear as one on the charts. The
letters on the planets’ names are overlapped and the word appears as Marsury.
This
conjunction, though not seen this close throughout many areas of the planet,
should be visible in the early morning, low over the East-Northeast horizon
about a half an hour before sunrise.
The west coast of the United States (especially in the more southern
latitudes) will get one of the better views when the two planets pass at their
closest.
It is that time of the year
again, time for the Perseids Meteor Shower.
This is one of the most, if not the most, popular meteor shower of the
year. This shower always peaks between
August 11, and August 12. There are not
many people who dislike going out on a warm summer night to gaze at the stars,
especially if they live in the country.
As a young lad, I always found it fun to lay out on the lawn with family
or friends and gaze up at the stars and have interesting conversations,
especially when it was too warm to sit in the house. Now I have to drive about 10 miles to an overnight park to get
out of the light pollution. But this
summer I will be at my parents’ house in Canastota, New York on August 12. It is the same country home where I watched
the stars as a young lad, and there are still very dark skies above.
Getting
back to the meteor shower, meteors in this shower fall at a rate of about 60
per hour at its peak. Once in a while
during the evening, fireballs will appear.
The moon will be fairly bright throughout the night this coming August
11 and 12, which will make the dimmer meteors difficult if not impossible to
see. However, the moon will set about
an hour before sunrise and the sky will be darkened for the peak hour of the
shower.
Charts 165 and 166 show the area in the sky where the meteors appear to come from
or the Radiant of the shower. Chart 166 has the word “Radiant” where
the radiant is actually located, which is between the outer handle and edge of
Perseus’ sword and the constellation Cassiopeia. This area of the heavens is over the northeastern horizon. Just look for the big W in the sky.
It
is with this sword that the breaker (Peretz) delivers the bride to be
(portrayed by the constellation Andromeda).
Cassiopeia portrays the bride after her deliverance where she is seen
making herself ready for the marriage supper of the lamb. This particular meteor shower always brings
this theme to my mind (The deliverance of the Bride) and the hope to look forward
to. This portrayal will come into
concretion in the very near future.
The
Perseids put on a good show in 1998 and 1999, particularly 1998. I hope that they will arrive to that
splendor this year as well.
The star Dschubba, which is
the middle star in the row of three that forms the head of Scorpius, has been
growing steadily brighter since June 30.
The normal magnitude for the star is 2.3, but it has risen to a
magnitude of 1.9 from June 30 to July 25th and the brightening may
continue according to a Sky and Telescope news release dated July 26,
2000.
Charts 167 and 168 show the constellation Scorpius and the location of the star
Dschubba.
There
is no mention of the meaning of the star’s name in either Bullinger’s or Seiss’
works, as well as Rolleston’s The
Mazzaroth. However, I did find some
information on Dschubba in Richard Hinkley Allen’s Star Names and Their Meanings (1899). Dschubba is also known as Delta Scorpii. The two stars on each side of it are also
known as Beta Scorpii and Pi Scorpii.
The following is an excerpt from Star
Names and Their Meanings.
“Dschubba
is found in the Whitall Planisphere,
probably from Al Jabhah, the Front,
or Forehead, where it lies.
In
the Palermo Catalogue the title Iclarkrav is applied to a star whose
assigned position for the year 1800 would indicate our Delta. If this be the case, it may have been a
specially coined word from the Arabs’ Iklil
al Akrab, the Crown of the Scorpion; and this conjecture would seem justified
by our previous experience of that catalogue’s star nomenclature as seen in its
remarkable efforts with Alpha and Beta Delphini. Riccioli had Aakrab
genubi.
Delta was of importance in early times, for
with Beta and Pi, on either side in a bending line, it is claimed for the
Euphratean Gis-gan-gu-sur, the Light
of the Hero, or the Tree of the Garden of Light, ‘placed in the midst of the
abyss,’ and so reminding us of that other tree, the Tree of Life, in the midst
of the Garden of Eden. It was selected
by the Babylonian astronomers with Beta, to point out their 23rd
ecliptic constellation, which Epping calls Qablu
(und quaba) sha rishu aqrabi, the Middle of the Head of the Scorpion. The earliest record that we have of the
planet Mercury is in connection with these same two stars seen from that
country 265 B.C. In the lunar zodiac
Delta, Beta, and Pi were the Persian Nur,
Bright; the Sogdian and Khorasmian Bighanwand,
Clawless; and the Coptic Stephani,
the Crown.”
The prophecy of Genesis 3:15
was given not long after Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
And I will put enmity between thee and the women, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The enemy of the woman and
the woman’s seed is portrayed in the scorpion whose stinger is poised to strike
the woman’s seed (Ophiuchus) in the
heel. The woman’s seed in turn is seen
crushing the scorpion’s head with his left foot.
Until the head is crushed,
it will rule its kingdom and come into more power during its final hour. It will even shine brightly as a counterfeit
light that will deceive many. But have
no fear, Jesus Christ has already won the victory, and the prophecy that was
first mentioned in Genesis 3:15 and shown throughout the scriptures and in the
heavens concerning the complete defeat and destruction of the devil will surely
be fulfilled.
The following is from a Sky and Telescope news release dated
July 28, 2000.
“Although the apparition of
Comet LINEAR (C/1999S4) wasn’t all it was originally cracked up to be (it
peaked at magnitude 6.5 earlier this week), many observers nevertheless
reported pleasing views in telescopes and large binoculars. Furthermore, astronomers using the Hubble
Space Telescope happened to look LINEAR’s way at just the right time, capturing
an outburst that ensued when a piece of the comet’s core was blown away by
erupting gases. The comet brightened
significantly when the fresh patch of ice was warmed by the Sun’s radiation,
sending gas and dust out into space.
The comet’s brightness rose by about 50 percent in less than four hours,
then returned to its pre-outburst brightness within two days. The images, released today, were taken July
5th and 7th by Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. They show the ejected piece of LINEAR’s
nucleus moving away from the comet at about 10 km per hour.
But Comet LINEAR may be
undergoing more than just burps of activity. According to Mark Kidger
(Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias), the strongly condensed nucleus became
elongated and “flat” in brightness just as it came closest to the Sun (114
million km or about 70 million miles) on July 26.
Based on images taken the last few days with the
1-meter Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope in La Palma, Canary Islands, Kidger believes
the comet has not merely broken into pieces, which should now be visible as
individual brightenings, but has instead completely blown apart.”
I spotted Comet 1999S4 on
the evening of July 23 with 10 X 50 binoculars. If I didn’t know exactly where to look, I would have never
spotted it. Even in 10 X 50 binoculars,
the comet was very faint and very close to being unobservable. I had to bring the binoculars in and out of
focus to be sure I was seeing a haze of very diffuse light.
PERES DEFEAT DEALS BLOW TO THE CLINTONS
Arutz-7, August 1 – “Shimon Peres,
who lost in his bid to become Israel’s President yesterday, has withdrawn his
letter of resignation from the government, and will continue as Minister of
Regional Development. Peres said this
morning that the ‘continuation of the peace process is more important to me
than my own personal future.’ He called
upon Prime Minister Barak to quickly complete the final-status agreement with
the Palestinians, ‘as there will soon be new elections.’
Arutz-7 correspondent Yedidya Atlas
reports, based on sources close to both the Clinton Administration and to
Hillary Clinton’s Senatorial campaign in New York State, that the Clintons were
‘shocked and dismayed’ by the news of Shimon Peres’ loss yesterday. Both Mr. And Mrs. Clinton had been relying
on a President Peres to promote their respective agendas, say the sources,
including the American plan for the division of Jerusalem and improving
Hillary’s lagging support among Jewish New York voters. Nationalist-camp sources in Israel also
expressed relief that U.S. President Clinton had now lost some of his leverage
in pushing his Jerusalem plan.”
BUSH TEAM SOLIDLY BEHIND ISRAEL
ICEJ News, August 2 – “The US presidential
elections swung into high gear in recent days with the opening of the
Republican party convention in Philadelphia, where the platform and foreign
policy team of candidate George W. Bush pledged strong, unconditional support
for Israel.
Bush, currently Governor of Texas
and son of former President George W. H. Bush, has surrounded himself with such
veterans of the Reagan and Gulf War eras as Gen. Colin Powell, Gen. Norman
Schwarzkoph, his vice presidential running mate Richard Cheney and former Secretary
of State George Schultz. The focus on
the second day of the Republican Convention on Tuesday was on national security
and defense issues, with Schultz – a key advisor to Bush – pledging in front of
a gathering of Jewish Republican activists that the candidate would support
Israel even if it decides not to take risks for peace.
Schultz criticized the head of the
rival Democratic ticket, Vice President Al Gore, for saying America should
stand by Israel when it takes risks for peace.
‘I don’t agree with that. I
think the US should stand by Israel.
Period.’ Schultz said. ‘When you say risks for peace, you are
saying risks to your security… I’ve discussed this at some length with Governor
Bush. I know he has the same view I
do,” he added.
George W. Bush’s top foreign policy
advisor, Condoleeza Rice, also told a Republican Jewish luncheon yesterday that
a Bush administration would continue the ‘bipartisan tradition of support’ for
Israel. She said any Arab-Israeli
agreement would have to be one which ‘both parties feel will make them feel
secure.’ At another function hosted by
AIPAC, the main American Jewish lobby in Washington, she stated that Israel was
a strategic ally and that the US-Israel relationship needed to be cultivated.
Besides the strong pro-Israel
comments by top foreign affairs advisors, Bush’s platform contains similar
planks on Middle East policy, calling on the US to ensure that Israel maintains
a qualitative edge in defense technology and promising that the next Republican
president will officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel'’ capital by
immediately beginning the process of moving the US Embassy there upon taking
office. ‘While we have hopes for the
peace process, our commitment to the security of Israel is an overriding moral
and strategic concern,’ the platform says.
The platform highlighted four US
priorities in the Middle East and Persian Gulf: Promote and maintain peace
throughout the region; ensure that Israel remains safe and secure; protect US
economic interests and ensure the reliable flow of oil from the Persian Gulf;
and reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction in the region…”
