BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY
 

 


November 2001

 

Editor – Robert Scott Wadsworth <> P.O. Box 2272, Oregon City, OR 97045

Phone (503) 655-7430 <> e-mail – starguy1@comcast.net <> Website – www.atlbible.org/astronomy.htm

 

 

 

NEW MOON REPORT

 

            Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel compiled the following New Moon Reports for the months of October and November.

 

October – “On Wednesday October 17, 2001 the New Moon was not seen from Israel.  Observers across the country reported that they were unable to see the New Moon.  Cloud coverage was visible on the horizon all over the country.

            The astronomical conditions on Oct. 17 were “borderline” meaning that modern astronomy cannot tell us whether the moon would have been visible or not given good weather conditions.  In light of this we are observing this month based on raw 30th-day-observation.  A second report will be sent out with tomorrow night’s observations as soon as they are available.

            Borderline moons are a rare occurrence that happen about once a year.

            On Thursday October 18, 2001 the New Moon was sighted from Israel.  Observers across the country reported sighting the New Moon with ease.”

 

November – “On Friday November 16, 2001 observers from Beth Shemesh and Jerusalem looked for the New Moon but were unable to sight it due to heavy cloud coverage.  More reports are expected Saturday night.”

            “Further reports of New Moon observations from Friday November 16, 2001 have been received.  The New Moon was sighted on Friday November 16, 2001 by Magdi Shamuel from Ashdod at 16:50.  The moon remained visible for some time and was sighted by a large number of observers from Petach Tikvah.”

 

 

 

 

 

THE CONJUNCTION OF THE MOON AND PLANET FACTOR

 

            The facts reported in this article may be purely coincidental, but they are interesting nonetheless.

            During its orbit around the earth, the moon passes all the planets at least once every month.  There are certain times that the moon passes particularly close to the planets as seen from the earth.  Such was the case of the occultation of Venus on July 17, 2001 and the occultation of Saturn on September 10, 2001 (See the Sept/Oct issue of Biblical Astronomy).  There was also a very close approach of the moon to Jupiter on September 12, 2001 as shown on Chart 233.  This occurred in the constellation Gemini.  As seen from Alaska, the moon occulted Jupiter at this time. 

            Of course both of the recent occultations of September 10, and 12 occurred one day before and one day after September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center was attacked and destroyed by terrorists from radical Muslim factions.

            The crescent moon and star is a special emblem to Muslim nations.  It is seen in the flag of some Muslim nations, such as Turkey, Algeria and Pakistan. The closeness of the moon and star on these flags suggests such an astronomical event as an occultation.  The brightest “stars” as seen from earth are the planets Venus and Jupiter.  The planets Mars, Mercury and Saturn are also very bright when at their maximum magnitude.

            I read some years ago that certain Muslim factions see the sign of the moon and star as a sign for successful aggression against their enemies and that they plan special events around that sign.  (I cannot find the article and have so far found nothing else to substantiate this.  If any of the readers of this article know about such information, please send it to me).  Again, this is when the moon passes particularly close to a planet.    

            I find this interesting in light of the fact that a bright crescent moon passed the very brilliant planet Venus on February 25, 1993 in the constellation Pisces as seen below.

 

February 25, 1993

 

                The first bombing of the World Trade Center took place one day later, on February 26, 1993.

            In the current lunar cycle, there are more lunar occultations during a short period of time than there normally are.  There are two very close approaches of the moon to Saturn in the month of November.  One will occur on November 3 in the constellation Taurus (see Chart 234).  The other will occur in the same constellation on November 30 (see Chart 235).  The November 30 event will occur during a full moon.  Chart 236 shows the positions of the moon and Saturn, as they will appear to an observer on the west coast of the United States looking toward the ENE horizon about 80 minutes after sunset. 

            If there is some connection between the lunar-planet occultations and when certain Muslim factions plan attacks on their enemies, it doesn’t mean that such attacks will be successful or actually carried out. 

 

 

LEONID METEOR SHOWER

 

            This year’s Leonid Meteor Shower, which peaked in the early morning hours of November 18, was the best meteor shower that I have ever observed.  I only regret that I didn’t get this newsletter finished in time to tell the subscribers (who missed it on the news) about the upcoming event.  I had some computer and physical ills to tend to, amongst other things.  I plan on having the December newsletter to you at the beginning of December.

            Getting back to the meteor shower, it was truly amazing.  I fortunately had clear skies early Sunday morning and was up for the duration (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.).  Marcia made some coffee and joined me in the crisp outdoor air for the show.  I estimate that meteors were falling at a rate of about 600 per hour from 2 am to 4 am (but was most likely more since I was in an area surrounded by street lights). Most were very fast burning moving at a high velocity while others were very bright and longer burning, with colorful trails.  There were times when we saw 3 or 4 meteors streaking across the sky at the same time.  The meteors were seen in all directions, all over the sky, but the radiant of the shower, where they appear to come from, is in the constellation Leo (the Lion of the tribe of Judah).  The radiant is located in the head of the lion.  I as well as others have dubbed this shower The Roar of the Lion.  See previous November issues of Biblical Astronomy for more info on the Leonids Meteor Shower.  This shower occurs every year peaking on November 17/18 but not in such a spectacular way.  This was the best Leonids shower in 35 years.

            In certain parts of Asia and western Australia, meteors were expected to come in at a rate of 8,000 per hour.  I have not heard any reports from Australia or Asia at this time.  At Fremont Peak in California meteors were reported coming in at a rate of 1,500 per hour, with 600 over a 15- minute period.

            There was some concern of particles damaging a number of satellites during the peak of the storm.  There have been no reports so far of such damage.

 

 

COMET LINEAR (C/2000 WM1) IS ALIVE AND WELL

 

            I first reported on Comet 2000 WM1 in the article New Bright Comet on its Way in the January 2001 issue of Biblical Astronomy.  Also see article More Info on Comet LINEAR WM1 in the February/March 2001 issue of Biblical Astronomy.  The comet is now at our door and will reach its closest approach to the earth on December 2 when it will be above and near the tail of Cetus (the beast from the sea).  This is the same area that Comet LINEAR (C/2000 A2) was when it reached its closest approach to the earth on July 1, 2001 (see the May/June 2001 issue of Biblical Astronomy).  There will be an updated chart of the comet with its position near Cetus on December 2, in the upcoming December issue of Biblical Astronomy.  Comet 2000 WM1 is expected to brighten to about a magnitude 4 by early December.

 

      Comet LINEAR (C/2000 WM1)

 

Charts 237 and 238 show the path of the comet from November 1, to December 1, 2001.  The comet passes through Rosh Satan (the head of Satan) in the constellation Perseus on November 17-19.  The comet actually passes over the mouth of Rosh Satan.  Comet 2001 WM1 then passes through Aries and Pisces before entering Cetus.

            The following article is from a November 16 news release by Sky & Telescope.

            Comet LINEAR in Binoculars – Crossing Perseus and picking up speed during November, Comet LINEAR (C/2000 WM1) should now be an easy target for binoculars.  Predictions have cooled somewhat since being touted as the “Christmas Comet of 2001.  Nevertheless, the comet may just reach naked-eye brightness by the end of the month.

            Comet observer John Bortle estimated LINEAR at magnitude 7.2 on November 14th and “obvious with 10x50 binoculars.”  He notes that the comet appears to be brightening by 0.1 magnitude each day.  “It is my expectation that the comet will become detectable to the naked eye at really dark-sky locations within the next 10 days as long as one avoids the waxing moon.”  Southern Hemisphere observers should have an even better view in December.

            For observers at mid-northern latitudes, Comet LINEAR is well up in the northeast after dusk and remains up all night, nearly directly overhead around midnight. 

 

 

FULL MOON IN PLEIADES, BLUE MOON AND HALLOWEEN?

 

There was much ado on most news stations around Halloween about the first full moon on Halloween in 40 years, coinciding with the full moon being in the constellation Pleiades and it being a blue moon also, amongst other things.  I had many questions on this event so I decided to write about it here. 

First of all, Halloween is not a feast day of the Lord.  It is a pagan holiday, which came from unbelievers.  It falls on the 31st of October, which is from the Gregorian Calendar (a solar-based calendar which has much of its roots based on sun-god worship).  On the solar-based calendar, you can pick any day of the year and find that there was not a full moon on that particular day for many years.  On the lunar-based Hebrew Calendar, the full moon falls on the same day of the month (on or within 1 day of) every month, which is the 14th or 15th day of the month.

A blue moon is when you have two full moons in the same solar-calendar month.  This doesn’t happen on the Hebrew Calendar.

There was a saying reported that when the full moon is in Pleiades that the end of the world will occur.  I do not know where this comes from.  In any event, the moon was not in the Pleiades on October 31, and did not reach conjunction with that star cluster until November 2, and was at least 10 degrees south of the Pleiades when it passed it.  The moon passes the Pleiades every month.  The moon is full about once per year as it passes the Pleiades.  I guess this would mean that the end of the world starts every year (lol). 

The Pleiades represent the gathered assembly of the Messiah or the congregation of the Judge Biblically.  I do not see any prophetic or Biblical meaning to any of the above events.

 

I pray that you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  This is certainly a year that we can count the many blessings that the Lord bestows upon us.

 

The grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.