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