March/April 2002 Newsletter

ABIB BARELY REPORT

On March 14 and 15, 2002, expeditions were sent out over the land of Israel to search for barley in the Abib stage. The brave people who took part in these expeditions risked life and limb to do so. Special armor plated vehicles were used as well as bullet proof vests and armed guards to help protect the searchers from armed attacks by the Philistines (Palestinians). Most of the areas that needed checking were in areas that have come under heavy attacks over the past few months by the Philistines against Israeli citizens. Many thanks to the brave heroes of the 2002 Abib Barley Expedition, whom without, we would not have the following report.

Karaite Korner Newsletter #97

Abib Barley Found!

“On Thursday March 14, 2002, the first day of searching, the Abib Expedition has found Abib Barley in multiple locations. The Searchers set out from Jerusalem and searched throughout the southern Shephelah and Northern Negev. Abib Barley was found in various locations including the slopes of the “Western Hill” of ancient Jerusalem only a short distance from the Temple Mount. Images of the Abib Barley are available at:

http://www.karaite-korner.org/abib_report.shtml

More information on locations of Abib and images of the barley will be forthcoming.

We wish to thank all those who supported the Expedition and prayed for its success. The Abib Expedition was carried out by Nehemia Gordon, Devorah Gordon, Yirmiyahu Hinger, Brian Convery, Michael Storie, Richard Dolan, and Gerald Kirby.”

Karaite Korner Newsletter #98

More Abib Barley Found!

“On Friday March 15, 2002, the second day of searching, the Abib Expedition has found more Abib Barley in multiple locations. The Searchers set out from Jerusalem and searched throughout the Judean Desert and Jordan Valley. Abib Barley was found in various locations including Mitzpeh Yericho in the Judean Desert and Fatzael in the Jordan Valley.”

Below are pictures of the Abib Barley found during the two-day expedition. These pictures are from the Karaite Korner News website. More pictures can be found at the Karaite Korner webpage before mentioned.

NEW MOON REPORT

Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem Israel compiled the following New Moon Reports for the months of February and March or the 12^th and 1^st months on the Hebrew Calendar.

February 2002, Twelfth month – “On Feb 13, 2002 the new moon was sighted from Beit Ezra (near Ashdod) at 17:55 by Magdi and from Ofakim at 17:38 by Musa.”

New Moon of Abib Sighted from Jerusalem!

“On Friday March 15, 2002 the New Moon was sighted from Jerusalem. The moon was first sighted by Brian Convery at 18:11 and sighted shortly thereafter by Nehemia Gordon, Devorah Gordon, Michael Storey, Richard Dolan, and Gerald Kirby.”

Rosh Shannah Sameach!

Happy New Year!

Nehemia Gordon

The first day of Abib is from sunset March 15, to sunset March 16. According to this corrected Biblical Calendar, Passover will begin at sunset on Friday, March 29. The first day of Unleavened Bread or Abib 15 is from sunset on Friday, March 29, to sunset on Saturday, March 30. The Day of the wave offering is from sunset on Saturday, March 30, to sunset on Sunday March 31. The 7^th day of Unleavened Bread is from sunset on Thursday, April 4, to sunset on Friday, April 5. Pentecost starts at sunset on Saturday, May 18, and ends at sunset on Sunday, May 19.

Chart 253 shows the position of the moon about 30 minutes after sunset on the evening of March 15, 2002 (beginning of Abib 1) as seen from Jerusalem. The moon was in the constellation Pisces, which represents the nation of Israel. Venus was burning brightly and was close to the moon at the time. The newly discovered Comet Ikeya-Zhang is also seen here in the constellation Pisces, and was at a brightness of magnitude 3.5 on March 15, and visible to the naked eye. The comet reached naked eye brightness as early as March 1, 2002.

The next new moon for the 2^nd month of the Hebrew year should be observable from Jerusalem near sunset on April 14, 2002. Chart 254 shows the new moon and Venus in the constellation Aries (the Hebrew name is Telah, which means the lamb) near sunset on April 14, as seen from Jerusalem. Above the moon and Venus are the planets Mars and Saturn in the constellation Taurus (Messiah, the coming Judge of all the earth). These three planets are starting to move closer together for their rendezvous in early May.

COMET IKEYA-ZHANG UPDATE

As mentioned earlier, Comet Ikeya-Zhang became a naked eye object as early as March 1, 2002. The comet was expected to have a peak magnitude of 4.5 but has surpassed that expectation by 1.4 magnitudes, or about 4 times brighter than expected. The reported magnitude of the comet on March 18 was 3.1. The comet will most likely slowly fade as it gets further from the sun, unless it goes through a major outburst, in which case it could brighten significantly.

Tim Puckett took the photo of the comet seen below on March 11, 2002.

Chart 255 shows the path of Comet Ikeya-Zhang from March 8, 2002 to April 13, 2002. The comet passes through the midst of the constellation Andromeda during the Week of Unleavened Bread.

The sign Pisces, like the other 11 signs in the Mazzaroth, has 3 decan constellations, besides the main sign. The three decan constellations of the sign Pisces are The Band, Andromeda, and Cepheus.

The Band (The redeemed bound, but binding their enemy) is the band that wraps around the tails of the fishes and connects them or binds them to Cetus (the beast from the sea). Comet Ikeya-Zhang was in the band when it reached perihelion on March 8. This is shown on Chart 251 in the January/February 2002 issue of Biblical Astronomy.

Andromeda (The redeemed in their bondage and affliction) represents the nation of Israel in affliction and bondage, specifically suffering affliction and bondage from the beast from the sea. As shown on Chart 255 and as mentioned above, Comet Ikeya-Zhang will pass through the midst of Andromeda during the Week of Unleavened Bread, including Passover (from sunset March 29 to sunset April 5).

Cepheus (Their Redeemer coming to rule) represents the Messiah as The Crowned King, the One who delivers and sets free the redeemed, or the nation of Israel. Chart 256 shows the path of Comet Ikeya-Zhang from April 13, 2002 to May 14, 2002. The comet passes through the constellation Cepheus between April 17 and April 27.

E.W. Bullinger wrote concerning these three constellations in his work The Witness of the Stars, (1893), pp 100, 101 with regard to the sign Pisces as follows.

“In the picture these fishes are bound. One end of the band is fastened securely round the tail of one fish, and it is the same with the other. Moreover, this band is fastened to the neck of Cetus, the sea monster, while immediately above is seen a woman chained as a captive. These both tell the same story, and, indeed, all are required to set forth the whole truth. The fishes are bound to Cetus; the woman (Andromeda) is chained; but the Deliverer of both is near. Cepheus, the Crowned King, the Redeemer, “the Breaker,” the Branch, is seen coming quickly for the deliverance of His redeemed. These are the three constellations of this sign, and all three are required to set forth the story.

Israel now is bound. The great enemy still oppresses, but deliverance is sure. ARIES, the Ram, is seen with his paws on this band, as though about to loosen the bands and set the captives free, and to fast bind their great oppressor.”

The comet passes between the head of Draco (The Dragon – The old serpent, or the Devil, cast down from Heaven), and the heel of Hercules (The mighty vanquisher) here representing the seed of the woman wounding the head of the serpent, on May 6 and 7. This will be covered with more detail in the May 2002 issue of Biblical Astronomy along with other rare and significant celestial events occurring at the same time.

Michael Jager took the below photo of Comet Ikeya-Zhang on March 11, 2002.

Chart 257 shows the position of Comet Ikeya-Zhang in the constellation Draco (The Dragon) on April 29 when the comet reaches its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 37.6 million miles.

Chart 258 shows a unique alignment of the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn on April 29, 2002 in the sign Taurus. Jupiter is seen near the top of the chart in the sign Gemini. The celestial events of April 29 are a shadow of events to come in May (specifically events from May 5 to May 10). To be continued in the May issue if we are still here.

CORRECTIONS TO THE JAN/FEB 2002 ISSUE OF BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY

There were a number of errors in the January/February 2002 issue of Biblical Astronomy concerning which year certain events occurred in. I have finally figured out that we are now in the year 2002. On the first page of the newsletter, the first paragraph under the heading “Large Asteroid Just Misses Earth,” the date in the second line should be January 7, 2002, not 2001. On the third page under “Jupiter At Opposition” the date on the second and third line should be January 1, 2002, not 2001. On the third page under “Another Occultation of Saturn and Jupiter,” the date in the first sentence of the first paragraph should be January 24, 2002, not 2001. The date in the first sentence of the second paragraph should be January 26, 2002, not 2001.

ANOTHER CLOSE SHAVE

Robert Roy Britt, Senior Science Writer for Space.com wrote the following article, which was posted on March 19.

Asteroid Buzzes Earth, Highlighting Cosmic Blind Spot – “An asteroid large enough to have flattened a city buzzed Earth earlier this month and was not seen until after if flew harmlessly by. The space rock approached Earth in the glare of the Sun, a blind spot that made it impossible to see during the day or night from any terrestrial vantage point. The event illustrates the potential of a surprise hit by an asteroid, astronomers said. The object, now named 2002 EM7, was probably between 40 and 80 meters (130-260 feet) in diameter, said Gareth Williams, associate director of the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center. On March 8, the asteroid passed within 298,400 miles (480,200 kilometers) of our planet, or about 1.2 times as far away as the Moon -- considered a relatively close shave by cosmic yardsticks. It was not discovered until March 12, however. After the rock was detected, scientists calculated its orbit and determined the path it had taken.

No way to see it

In a telephone interview, Williams explained there was no way to see the asteroid until it moved out of the Sun's glare and to the opposite side of Earth in relation to the Sun -- Earth's night side. To spot such an object earlier would require a telescope elsewhere in space, he said. Ideas have been floated to put an observatory in orbit around Mercury, where it could observe the portion of sky that is not visible to terrestrial telescopes or even to Earth-orbiting observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope. But a telescope at Mercury, given the likely limitations to its budget and size, would not be able to see asteroids as small as 2002 EM7. It could, however, spot large asteroids that might cause global destruction. No firm plans exist for a Mercury-orbiting telescope. Meanwhile, few asteroids this large have ever been known to pass so close to Earth. Asteroid 2002 EM7 is the ninth closest brush known, said Williams, who helps with the Minor Planet Center's task of cataloguing all data on asteroids. "Of the objects that have come closer, only one is bigger," he said. Months or years of warning have sometimes preceded close passes in the past. Other times, rocks have been found just days before they zoomed past. Williams adds that there have no doubt been many, many other close shaves by small asteroids that went entirely unnoticed because the objects zipped back out into the solar system without ever being detected. Telescopes devoted to asteroid tracking scan just portions of the sky on any given night. Asteroid 2002 EM7 carves an elliptical path around the Sun. It has a remote chance of hitting Earth on a future pass, odds that will likely be reduced even further as researchers continue to track the object and refine their orbital calculations.

Another blind spot

Researchers have used similar close brushes in the past as opportunities to remind politicians that many potentially threatening asteroids remain undiscovered and more money is needed to find them. About 1,000 asteroids larger than 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) are thought to lurk in orbits that might one day threaten Earth with planet-wide chaos. About 500 of them have been found. The bulk of search efforts are conducted in the United States, much of it financed by NASA in a Congressionally mandated program. Somewhat like the blind spot created by the Sun, skies below the equator are poorly surveyed, though in that case it is due to the fact that no telescopes are devoted to the task. A recent plea by scientists to the Australian government to fund a search of the southern skies fell on unsympathetic ears, however. Australian science minister Peter McGauran said he was not convinced the threat of impact was real enough to warrant spending government money. Williams, of the Minor Planet Center, stressed that no amount of searching, north or south, would have spotted 2002 EM7.”

Chart 259 shows the relative position of the Asteroid to Earth at the time of its closest approach. The earth passed the orbital path of the Asteroid about 4.5 hours after the Asteroid passed the orbital path of the earth. This was a closer shave than the event that took place on January 7 (See the Jan/Feb 2002 issue of Biblical Astronomy), though this asteroid was much smaller than the one that passed us on that day. Asteroid 2002 EM7 was in the constellation Libra (the sacred Alter) when it passed the earth at its closest approach. Chart 260 shows the position of the asteroid in the constellation at that time. Libra represents the alter of sacrifice, specifically the sacrifice of the Messiah, whereas Ara represents the alter of God’s wrath. These are the only 2 alters in the heavens, and the near misses of both asteroids, January 7 and March 8, were in one or the other alter as seen from the earth at their closest approach to Earth.