NEW MOON REPORT
Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel compiled the
following New Moon Report for June 2004 and the beginning of the Fourth Month
on the Hebrew Calendar.
“On Saturday June 19, 2004 the New Moon was sighted
from Israel. The New Moon was first sighted
by Melekh ben Ya’aqov, Rivka Michaeli and David Weston from Jerusalem at 20:06;
by Nehemia Gordon from elsewhere in Jerusalem at 20:09 and by Bruce Brill and
Wendy Sutherland from Kefar Eldad at 20:16.”
The first day of the Fourth Month began at sunset on
June 19 and ended at sunset on June 20.
The next New Moon, which will begin the Fifth Month on the Hebrew
Calendar, the month of Av, is expected to be visible from Jerusalem near sunset
on July 18. If there is a lot of haze in
the atmosphere, this one may be difficult to see. If that is the case and it is not seen, then
the first day will not be until sunset on July 19.
VERY CLOSE CONJUNCTION
In the early evening twilight sky on July 10, 2004
the planets Adom (Mars) and Catab (Mercury) will be seen in a
very close conjunction. The planets will
come to within ¼ of a degree from each other.
Chart 364 below shows the positions of Mars and Mercury
in the sign and constellation Cancer at the time of closest conjunction.
Chart 364 – Very close conjunction of
Mars and Mercury on July 10, 2004
One Biblical portrayal of Mars is representing Michael the warrior angel, and one for Mercury is representing Gabriel the messenger angel (at times a warrior himself if the “man” mentioned in Daniel 10 is Gabriel who Michael came to assist. Gabriel visits Daniel on at least two other occasions before this – Dan. 8:16 and 9:21). In Daniel 12:1 it is mentioned that Michael is the great prince that stands up for “the children of thy people” (Israel).
The main theme of the sign and constellation Cancer
is Messiah’s redeemed Possessions held fast. In the ancient planispheres this is seen as flocks of sheep in a coral and in
sheep pens (not a crab). It is a place
of safety for Yahweh’s sheepfolds in times of trouble.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
Since
there is not much going on this month that is foreseeable in the heavens,
except for the Mars/Mercury conjunction, I will use this opportunity to answer
a few questions that I have received from the subscribers.
The first question that I will address came to me in
a note, which concerns the loop in the path of Comet Bradfield displayed on
Chart 352 in the May 2004 issue of Biblical Astronomy: “How can a comet
make a hook around the band of Pisces?
Don’t comets move in straight (slightly curved) lines?”
Comets move in elliptical orbits around the sun just
as the planets do. Depending on the
distance the comet travels and orbital elements of the comet, some elliptical
orbits are much narrower than others.
And unlike the planets, the orbits of comets are not confined to the
ecliptic plane that the planets are confined to. They can come in from any direction.
Chart 365 below shows the path of Comet Bradfield (blue curved
line entering at the left in the chart and exiting at the top) coming in above
the plane of the ecliptic (reference grid in red which represents the plane
that the planets orbit the sun), then going below the plane (hard to see here)
and then back up through the plane on its way out. The black smudgy circle in the middle of the
plane is the sun. The circles on the
plane going around the sun are the orbits of the four inner planets. The orbital path of Earth is the second
circle in from the outside. The black
dot on the circle is Earth and shown here with a very small light blue
label. This orbital diagram is from the
Comet Observation Home Page. I attempted
to make this diagram myself with bigger labels from the Starry Night Pro
software, but forgot how to do this particular type of diagram and after 3
hours of unsuccessfully trying to get it to project properly, I gave up for
now. I need to find the manual to do it
proper and it looks as though it may be buried someplace.
Chart 365 – Path of Comet Bradfield around
the Sun and through the Celestial Grid
From Earth, Comet Bradfield appeared to loop around
the bands of Pisces. The earth is also
moving in an elliptical orbit, which contributes to the apparent motion of
other objects traveling through the heavens.
Planets such as Venus and Mercury also appear to move backwards at times
and make loops as seen from Earth.
The diagram below shows the path of Comet Bradfield
as it appeared from Earth over a period of about 240 days. The apparent loop is caused partially by the
earth’s orbit around the sun. As the
comet moved closer to the sun and earth, its actual and apparent velocity
increased due to the gravitational forces of the sun.
It took approx 200 days to go from the left side in
Aries to its lowest point beneath the bands, and 40 days from there to the top
of the diagram (10 days from the dot just above the loop of the bands where
they meet and the next dot in the tale of the fish when the comet was at its
closest approach to the earth and sun).
Celestial events as signs are set up to be observed
as seen from Earth, since it is this planet that the prophecies of the Holy
Scriptures pertain to.
The next and last question that I will answer at
this time is one that I answered to a lesser degree in the article The
Great Sign of Revelation 12:1?
in the June 1999 issue of Biblical Astronomy. That article was written to answer inquiries
at that time on an article written on The Watcher website. Inquiries
over this subject have greatly increased in the last few months since that
particular article surfaced again on another popular website, which I will not
mention the name of. Those who have
asked me about this, and many who haven’t, know which site I will be talking
of. I am not out to pick on any
individual or website here, but to set the facts straight for all those who
asked me to do so. Below in quotes is
the recent article from the website in question.
“Much has been said over the past several years regarding the sign
of Revelation 12. There have been excellent articles explaining how this sign has appeared in the heavens, primarily on Sept. 12, 1999 which was the
end of Rosh Hashanah of that year. Many of us, myself included, believe this
was an awesome sign of how near the time of the end is. The following link is a
great article by Greg Killian explaining this sign of 1999. It is also
noteworthy that this sign has been appearing each fall from 1996 through 2000
due to the precession of the earth. The current trajectory of the moon through
the heavens follows a lower, more WSW path then it did from 1996-2000 due to
precession, so this sign no longer appears each fall.”
In
his original article Greg Killian stated that the sign of the moon in “womb” of
Bethulah on September 12, 1999 was a very rare event and would not occur again
for another 26,000 years. This is
totally erroneous just as other statements in the quoted article above are
erroneous. For one, the moon was not in
the womb of Bethulah on September 12, 1999 but just above her left knee.
Chart
366 below
shows the position of the moon in Bethulah on September 12, 1999. For some reason it was assumed by the author
above that the stick figure of the constellation was the correct picture with
two arms, the main body and two legs.
However, this constellation stick figure is one that was put forth by
the Astronomical Union in 1923 and has nothing to do with the actual picture
known throughout the ages of where the head, womb and feet belong. The star Auva has in all ancient and recent
figures always been in or very near the womb.
The moon here is a long way from Auva.
Chart 366 – Bethulah and Moon as seen
from Jerusalem on September 12, 1999
Chart
367 below
shows the position of the moon in Bethulah on September 16, 2539 as seen
from Jerusalem at 7:00 pm. For those who
have astronomy programs you can check this out for yourselves to see if these
things are so. The year 2539 is long before
another 26,000 years. This actually
occurs about every 19 years (the solar/lunar cycle) as seen from various
locations on Earth and is seen as such from Jerusalem on Tishri 2 about every
200 years for at least another 2000 years.
Chart 367 – Bethulah and Moon as seen
from Jerusalem at 7:00 pm on September 16, 2539
The
chart below is of Bethulah and the moon on October 1 (Tishri 2), 3412 at 6:40
pm Jerusalem Standard Time.
Chart
368 below
shows the position of the moon in Bethulah on September 12, 2018 – 19 years
from September 12, 1999. The path of the
moon is shown (red line extending from the moon) from 7:00 pm September 11 to
7:00m September 12, 2018 as seen from Jerusalem. Here the moon is traveling in the same area
as it did in 1999.
Chart 368 – Bethulah and Moon as seen
from Jerusalem at 7:00 pm on September 12, 2018
Chart 369 shows the position of the moon in Bethulah on September 12, 2037 – 19 years from September 12, 2018. The path of the moon is shown from 7:00 pm on September 11 to 7:00 pm September 12, 2037 as seen from Jerusalem. Again, the moon is traveling through the same area as it did on September 12, 1999. Most Astronomy programs can easily verify these events. Just find Bethulah and plug in the dates.
Chart 369 – Bethulah
and Moon as seen from Jerusalem at 7:00 pm on September 12, 2037
