NEW MOON REPORT
Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel compiled the
following New Moon Report for the months of September and October 2011 and the
beginning of the Seventh and Eighth Months on the Biblical Calendar.
September – “It was impossible to see the new moon
from Israel tonight (Wednesday September 28). The lagtime - the time from
sunset to moonset - was only 28 minutes making it impossible to see the limited
light of the moon against the backdrop of the setting sun. There has never been
a successful new moon sighting with only 28 minutes of lagtime. The moon should
be easily visible Thursday night from Jerusalem.”
“On Thursday September 29, 2011 the new moon was sighted
from Israel. The new moon was first sighted: from Jerusalem by Oriana Torres at
6:25pm followed by David Cachicas, Daniella Cachicas, Sarita Herrerra, and
Marta Alvarez; from elsewhere in Jerusalem by Willie Ondricek at 6:26 pm
followed by Devorah Gordon; from Mevasseret Tziyon by Dina Marcus at 6:30 PM
followed by Avi Marcus; from Givat Hamotos by Bruce Brill at 6:34 pm; from
Haifa by Devorah Boer at 6:35 pm followed by Zeev Boer, Areena boer and Tim
Boer; from Gush Etzyon by Yoel Halevi at 7:27 pm.
A photo of the new moon from
Jerusalem taken by Devorah Gordon is posted at:”
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150244235858629.341778.371892568628&l=b6d1318717&type=1
October - “On October 28, 2011 the new moon was
sighted from Israel. It was first sighted from Jerusalem at 4:58pm by Daniela
Cachicas followed shortly thereafter by David Cachicas and Rick Busenbark; from
elsewhere in Jerusalem at 5:02pm by Nehemia Gordon followed shortly thereafter
by Devorah Gordon; from Poriya at 5:02pm by Devorah Boer followed shortly
thereafter by Jacob Boer; from Kefar Eldad at 5:10pm by Bruce Brill;
from Gush Etzyon at 5:12pm by Yoel Halevi.
My photos of the new moon from Jerusalem are posted at:”
https://www.facebook.com/NehemiaGordon
The
chart below shows the New Moon on October 28 as seen from Jerusalem about 23
minutes after sunset. The moon is
between the constellations Libra and Scorpius with the planets Venus
and Mercury below right in Libra.
The red lines are the constellation borderlines. If you are reading the pdf file then you can
zoom in on the moon to see the crescent using the Marquee Zoom feature in Adobe
Reader.
The next New Moon is expected to
be visible from Jerusalem, Israel near sunset on November 26, 2011 when the
moon will be 2.43%
illuminated and 11.290
above the horizon at five minutes past sunset.
I know I used a full page here
for the New Moon Report, but it is now recorded for future use when looking at
borderline situations for future sightings of the New Moon.
CONJUNCTIONS OF
NOVEMBER 9, 2011
There
are some interesting conjunctions that will take place on November 9. They are interesting because two of them
occur in two different constellations at the same time on the evening of
November 9, and the other takes place only eight hours before.
The
evening starts when Nogah (Venus) the Bright and Morning Star passes
4 degrees north of the star Antares in the constellation Scorpius
at 4 p.m. EST. Then at Midnight EST, 8
hours later, Catab (Mercury) passes 1.9 degrees north of Antares
and at the exact same time, Adom (Mars) passes 1.4 degrees north of the
star Regulus in the constellation Leo. This dance has quite the timing to it.
Chart 572 shows the
lineup of Antares and the planets Venus and Mercury on the
evening of November 9, 2011. The green
lines are the celestial grid lines. The
longitudinal lines are from top to bottom. Venus is shown here at the
same celestial longitude and in direct conjunction with the star Antares
at 4 p.m. EST. Mercury will reach
that same longitude 8 hours later at Midnight.
It is also at Midnight that Mars reaches conjunction with the
star Regulus in Leo.
Chart 573 shows Mars
in the same longitude and in direct conjunction with Regulus at Midnight
EST on November 9/10.
The chart below shows Venus,
Mercury and Antares on the evening of November 9, 2011
.
The constellation Scorpius
represents the continuing conflict between the serpent and the serpent’s seed
and the woman and the woman’s Seed, first mentioned in Genesis 3:15 and later
in Revelation 12. The Hebrew name for
the constellation Scorpius is Akrab and means conflict or
war. One meaning for the star Antares
is the wounding.
From the Latin Antares means Rival
of Mars, as Antichrist is the rival of Christ or Messiah. Ares is the ancient name for Mars. Antares
is in the heart of the King’s enemy, the scorpion. This enemy is the serpent, the dragon, Satan
or the Devil. Mars represents the
warrior archangel Michael in its portrayal of the conflict between the serpent
and the serpent’s seed and the woman and the woman’s seed. Michael does battle a number of times against
this rival or enemy as shown in the Scriptures. Michael is the guardian of Israel against
Satan.
Here it is Venus, The
Bright and Morning Star that is in conjunction with Antares and
shortly after, Mercury reaches conjunction with this star. Mercury represents the other
archangel, Gabriel. It is at the
same time that Mars reaches conjunction with Regulus in Leo. Regulus is in the heart of the Lion according
to many Astronomers, but in the Foot of the Lion according to others. Regulus means treading under foot. Regulus is the King Star of all the
stars in the heavens, though it is by far, not the brightest star. It represents the King of Judah. The Lion’s foot is seen coming down on the
head or the back of the neck of Hydra (not shown in this chart), the seven
headed water serpent or beast from the sea.
It is Mars (Michael the warrior
archangel) that is in conjunction with Regulus here, as the lion is
about to shred the serpent into pieces.
So, Venus (Yahshuah) first passes conjunction with Antares, and
then the two planets representing the two archangels pass conjunction with Antares
and Regulus at the same time very shortly after the Venus/Antares
conjunction. Both constellations are
showing the conflict with the scorpion and the serpent getting their heads
bashed in. The scorpion and the serpent
represent the same enemy.
Now this can be portraying
either an actual conflict in the senses world or in the spiritual word or both
that is taking place or about to take place.
Spiritual warfare takes place every day and we do not see many things
with our five senses. This celestial
event may be portraying a greater conflict than normal. If there is a major conflict about to take
place soon in the senses world, we will soon see.
THE LION SLEEPS
TONIGHT
It
is that time of the year again for the Leonids Meteor Shower. Below is a short article from Astronomy.com
on the upcoming shower.
Will the
Lion sleep or roar?
“The
Leonid meteor shower always brightens November’s sky. In some years, it does so
only a little; in others, it brings a veritable storm of “shooting stars.” The
occasionally wild swings from year to year depend on how Earth encounters the
various debris streams laid down by the shower’s parent comet,
55P/Tempel-Tuttle.
Although astronomers caution
that there’s no certainty with the Leonids, they don’t expect a spectacular
show in 2011. The shower should peak before dawn November 18, when a Last
Quarter Moon lies near the shower’s radiant in Leo the Lion. Observers with an otherwise
dark sky can expect to observe up to 10 meteors per hour. To see the most, head
out to the country and face away from the Moon’s glare.”
The chart below shows the
Radiant of the Leonids Meteor Shower along with the position of the moon and
Mars on November 18, at 3 a.m. as seen from the eastern United States.
Though this
is an interesting event following the conjunctions of November 9, with one
being that of Mars and Regulus, it will not be a spectacular event and most
likely even wimpy compared to normal years.
It is also interesting that the following celestial event takes place in
Scorpio, the other constellation with conjunctions on November 9. This event will also not be much of a sign
since it is not seen by most of the world.
PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
There will be a partial
solar eclipse on November 25, 2011 in the constellation Scorpius. About 1/3rd of the sun will be
covered by the moon as seen from Earth at the peak of the eclipse. This eclipse will not be visible from Israel
or the United States. The eclipse will
be visible from parts of New Zealand, South Africa, Tasmania, and Antarctica.
Chart
574 shows the position of the sun and moon in the head of Scorpius at
the time of the peak of the eclipse as seen from a location in Antarctica.
Most
of the time a solar eclipse occurs there is a lunar eclipse that takes place
about 2 weeks before of two weeks after.
There will be a total, possibly blood red, lunar eclipse that will take
place in the constellation Taurus on December 10. This eclipse will be partially or totally
visible from various parts of United States and Israel as well as the rest of
western North America, Australia, Asia, and parts of Europe. There will be more on this eclipse in the
December 2011 issue of Biblical Astronomy.
TRUSTY COMET GERRADD
I sent the following article
from Sky & Telescope.com to the online subscribers to Biblical Astronomy
about a month ago but did not put it in the September/October 2011 issue of Biblical
Astronomy. I am including it here so
the postal subscribers can also read about it.
Trusty
Comet Garradd
September
1, 2011
by
Alan MacRobert and Tony Flanders
“Comet Elenin has been
getting a lot of press in recent months — and now it seems almost certain to be
a total bust.
Meanwhile, people in the know have been following a comet that has never
been hyped much, but seems almost certain to be a fine, though not spectacular
performer for many months to come.
We're talking about Comet
Garradd (C/2009 P1). In early September it was already a fine sight through
telescopes of all sizes, shining high in the evening sky at 7th magnitude. It
has a bright head, a sharp starlike nucleus, and a tail that's stubby but well
defined. And it's forecast to shine near its 6th-magnitude best all the way
from October to mid-March. Not since Hale-Bopp has any comet remained so bright
for so long.
Comet Garradd passes through
the Coathanger asterism on the evening of Friday, September 2nd, then crosses
the northwest corner of Sagitta, and soon enters Hercules, where it will remain
until February. That means it’s high in the west after nightfall in October,
lower but still in good view in November, and near the west-northwest horizon
at the end of twilight around Christmas. But by then it’s already up higher in
the east before the first light of dawn; the best viewing tips from evening to
morning on December 16th. As
the comet climbs high in the early-morning sky of January and February, it will
pass the Keystone of Hercules, skim ˝° by the globular cluster M92 on the
morning of February 3rd (mark your calendar), then sail northward past the head
of Draco. It should stay bright all the way into spring as it returns to the
evening sky.
Click here for a full-page, printable finder chart for
Comet Garradd from September through early February, 2012.
Why is it changing so slowly? Comet Garradd is unusually
large and distant as 6th-magnitude comets go. It never comes closer to the Sun
than Mars’s average distance; at perihelion on December 23rd it’s 1.55
astronomical units from the Sun. Nor does the comet ever come near Earth; it’s
about 2 a.u. from us all through October and November, and when closest next
March 5th it will still be 1.27 a.u. away. Too bad! Garradd might have
qualified for “Great Comet” status if had been on a trajectory to pass close to
the Sun and if Earth weren’t on the wrong side of its orbit at the time.
Astronomer Gordon J. Garradd discovered the comet at 17th
magnitude on August 13, 2009, at Australia’s Siding Spring Observatory while
hunting for — ironically — near-Earth objects. “
This comet will most likely not become visible to the
unaided eye. I usually do not cover
comets below a 5th magnitude (perhaps sometimes 6th
magnitude) since they cannot be seen with the unaided eye. That is the criteria that I set up for myself
years ago, since Astronomers from ancient times only saw comets, stars etc.
that were visible to them without binoculars or telescopes which were not
around until about 400 years ago. A sign
is something you see, not something that you do not see. If we were to treat all comets, even those
that can be seen only with optical aids as signs, then we would have dozens of
signs per year and it would become quite redundant and nothing special. I also consider the rarity of certain events
to as if they are pertinent signs or not.
There has to be some criteria.
Something that happens every day or every week or even every year is
nothing special.
Such was the case with Comet Elenin. Many were writing on its supposed
magnificence and it being a great sign.
I did not treat that comet as such and most likely would not have
written on it except there was so much hyped up hogwash going around about it
and I had many inquiries from subscribers.
Comet Garradd will not be very bright and most likely not
seen with the unaided eye but it is unique since it stays pretty much around a
7th magnitude and seen by telescopes from the Fall Feasts of 2011 to
the Spring Feasts of 2012. I doubt that
it will have an outburst and become much brighter than predicted, but one never
knows for sure.
Chart 575 shows the path of Comet Garradd from
October 1, 2011 through April 3, 2012.
It will reach its closest approach to the earth on March 5/6, 2012 at a
distance of about 118 million miles. It
will be in the head of Ursa Minor at that time.
CLOSE CALL
An Asteroid the size of an
aircraft carrier missed Earth by 200,000 miles (3 hours if it crossed our
orbital path) on November 8, 2011. It is
large enough to vaporize a small to medium sized city. It was a close call for
an asteroid. See the following link.
http://www.space.com/13549-huge-asteroid-2005yu55-close-earth-flyby.html
