NEW MOON REPORT
Nehemia Gordon from Jerusalem, Israel compiled the
following New Moon Report for the month of May 2012 and the beginning of the
Third Month on the Biblical Calendar.
“On
Tuesday May 22, 2012 the new moon was sighted from Israel. The moon was first
sighted: from Jerusalem by Nehemia Gordon at 7:54pm followed by Yoel Halevi,
David Cachicas, Rick Busenbark, Aryeh Levi, Don Henderson, and Lilliana
Herrera; from Kiryat Yam by David Varela and Emily Varela at 8:00pm; from
Poriya Illit by Devora Boer at 8:05 pm.
My
photos of the new moon seen from Jerusalem are posted at the link below. You can see these photos even if you are not
part of Facebook.”
http://www.facebook.com/NehemiaGordon
The next New Moon is expected to be visible from
Jerusalem, Israel near sunset on June 21, 2012 when the moon will be 4.10%
illuminated and 13.090 above the horizon at five minutes past
sunset.
PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
There
will be a partial lunar eclipse that will be visible from most of the Americas
in the early morning hours of Monday June 4, 2012. The dark shadow of the earth will cover about
one-third of the moon at its peak.
The
eclipse will not be visible from Israel, but will be visible from eastern Asia,
Australia, and most of the Pacific Ocean.
The moon will start going into the penumbral (dark
shadow) stage of the eclipse at 3:00 a.m. PDT.
It will reach its peak at 4:03 a.m. PDT and the penumbral stage of the
eclipse will end at 5:06 a.m. Those
living in the western United States will get a better and longer overall view
of the eclipse than those living in the eastern United States.
Chart 587 shows the position of the moon in the constellation Scorpio
during the peak of the eclipse as seen from Portland, Oregon. Perhaps the sky will be miraculously clear on
that morning so I will be able to view it.
I did not get a view of the partial solar eclipse on May 20, when the sun was 85% eclipsed by
the earth as seen from the Portland, Oregon area or should I say as not seen
because of cloud cover. There were
scattered areas around and through Portland where it could be seen through
thinner layers of clouds.
Chart 587 – The moon at the peak of the
partial eclipse as seen from Portland, OR at 4:10 a.m. on June 4, 2012.
The Sign and constellation Scorpio represents
the Redeemer’s conflict or, the conflict or war between the woman
and the woman’s seed, against the serpent and the serpent’s seed. The ancient name for this constellation is Akrab,
which means the conflict or war. For further information, see the June
2006 issue of Biblical Astronomy where Scorpio is the feature
constellation on the last two pages of the newsletter.
The moon as seen in Chart 587 is in the same area as it was when Messiah was crucified on April 28, 28 a.d.
The photo below is a picture of the annular eclipse
on May 20, as seen from Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is a compilation of photos taken at
different stages of the eclipse. The
photographer who compiled the photo is Tyler Tate. I think that Tyler is quite the genius. I have never seen such a great compilation
of photos around the larger photo taken at the peak of an annular eclipse.
VENUS TRANSITS THE SUN
On June 5/6, 2012 the planet Nogah (Venus) will
transit (pass in front of) the sun as seen from Earth. This is a rare event and occurs when inferior
conjunction of Venus is within a few days of June 7 (descending mode) or
December 8 (ascending mode). Venus
transits take place in pairs of 8 years apart.
Such pairs alternately occur at intervals of 105.5 and 121.5 years. The last pair took place in 1874 and
1882. The current pair took and takes
place on June 8, 2004 and June 5/6, 2012 (with a duration
of 6 hours in each case). The next pair
after that is a December pair and they will occur in the years 2117 and 2125.
This was not an event that was known in ancient
times since it has only been recorded in recent history. One would have to look at the sun with the
naked eye for many seconds to see such an event without the aid of instruments
(this is highly NOT recommended, since a few seconds of staring at the
sun without protection can cause permanent, irreversible, eye damage). And one would have to know when such an event
was to occur. This event was not known
of until about three or four centuries ago through calculations, and special
instruments were made to view it.
The diagram below shows the position of Venus in
front of the sun near the peak of the transit on June 5/6, 2012 as seen from
Portland, Oregon.
As seen from Portland, Oregon the transit will be
visible from the beginning of the transit at 3:10 p.m. to sunset. The peak of the transit as seen from Portland
will occur around 6:30 p.m. The transit
will be visible throughout the
United States though it will not be entirely seen before sunset from the
eastern U.S. Check your local news
sources for times the transit will be visible in your area. The transit will be visible from Jerusalem in
the morning sky and will be well in progress at sunrise. Again, DO NOT look
directly into the sun with your naked eyes, or without the correct
instrumentation or filters.
After Nogah transits the sun, it will be on
the morning side of the sun again. It
should appear in the morning dawn before sunrise above the east-northeast
horizon around mid-June, depending on your latitude.
The chart
below shows the position of the sun and Nogah in the constellation Shur
(Taurus) at the time of the transit.
The main theme for the sign Shur is Messiah, the coming Judge
of all the earth, coming to judge and destroy his enemies and to set up his
kingdom upon the earth.
As you can see on the chart, the sun and Venus are
just in front of the forehead of the reem and between its two horns. The reem is rushing forward in its
wrath. Both Venus and the sun are in the
large dot just to the left of the label for Venus.
As a tribal symbol, Shur represents the tribe
of Joseph with the two horns representing Manasseh and Ephraim (Deut.
33:17). Here, the sun (the Bridegroom
going forth) and Nogah (the bright and morning star) are in the
midst of these two horns, or, concerning the Two Houses, in the House of Ephraim
at the time of the transit.
One interesting note is that the position of the sun
in this area of Taurus during this event may also stir up sun-god
worshippers. It was in 3500 BC that the
sun was in this area during the Vernal Equinox and the sign of the bull with
the sun between its horns carried over to the ancient Egyptian sun god
Hathor. See the March/April 2004 issue
of Biblical Astronomy for further information on this.
Charts 589 and 590 show the times for the different
stages of the transit as well as what areas on Earth the transit will be
visible from.
Chart 589 – Times in Universal Time for
the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. Subtract 4 hours for EDT, 5 hours for CDT, 6
hours for MDT and 7 hours for PDT. UT is
not in daylight savings time. 22:10 is
the same as 10:10 p.m., 1:30 is 1:30 a.m., etc. Venus will take about 6 hours 30 minutes to
cross the northern side of the Sun. The line is plotted as seen from Earth's
center. Universal Times (also geocentric) are given for the event's four
contacts: I and II as Venus moves onto the Sun (called ingress), III and
IV as it leaves (egress) and for Venus's deepest encroachment onto the
solar disk.
Chart 590 - Areas where the transit will be visible from. For most of North America, the transit of
Venus will begin on the afternoon of June 5th and still be in progress at
sunset. Those in western Pacific, eastern Asia, and eastern Australia see the
whole show from beginning to end on June 6th (local date).
If you wish to view this event, you can check out
hobby or science and Astronomy novelty stores in your area to see if you can
get some filtered viewing glasses that are made specifically for viewing solar
events.
ODDS AND ENDS
The following are some unique celestial events that may be worth taking a look at.
Crescent Moon and Jupiter – On June 17, there will be a bright crescent moon just beneath the planet Jupiter in the early morning sky. The simulation below shows that event at 30 minutes before sunrise.
Summer Solstice – The sun will reach the summer solstice coordinate at 7:09 p.m. EST on June 20, 2012 ushering in the first day of summer.
Neat line-up of Aldebaran, Venus, Jupiter and the Pleiades from late June to mid July.
The chart from the Sky & Telescope Weekly News
Bulletin above shows a neat line-up of the star Aldebaran in the
constellation Taurus, Venus, Jupiter and the Pleiades, which are
also all in the constellation Taurus.
These will be lined up in Taurus from late June through mid
July. I will be covering more on this
line-up in the July 2012 issue of Biblical Astronomy.
At the very least it will be a great sight to see in the early morning sky each morning from one hour to thirty minutes before sunrise. A bright crescent moon joins the group in mid July when the crescent moon, Jupiter, Aldebaran and Venus form a tight, spectacular quadrangle. And as seen from Europe in the early morning before sunrise on July 15, the moon will occult Jupiter. It will be visible from Israel after sunrise with the aid of optical instruments.
Through all the alignments and massings of these celestial bodies from late June to mid July, Venus will be shinning at its brightest at a magnitude of –4.7.
JUNE BOOTID
METEOR SHOWER
The annual Bootid Meteor Shower will peak this year in the early morning hours before sunrise on June 27.
Below is a simulation of the event from Astronomy.com showing the radius in or very close to the astronomical line-drawing of constellation Bootes. It is within the constellation borderlines.
Chart 588 shows the radiant just above the sickle in “the reaper’s” left hand.
Chart 588 – The radiant of the June
Bootids Meteor Shower, above the sickle in the “reaper’s” left hand.
The following is an article from Astronomy.com concerning this year’s Bootid Meteor Shower.
Catch the
slow-moving meteors of Bootes
“The typically minor June Bootid meteor shower occasionally has delusions of grandeur. After decades of inactivity, the shower returned in force in 1998, when observers witnessed up to 100 meteors per hour. Rates about half that high appeared in 2004. Although astronomers aren’t predicting an outburst this year, veteran viewers will keep their eyes to the sky for a few days around the Bootids’ June 27 peak.
Observing conditions should be excellent. The First Quarter Moon sets shortly after midnight, leaving the prime hours before dawn Moon-free. The meteors appear to emanate from a point, called the ‘radiant,’ in the northern part of Bootes the Herdsman. These cosmic vagabonds stand out because they move so slowly, entering Earth’s atmosphere at ‘only’ 11 miles per second.”
The name Boötes means
He Cometh, and represents Messiah Y’shua
(Christ Jesus) and is the portrayal of Revelation
14:14-16 – “And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sat
like unto the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a
sharp sickle. And another angel came out
of the Temple, crying with a loud voice to Him That
sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for
Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’ And He That sat on
the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”
So here we have sparks (meteors) flying from the
sickle. Perhaps it is getting sharpened
for the Great Harvest. See the February
2006 issue of Biblical Astronomy for more info on Boötes.
TIME FOR SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS
This
is the last issue of Biblical Astronomy for the July 2011 to June 2012
subscription year. The new subscription
year will start on July 1, 2012 and end on June 30, 2013. Gosh!!! Where did all the time go? The next issue will start the 17th
year of Biblical Astronomy. When
I started this, I did not expect that we would get past the autumn of 2003, or
shortly into the 8th year of Biblical Astronomy, which
started in July 1996.
At
any rate, if you wish to subscribe to the upcoming subscription year (July 2012
to June 2013) please do so from the Biblical Astronomy Website at www.biblicalastronomy.com You can either pay through PayPal or send a
check or money order for $12.00 for the online subscription to:
Biblical Astronomy
P.O. Box 2272
Oregon City, OR 97045
If
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Postal subscribers can view the online newsletters at no extra cost.
Please send me your e-mail address so I can send you your password if you wish
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If
you subscribed to the July 2011 to June 2012 subscription year on or after
March 1, 2012, then you need not re-subscribe.
I will be sending you your new password on or about July 1. Your subscription will be extended to June
2013. I moved the cut-off date from May
1, to March 1, this year.
I
need to do the subscriptions this way in order to keep the cost of the
newsletter down. It would cost too much
to go to an automated system and it would also cause complications in the way things
are done. I would have to change the
cost of the newsletter to $24.00 per year to cover the extra expenses. The subscription base is not large enough to
support such a system. There are a
little over 200 subscribers from all over the United States and the world.
The
$12.00 that online subscribers paid this past year gave them access to all the
newsletters from July 2012 to June 2013 no matter when in the year they
subscribed before March 1. If you
subscribed on or after March 1, then your subscription will be extended to the
end of the next subscription year. If
you subscribed before March 1, then you will need to re-subscribe in July. If I use an automated system, the
subscription cost would be $24.00 per year.
So even if you pay a little extra in the beginning, you will only be
charged $12.00 per year for a full year from there on out. I hope this explains
it to your understanding.
YAHWEH bless
you richly in His grace and love.