Halloween, the BOO! (Blue) Moon, the Sun & those Bright Dots in the Sky . . . Halloween is one of four “cross-quarter days” of the year: approximately mid-way between an equinox and a solstice. (Imagine the solstices as 12 and 6 — December and June — on a clock face. Then the equinoxes are • Read More »
Here’s to a great transition for you at this end + beginning of old / new trips around the sun … “party fact” of note: TODAY, January 2, 2024 (as I write this), we’re actually at our CLOSEST to the sun for the whole year . . . in fact, more than 3 million! miles closer than • Read More »
What’s going on in the night sky? This week (Wed.,12/7 in U.S. time zones) the full moon “backslid” across bright Mars, so an “occultation” was visible in much of the country (where the sky was clear enough). As the earth rotates west-to-east on its axis, the sky appears to turn east-to-west — but the moon’s • Read More »
something’s happening today that is likely unprecedented in our lives: the time of sunset hereabouts, today, is almost exactly the same as the actual moment of solstice!
[ You may have seen my earlier blog-ravings about “cross-quarter days”, and except for a couple of NEW illustrations and analogies in this best-yet XQ rave, the following’s the same old stuff — but stay tuned!, for farther below, the NEXT part: EXCITING SKY HAPPENINGS coming up VERY SOON now! *** ] As we approach May Day (about three months since Ground • Read More »
Ground Hog Day
is my favorite “holiday” of the year.
Astrophysicist Martin Gaskell discusses—at virtually the same time as its publication to the word—what has been called the “greatest astronomical discovery of all time.” The conversation ranges from science to intriguing notes on spirituality. Dr. Gaskell is a professor of astronomy at the University of California Santa Cruz. Dr. Gaskell shares fascinating insights about Black • Read More »
The story goes that, as Noah’s flood was ending, a rainbow appeared in the heavens as a sign from the creator that such an apocalypse would never befall the world again. As many in our region now endure destruction and sorrow, we all hope for relief from the skies, coming as a return to the cool, • Read More »
Normally (since early post-college days still living back east), I’d typically just suddenly notice this right around August 11 (Perseid meteor time!), but as I get older it’s “hitting” me sooner, it seems. These “slanty rays” seem to be somehow related to a long-term biorhythmic thing, where a combination of time-of-day and angle-of-sunlight registers as a rather direct perception of time-of-year. … ( + Only • Read More »
Post #1 — Summer Solstice 2020 We could all use a little “cosmic relief” now and then — especially these days! … So, here‘s some for you. ….. TODAY (Sat.,6/20), at 2:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time — our hero “Mr. Sun” will be directly overhead for some lucky fish (or maybe boat) in the ocean • Read More »