This page has moved to to http://www.ac6zz.com/stars.htm
All updates will be made at that site.

Oh, My STARS!

"The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
Psalm 19:1



THE PLANETS AS A CLOCK

Did you know the planets run like a clock? In passing someone mentioned that the planets went around the Sun like a clock. I put the most accurate numbers I could find in my ATARI 400 (citra 1984) and came up with the following facts that seem to show the inner planets work like a clock. If you except this concept, then it would be congruent thinking to believe the planets and a clock would either be created or evolved. The more accurate our understanding of planets revolution the more accurate I believe this table will become.

THE PLANETS AS A CLOCK
Planet Comparison Planet Plus/Minus
5 Mercury orbits = 3 Venus orbits 10 days
10 Mercury orbits = 4 Venus orbits 19.1 days
4 Mercury orbits = 1 Earth orbit 13.35 days
13 Venus orbits = 8 Earth orbits 1 day
25 Mercury orbits = 6 Venus orbits 7.7 days
15 Earth orbits = 8 Mars orbits 17 days
39 Mercury orbits = 5 Earth orbits 4.1 days




ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR


All times in Pacific local time. Pacific Standard Time (UT=PST-8) in winter and after the time change, reverts to Pacific Daylight Time (UT=PDT-7).

Tycho Brahe, Kepler's teacher never saw Mercury and did not believe in it's existance. This should be a good year to view Mercury but you need to be quick. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, so it is always close to the Sun in the sunrise or sunset hours. Look toward the almost rising or just after it sets at a bright star near the horizon. Mercury travels around the sun in 88-89 earth days, so it moves from morning to evening sky every 44-45 days. Most of the time it is too close to the Sun or below our horizon to view Mercury, but occasionally, it comes high enough in the sky and we get a beautiful peak at one of our most illusive planets.


Jan 01, Happy New Year! 2004
Jan 04, Earth at Perihelion (nearest the Sun) 0.9833 a,u. (147,100,000 km)
Jan 06, Monday, Eastern Orthodox Christmas, 12 days after the Winter Solstice
Jan 06,
Jan 10,
Jan 14. January 1 in Julian Calendar
Jan 17
Jan 23,
Jan 25,
Jan 27,

Feb Sky: About half of the 24 brightest stars in the sky can be seen by looking clockwise around Orion.
Feb 01,
Feb 01,
Feb 02, Ground Hog Day, this is half way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.
Feb 04, My Dad's birthday. Mercury should be near Venus and high enough in the sky to view it briefly this morning.
Feb 09,
Feb 11, The Moon will be three fingers held at arms lenght from Aldebaran
Feb 13, meteor shower you can hear. Pick a weak FM station and see if you can hear it get clear and loud tonight.
Feb 16,
Feb 17,
Feb 19,
Feb 22, Happy New Year! Muslim New Year 1425 A.H.
Never look directly at the sun, it can cause permanent eyesight dam34age in very little time.
Feb 25, Ash Wednesday, first day of Lent
Feb 25 Delta Leonid Meteor Shower (coming from Leo-and Latin suffix.)
Feb 26,

Mar 02,
Mar 05,
Mar 05,
Mar 10,
Mar 11,
Mar 12,
Mar 15, Ides of March: Julius Caesar got holy at Brutus's hand, 44 B.C.
Mar 18,
Mar 19 22:49 pm, Spring Equnox (first day of Spring)
Mar 19, New Moon, lunation 1005
Mar 28,

Apr 01,
Apr 02,
Apr 03,
Apr 04, Clocks Spring Forward one hour
Apr 09,
Apr 11,
Apr 16,
Apr 11, Easter
Apr 19 New Moon, lunation 1006
Apr 21, Lyrid meteor shower peaks
Apr 23 10:00 Moon 1.4 degree from Venus
Apr 23 19:00 Moon 2.2 degrees from Mars
Apr 24, Astronomy Day

May 01, May Day, cross quarter day.
May 04 Full Planing Moon:
May 07,
May 09,
May 10,
May 19 New Moon, lunation 1007
May 16,
May 23,
May 29,
May 31,

Jun 01,
Jun 02 Full Rose Moon
Jun 12,
Jun 13,
Jun 17 New Moon, lunation 1008
Jun 20,
Jun 21,
Jun 21, 23:57 PDT Summer Solstice (Summer begins)
Jun 25, Latest sunset 7:33
Jun 27, good year for minor meteor shower, try a weak station on your FM radio today and tomorrow and see if it gets loud.
Jun 29,

Jul 02, at noon it is the midpoint of the 2004
Jul 02 Full Hay Moon or Thunder Moon
Jul 04, Earth at aphelion, farthest from the Sun. 1.0167 au or 152,100,000. While Kepler was correct, all planets orbits are eliptical. But for life to exis the Earth's orbit is more round than most of our wedding bands.
Jul 07,
Jul 08, .
Jul 10,
Nov 10,
Jul 13,
Jul 21,
Jul 24, Moon near Pleiades in morning sky, Job 9:9, Job 38:31 and Amos 5:8 all mention the Pleiades
Jul 26,
Jul 29
Jul 30
Jul 31, Blue Full Moon

Aug: Uranus usually needs "optical aids" but in dark skies you can view this 6 magnitude planet this month with the naked eye.
Aug 01, Lammas, the only cross-quarter day we don't celebrate in the US. 1/2 way between the Solstice and Equinox
Aug 05, Moon at first quarter
Aug 12
Aug 13, Perseid meteor shower, full moon all night ruins view of shower
Aug 20
Aug 20 Iota Aquarid meteor shower, all meteor showers view better after midnight and before dawn.
Aug 28,
Aug 30, One year ago, Mars at perihelion, 1.3812 au from Sun
Aug 30, Full Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon (bet it was named this somewhere like Iowa)

Sep 01, Alpha Aurigid meteors, appears to be a good year for this minor meteor shower.
Sep 03,
Sep 08,
Sep 10 Full Harvest Moon, as it is the closest full moon to the Equinox.
Sep 18,
Sep 20, Piscid meteors
Sep 21,
Sep 22,
Sep 26,
Sep 16, Happy New Year! Rosh Hashanah, high holy day and first day of Jewish New Year 5765. Remember their day begins at sunset to sunset, so they don't have to stay up until midnight to celebrate.

Oct 02,
Oct 03, Don and Karen 34 years and still going.
Oct 08, Draconid meteor shower
Oct 10, full Hutner Moon
Oct 14, New Moon, beginning lunation 1012,
Oct 18,
Oct 21, Orionid meteor shower
Oct 14
Oct 26, Change your clocks back, Spring forward, Fall back. You get 25 hours today, enjoy an extra hour of sleep
Oct Moon is almost on top of Venus in sunset sky.
Oct 28,
Oct 31, Change clocks: Spring forward, fall backward
Oct 31 Halloween, or "holy eve" the eve before All Saints Day, a cross-quarter day

Nov 01, All Saint's Day Cross quarter day.
Nov 10 Moon-Venus conjunction. Less than 0.25 degrees apart.
Nov 12 New Moon, lunation 1013
Nov 8,
Nov 18, Leonid Meteor shower
Nov 23,
Nov 23,
Nov 30, Alpha Capicornid meteor shower
Nov 30,
Nov 30,

Dec 01,
Dec 01,
Dec 05,
Dec 08, earlest sunset of year at 4:35 @ 40 degrees north latitude.
Dec 12 New Moon, lunation 1014
Dec 14,
Dec 16,
Dec 18,
Dec 23,
Dec 21, 10:40 Winter Solstice
Dec 22, Ursid meteor shower
Dec 25, Christmas,
Dec 26, Full Yule Moon
Dec 30,

Sources:
Astronomical Calendar 2000, Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613
Old Famrer's Almanac, Dublin, NH 03444
Moon Perigee and Apogee calulator




Space Flight or Drive

NASA Manned Space Flight
International Space Station
Vandenberg Launch Sch
SPACEWANDER: Make your reservations for space travel
Drive a Mars Rover

Need a free Telescope? Look no further.

Bradford Robotic Telescope (Check out this excellent use of Internet)


Astronomy Magazines and Sites

ASTRONOMY Magazine!
Sky and Telescope Magazine!
Astronomy Society of the Pacific
Military Time
Ask An Astronomer
Astronomy Picture of the Day

World View


Physical Sites to visit around the planet.

Morrison Planetarium in San Francisco
Puckett Observatory
Abrams Planetarium
Chabot Space and Science Center


Places to buy Space Stuff

SpaceLink
SpaceStore
Space Toys
Orion Space Stuff
Starry Night Software and store


Cool Sites to Learn and Teach Astronomy

Kepler Visualized
Mar's Orbit Visualized
Down to E Astronomy
Hubble
NASA Hubble
NASA 4Teach1
NASA 4Teach2
1000 Yard Model
Everything you ever wanted to know about our Solar System
NASA Welcome to the Planets
..



AC6ZZ

Thoughts on Creation

Back to HOME PAGE