Astronomy and Astrology and Changing Zodiac Signs

Referencing all this astrology stuff, I feel like Luke Wilson in the movie 'Idiocracy'...C'mon people this isn't new stuff! Some poor guy somewhere was trying to explain axial precession and the difference between astronomy and astrology and the 'students'-whoever they were-obviously there was a reporter in the bunch- misunderstood and somehow this makes the news as something 'new'. OK, I've been suckered in and I'll try to explain this in a less scientific way.

I was horrified by what I saw on NBC news last night, the anchor said 'precision' instead of 'precession', and referred to Ophiuchus as an 'unpronounceable constellation'. Off-e-YOU-kuss, if anyone is interested. Why he did not Google it and learn how to pronounce it is beyond me. I usually watch ABC, but for whatever reason NBC was playing on the tube. I know that today some media outlets are also trying to clarify this 'news', but I thought I would also give it a shot. We are the first group of humans who have lost touch with the reality of the night sky. We struggle to learn and see and understand, whereas just over a hundred years ago, everyone knew the constellations. Runaway slaves navigated by them, as did sailors. We have lost this in modern times and it is sadly no longer part of our culture. Most places are so light polluted that you can't even see the stars at night, but I digress.

Astrology is based on the idea that the Earth is at the center of the solar system and that planets and the sun and the moon revolve around the Earth, and have a influence on life here. Astrology uses the positions of the the solar system objects relative to a fixed Earth to try to explain Earthly events and predict the future. Most astrologers today use a system based on the ideas of Ptolemy, the Egyptian astrologer, astronomer and mathematician who lived almost two thousand years ago in the first century AD. In those days, the science of astronomy and the art of astrology were mixed practices. Today astronomers go to great lengths to separate themselves from astrologers.

Astronomy recognizes that the sun is the center of the solar system. People become confused because the two use most of the same constellations. Think of constellations as road maps for the sky. The plane of the solar system is the ecliptic and it is across that ring-like path that we can see the other planets, as well as the Sun and Moon, seemingly move across our sky. This is why people used to think the solar system was Earth-centered. Think of the constellations that fall on the ecliptic 'ring in the sky' as cities marking an interstate map. We call the group of them the zodiac constellations. Astrology recognizes only twelve for simplicity, but like the boundaries of cities, scientists have also changed the boundaries of constellations over the past several thousand years. Everything changes in our universe because everything is moving...The Earth is moving, the Sun is moving, the solar system itself is moving..The Earth is tilted and has a slight wobble. Over thousands of years that wobble causes us to see and view the stars differently. Today, in our time, Polaris is the north star or more properly, the pole star, but due to the Earth's tilt and wobble the imaginary pole line has not always pointed to that star. Around 3500 BC, the star Thuban or Alpha Draconis was the pole star. Around 400 BC, the pole star was Kochab in Ursa Minor. You know this star as the second brightest star in the Little Dipper. It is in the ladle of the dipper whereas Polaris, our current pole star, is the end of the handle of the dipper.

Imagine that the Earth is wearing a hula hoop in a fixed, almost level location near the equator. Over time the Earth wobbles and tilts, the hula hoop also tilts and 'moves'. If you were on the Earth, you would see the hoop change positions if you lived long enough. The ecliptic is an imaginary line representing the average plane of the solar system, but if you could look up and see it as a giant roadway or hula hoop, you would see that thousands of years ago it ran farther north than it does today. It moves. It takes almost 26000 years for the Earth to make one full circle in its wobble, and that is called axial precession or precession of the equinoxes. It is pronounced like 'pre-session', not pro-session or pre-cision.

Ophiuchus is and always has been a constellation in the sky on the ecliptic above Scorpius (and there's another difference, Scorpius v. Scorpio). At this moment in time, the constellation of Ophiuchus doesn't really lie on the ecliptic-neither does Aries, but they have in the past and while Western astrologers don't count Ophiuchus as a zodiac sign, astronomers do because it is what is known as a sidereal zodiac constellation. There are several other small constellations that also might touch the ecliptic at a given point in time. Western astrology just generalizes and keeps the zodiac at 12 tropical constellations by convention. Ophiuchus was once called Serpentarius. If you remember Greek mythology, you will recall that Hercules fought a great serpent, and in the sky, Ophiuchus the serpent bearer is next to the constellation of Hercules. To our eyes, the brightest stars are in the shape of a large coffin, so some people call Ophiuchus the Coffin.

Again, modern Western astrology is based on a fixed system-an Earth that doesn't move-that , whereas things move around it. the changes they recognize are those dealing with the seasons, how an area of Earth is oriented to the sun.

Astronomy understands that everything moves and that things change over time. Precession is slow, but we can actually see the movement as it is almost one degree for every 70 years. (360 degrees in a circle-remember the imaginary line at the pole wobbling makes a big circle in the sky-70 times 360 equals 25200 years. It's close. )

Now, has your sun sign changed??

Yes in astronomical terms and no in astrological terms.

First, understand what your sun sign is in astrology...it is the constellation on the horizon at the point where the sun rises on the day you were born. As the seasons change, the constellations change. Above, I used the analogy that a constellation was like a city with its borders changing. In 1930 the International Astronomical Union set a uniform standard for the borders of constellations. Not all constellations are the same size and the sun would spend less time rising in Aries(small constellation) than it would in Aquarius(large constellation) The IAU just defined the borders of the constellations as they were and took no consideration of astrologers needs for something uniform and regular.

Astrologers fixed the dates that demark a sun sign, but in reality, because of precession and because everything is moving, sidereal astronomers know that the Sun, for example, actually rises in Taurus from about May 16-June 5, not from the fixed April 20th to May 21st. About every seventy and a half years, it changes by a day. The May 16 start date is based on IAU calculations for the year 2002.

Ptolemy died in the year 168 AD.

2002 AD minus 168 AD equals 1834 years.

1834 years divided by 70.5 years equals 26 days.

April 20(the fixed astrological date) + 26 days = May 16 (the approximate actual date that the sun begins to rise in Taurus)

In our lifetimes, this hasn't changed appreciably. My birthday is May 13th so sidereally, actually, on the day I was born, the sun rose in the constellation of Aries, not Taurus, but astrologically speaking, I am a stubborn, earthy Taurean. Anyone who knows me knows that to be truer than you could believe. However, the fact that I am writing this note is an act very characteristic of an Arian.

In sidereal astronomy, the sun also rises in the constellation of Ophiuchus between November 29 and December 17. In modern Western astrology, this overlaps the sun signs of Scorpius and Sagittarius, and therefore is not used in order to simplify things.

One system, astrology, is fixed. The other, astronomy, changes.

If you believe in astrology, then your sun sign has not changed. If you were a Taurus, you are still a Taurus.

Rio Grande, the Flow and the Flub-ups

Saturday, for the first time, I rode a gaited horse. Rio is, as we say in the South, a Big Ol' Boy. He's over 17 hands, but very gentle with a sweet disposition. Technically, he's a Spotted Saddle Horse out of a Tennessee Walker mare. Rio was very patient with me and overlooked my reining and balance errors. My friend's sister took this picture of us, I've just never very photogenic, sorry, but at least you can see how honkin' huge Rio is compared to his sister Cheyenne that Ava is riding. We rode around her property for only about 30-45 minutes, but it was still fun to learn about his gate and feel the difference between a pace, a trot and a smooth racking gait. I can't say that I did well at getting the horse to stay in the rack. My balance was off and riding with split reins was new as well since I usually hold the reins together. I hope I get another chance one day as that feeling of floating on a horse could be addictive. He was just so smooth. I know a lot of folks take issue with gaited horses, but for me, with my arthritis, I think it would be the perfect solution-not that I've been jarred much on other horses, but if I had my own horse and rode all the time, a gaited horse would definitely be easier on the old bones.
I was thinking on the way home that I have, in my entire life, been on a horse probably less than 50 times. It may have only been 35 times; I dunno. I feel comfortable on horses-I'm not scared at all, but until I met Ava, I'd never had any real instruction about exactly how to ride. Well, that's not exactly true. I used to have a friend who rode English and I did ride with her a few times-under her guidance, but that was 30 years ago now, and English is so different than Western riding. Now, I'm learning about different horses and such, and I just wish I had more time and opportunities to ride. I'm telling you though, I was more sore on Sunday and even a bit sore on Monday, than I was the last time we rode, and last time we were gone for hours! I wasn't that saddle sore, but Rio's width really gave my groin muscles (adductora) a workout. Just sitting up there is a good stretching exercise! ;) Again, my stirrups were not the right length. Look at the posture of Ava's foot compared with mine. Her heels are down, my toes are down. Bad bad bad. Once we lowered the stirrups, things were better, but still it was difficult for me to get in the correct posture while riding. This is just challenging and frustrating at the same time. I want to ride correctly. I want to do what the horse is used to doing. I wish I was 12 again, so I could spend my whole day with horses. There have been so many missed opportunities.

For those of you who are horse people, I'd appreciate some pointers and especially tips about my feet. I'm off balance because my feet are all wrong and this confuses the horse. (I think!) I used the arm-length guide to adjust the stirrup length, but I still have to let it out more. Perhaps riding with no stirrups will help me overcome the problem?

Late Summer Garden Report

I'm still pulling in 5-10 pounds of tomatoes every other day, but blight or magnesium deficiency is taking a toll here. The tomatoes probably have a few more weeks of life. I've got enough tomatoes, juice, and sauce canned, but I think I still need more pizza sauce. I'm thinking of perhaps trying to make some soup as well.

I'm still picking about 2 quarts of green beans a day, freezing most of it now. The Kentucky Wonder pole beans and the Blue Lake bush beans are going crazy, and I expect to still be in beans a month from now. The red field peas that I planted turned out to be half runner types, and the 10x10 area is now about 20x20 and the runners are taking over like kudzu. They've covered my bush cherries, and are threatening the pole beans. I've picked dry pods as I see them, but 98% of the crop is still on the vine. Interestingly, at least to me, the peas look more like what I would call white acre peas than the red field peas I planted. They are small and white. Odd thing.

Round one of sweetcorn was a disaster, so we replanted a short season sweetcorn in mid-summer. We are about a week from eating corn again, but I don't want to count my ears before they are picked. On this farm, anything can happen to corn, and usually does. The Bloody Butcher corn lodged from a downburst in a thunderstorm, but much of it is still alive, even if it is laying over. I decided to leave it alone as when I tried to stand the stalks upright, they broke. I have no clue as to how this will affect pollination. It was planted June 12, so it has a few more weeks as well. My goal for the BB is to get a few ears for seed, one or two ears to roast, and enough to grind for 1 cup of corn meal. It seems like a lot to ask out of what I have in the garden. Can anyone tell me how much corn-how many ears or pounds, does it take to make a cup of corn meal?

I'm nursing along a watermelon(GA Rattlesnake), but it just isn't growing the way I'd like. It is more round than oblong. Another odd thing. I've got squash everywhere, quite a few butternuts still out there(I already harvested 30# or so) as well as acorn squashes. The squash vines are growing on the deer netting, and it looks funny to see acorn squash hanging 8 feet in the air. A few of the hanging squashes have holes bored into them, as if some kind of wasp or squash borer drilled hole in the fruit. I took a few pictures for the blog. The summer squashes are done and gone. Peppers are still producing, and I've canned or dried as much as possible: Anaheims, serranos, banana peppers, poblano(ancho), etc. I've also made homemade salsa, of course. The okra is just starting to really come in strong. I've pickled a few jars of it, and will pickle more. I have taken a liking to pickled okra. Yum! I have sweet potato vines everywhere and expect to get 30-50 pounds of sweet potatoes next month. I never did harvest my Yukon Golds, but yesterday I went out with that intention and found a bunch of new potatoes, beautiful little yellow golf ball sized things. I decided to leave them as seed.

I had to reorganize the shelves and such to make room for everything I've canned so far. I made grape jelly and elderberry jam, elderberry elixir, horehound cough syrup, blackberry jam, fig preserves, and blueberry jam. We harvested over 50 pounds of apples a bit early to keep the deer from getting them, and I've made applesauce and apple chips. I have discovered that if you dehydrate the peelings and mix them with blackberry leaves, blueberry leaves and dried huckleberries and blueberries, it makes a great tea, so I have made a few jars of that to give as gifts. I froze about 5 gallons of blueberries, and gave that many away. We did not have any peaches, pears, cherries, or plums this year, but I still have peaches in the freezer from last year, which was a banner year.

I've planted lettuce for the Fall, but a rabbit mowed it down in one day, so I will have to replant. All the neighbors have noted that the rabbit population is exploding, so it makes me wonder if folks have killed too many snakes or too many coyotes. I have no idea of how a rabbit got inside my garden fence unless the gate was left open just long enough for him to get in, eat my lettuce and my only honeydew melon, and get out. I've also got a few broccoli plants in the ground, some Osaka Purple mustard, several brussel sprouts in the ground, a small patch of kale(I've never tried it so this is a grand experiment in taste) a couple of 15 ft rows of collards, a few cabbage plants, a 32 ft row of intensively planted snowpeas and English peas(both sides of the panel are planted, 16 ft of English peas and 16 ft of snow peas. I have both turnips and turnip greens, and have yet to plant spinach. I also need to decide where I will plant my garlic next year. I need to get busy with all that. I have also replanted carrots, radishes, and beets in my carrot bed. The carrots I planted in the ground did not germinate, but the board trick worked well in the raised bed and the carrot greens are about 5 inches tall.

The herb garden has been very productive this year, too. I've made several batches of pesto and froze that, too. I've harvested enough kitchen herbs like thyme and oregano to fill several quart jars, and I still have herbs drying in the kitchen. You might be a redneck if you hang your herbs to dry on your antler chandelier in the kitchen. :) Of course, I also use window screens and my truck as a drying oven, as well as two dehydrators, which are running right now(more apple chips today, onions tomorrow) Seriously, I've harvested and dried oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage, tarragon, savory, fennel, dill, lemon balm, chocolate mint, peppermint, 3 kinds of basil, nasturtiums, chives, violets, dandelion flowers, passionflowers, and horehound. I dried all but maybe 15 bulbs of garlic, of which I'm using fresh in canning and cooking. The echinacea did well, so I will be able to harvest that in a few years, too. This year, I planted beans in the herb bed to fill the gaps. Next year, we've decided that the herb bed will support chili peppers quite nicely.

The big plan for this Fall is to plant and grow more asparagus. We have decided to plant a 3x50 ft wide row of asparagus crowns as the little patch I have is 10 years old and just isn't enough now that Skyguy has decided he likes asparagus, too. If will take a lot of ground prep and double digging, as well as mulch to make this happen. Earlier this year, I planted a 8x15 area with Jerusalem artichokes-a gift from Rob(thanks again!)-and they are 9 feet tall and beautiful right now. The blooms are awesome. I'm not sure what the protocol is on digging the chokes, but I figure I will give them a few years, like I would asparagus, before I try to dig anything. I'm super psyched about that.

This year's garden has been the largest garden I've ever planted. I've tried to keep something going all the time. I will continue to do that, but I'm afraid that this might be my last big garden for a while. There is no way that I could have this size garden working full time. It saddens me. It is like giving up a part of myself. I guess I've been spoiled after a year at home. We all have to sacrifice I suppose. This is probably my last extensive garden update before I start working full time. :(

The Perseid Meteor Shower Explained

Tonight is the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, one of the most popular meteor showers of the year. Folks lay out in the dark and count the meteors as they enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up. Some are green, some are yellow, some are orange. Some meteors could be called fireballs-fireballs can make a whistling noise, make a sonic boom, or may even leave a smoke trail. It's hard to believe, but the Perseid meteors are pieces of a comet called Swift-Tuttle.

Picture, if you will, a model of the solar system in your head. Swift-Tuttle is a 6 mile wide comet(about the size of the one that supposedly killed the dinosaurs) named for the two astronomers, Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, who discovered it back in 1862, during the Civil War. The comet had actually been observed for a couple of thousand years, but it wasn't until 1862 when it's elliptical orbit was calculated and they discovered it's period to be 120 years or so. They predicted the return of the comet for sometime around 1982. Comets get subjected to all kinds of forces and therefore it is hard to predict when they will return. The conventional theory that comets are dirty snowballs is under debate-I personally don't subscribe to the dirty snowball theory, but for the sake of this blog, I will stick to convention. Anyway, as the snowball comet approaches the sun, it begins to outgas and sling particles off it's surface, leaving a tail, a trail, that is often seen by observers. Once the gasses have dissipated, blown away by the solar wind, the small rocky particles still remain, floating along a debris trail in space. Some particles are large, some are almost microscopic. Each time the comet makes a pass, it adds a few more lines of debris, like a dog tracking mud into the house for the third time. Every year, the Earth, as it orbits the sun, passes though the dirt trail left by Comet Swift Tuttle, and as those pieces of dirt hit our atmosphere, we call them meteors. From Earth, it you look to space to determine exactly where the meteor stream originates, you will see that if you trace them back, they will all form a line back to a general spot in the sky, in this case, the constellation of Perseus. All meteor showers have a radiant constellation. The Geminids, in December, can be seen by looking in the direction of the constellation of Gemini. The Taurids originate from the constellation of Taurus. Each meteor shower is named for the radiant constellation, not, ironically, for the comet that created the debris trail. Some years, Earth travels through a part of the debris trail that is thick, and some years it travels though an area where there is not much debris, areas we have swept clean on prior years. If we are lucky, the comet has passed through laying down a new debris trail for the planet to pass through, creating a show that will become an active meteor shower.

As I mentioned before, the comet was due to return around 1982, but it did not show up until 10 years later in 1992. The reason for the delay could have been because it was affected by the gravity of other planets or moon, something in the Kuiper Belt, or a change in mass causing a loss of velocity from the outgassing and particle loss. There are a lot of variables that affect comet prediction. An astronomer named Brian Marsden solved the mystery in 1973. He correctly proposed that the outgassing would elongate the comets orbit creating a 130 year period. He correctly predicted the return of Swift Tuttle in 1992. Marsden made predictions based on the new orbit and velocities of Swift Tuttle, and August 14, 2126. But if the actual date of perihelion (when the comet makes its closest approach to the sun) was off by 15 days from his prediction (as the 1992 perihelion had been off by 17 days), the comet and the Earth might be in the same place in space at the same time. Since Comet Swift-Tuttle is thought to be about 10 kilometers or six miles across, the same size of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, it must be taken seriously and watched closely for any additional changing variables.

Marsden continued to refine his work, and he traced the comet's path back 2000 years matching observations in 188 AD and 69 BC. Marsden concluded that it is highly unlikely the comet will be 15 days off in 2126, and he called off his warning of a possible collision. His new calculations show Comet Swift-Tuttle will pass a comfortable 15 million miles from Earth on its next trip to the inner solar system. The thing is, there is no way to really know what will happen with so many variables in play.

Worry not about Swift Tuttle colliding with Earth, just grab a bottle of wine, some blankets, some fruit, cheese, chocolate, and most importantly, those you love, and head off to a dark place. Lie on your back and watch Nature's Fireworks. Have fun! I'm socked in the clouds here. Bummer, but at least we have seen more than a few Perseids during the last few weeks. I'll take what I can get, I suppose. I'll be watching for them over the coming weeks. Just becuase you miss the peak doesn't mean the excitement is over. I have seen a lot of really cool fireballs after peak time.

Vacation Planning in Progress

It feels like Spring here at EarthNSky. Today, it was 80 degrees. High temperatures should be back in the 50's by the end of the week, but it was sure nice today. The peaches, plums,and pears are blooming, but there is no sign of flowering with the dogwoods or redbuds. Looking into the woods, I don't see any hint of green, no buds yet. The trees know that Winter still has a bit of trickery left in her.
Skyguy and I rode our bikes for the first time in 2009 over the weekend. I am so out of shape that I could only ride 2.7 miles. Realize that this is hilly terrain. We'll work up to riding more as the weeks go by. We hope to be able to take 40 mile excursions by the fall. We plan to take the bikes to the coast when we go on vacation in May. We haven't had a real vacation in years, so we plan to go down to the South Carolina Lowcountry for a week and visit both Savannah and Charleston. Bike riding down there where it is flat should be easy. We'll camp at a KOA and just ride the bikes and explore the area. We've both wanted to go to Patriot's Point for a while now, and I found out that you can take a tour of the Hunley, the Civil War submarine that is being carefully studied and preserved in a special lab on the old Navy base. I was born on the Charleston Navy Base. Since our son is a submariner, and we both come from Navy families, these historical things interest us. I also want to explore the natural world, and I am hoping to be able to take a short backwater cruise into the marshes-maybe see a dolphin or two. We need to get away. I've made reservations, but if Mr. Bully Collector continues to be a pain, we may have to cancel. I'm pretty frugal when it comes to traveling. In 2001 I drove with the kids across the country for over a month and explored the National Parks along the way. Food, gas, and lodging cost right at $2000. My budget for this vacation is far less. Luckily, the things that interest us, like Forts and museums, are generally inexpensive or free. I enjoy fishing, hiking, canoeing and biking, all of which we have the equipment for and costs nothing. Luckily, we don't do the golf, spa, and shopping vacation. That's just not me. I suppose we will spend most of the budget on food. I want good, fresh seafood. We will eat brunch at the campground, but for dinner, I want shrimp and scallops and crab! I do want to spend some time at one of the old rice plantations near Charleston. I feel drawn to it for some reason. Yeah, I've wanted to grow rice for some time now, but it is more than that. I sometimes think I lived on one of these plantations in a former life. I do believe in reincarnation. It explains so many of life's mysteries. Perhaps I will blog about that in a separate post. I hope to learn more about life before modern conveniences like electricity and indoor plumbing and tractors.

The Backwards Aquarist

Both DH and I grew up with aquariums. I had the typical community tank for most of my childhood years. DH had both a community tank setup and

then later a saltwater setup. When we married, having aquaria was a no brainer, and we decided to keep aggressive fish. We've had aquariums of both African and South American cichlids, as well as community AKA peaceful aquariums over the years, but now we are about to venture into uncharted territory: we are going back to basics. We now have feeder goldfish, which are essentially someone else's cull fish. I've bought goldfish/comets for the outdoor ponds and barrels and they have been very hardy, but I've never had goldfish indoors, not even in a classical kiddie fishbowl.

I was going to take the cichlid tank down in order to save on electricity, but my JRose gets so much enjoyment from watching fish. The problem was that the cichlids hid in the rocks and weren't very showy to hold the attention of a toddler. So, I re-homed the fish and removed the heater for our 55 gallon tank. Goldfish like cool water. I moved the rocks around making the change from a natural Lake Malawi style cichlid tank to a kid friendly, fun to watch, colorful goldfish tank. Feeder goldfish are cheap, so I bought 30 small ones as well as a couple of Cory cats(corydoras catfish), one albino and one bronze. I want JRose to be mesmerized by Grandma's fish. As she grows and understands more, the tank will evolve. I can't wait to see her face when she watches angelfish, kuhli loaches, or a black ghost knife, or when she is old enough, watch an oscar eat a guppy. It is all part of the magic. One day, we will give her her own tank.

Keeping fish teaches kids the importance of maintaining a non-polluted ecosystem. They learn about biology, water chemistry, evolution, and even botany if they are allowed to grow real plants instead of decorating with the plastic variety. They can set up a creek tank or a cichlid tank, explore a range of habitats, and of course learn how to raise the fry, or in the case of the mouthbrooding cichlids, set up a friendly breeding environment. It teaches the interconnectivity of life.