The simple design of the calendar came about because I wanted to explore and better appreciate the astrological and astronomical intersections of observing the universe without overly complicating the details.
Saturday, The Twenty-Second of December
Sun in Capricorn
The first full day of Capricorn aligns with the beginning of the winter season marked and celebrated by the Solstice. The whole winter thing is a decidedly Northern Hemispheric attitude.
Ursids Meteor Shower
While it peaked last night on the Solstice and the official end of Sagittarius, this shower continues for the next few nights. YMMV. Your Meteors May Vary.
Full Moon in Cancer
The extra luminous lamp of this bright winter moon illuminates one of the longest nights of the year.
This is a pretty epic twenty-four hour period.
Tuesday, The Thirty-First of December
Mars enters Aries
On New Year’s Eve the red planet is 116 million miles from Earth, and the recently landed InSight probe is actively performing science experiments. The Winter Solstice on Mars was October 17th, 2018. The whole winter thing is a decidedly Northern Hemispheric attitude.
Thursday, The Third of January
Quadrantids Meteor Shower
The peak coincides with a moon-free night, which increases the potential visibility to enjoy those ephemeral streaks of light. Look after midnight, if you can. YMMV. Your Midnight Meteor Viewing.
Friday, The Fourth of January
Mercury enters Capricorn
So close to the Sun, the speedy orbital path of Mercury is often not far ahead or behind the Sun’s movements in the Zodiac. FYI: the next Retrograde, having just recently finished its reversal on December 6th, begins on March 5th.
Sunday, The Sixth of January
Partial Solar Eclipse
Kisses Asia and the Aleutian Islands under the shadow of the New Moon in Capricorn.
Monday, The Seventh of January
Venus enters Sagittarius
Venus is also quite a bit closer to the Sun, so typically is in the same general neighborhood of the Zodiac from our Earthly gaze, but just a bit more leisurely than Mercury, given its grander orbit. On this day it will be 159 million miles from Earth and your text message will take 14 minutes to arrive. So no, they probably aren’t ignoring you. At least not for the first 28 minutes.
It’s also really, really hot there. In all its hemispheres.
Sunday, The Twentieth of January
Total Lunar Eclipse
The Full Supermoon in Leo will turn “blood” red and be visible everywhere (if you have a decidedly Western Hemispheric Attitude). Totality begins at 9pm PST (but the show starts earlier). This is a real treat and one of the night sky highlights of the year. Truly.
The last total lunar eclipse in 2018 was at, like, 4am, but that was totally worth it, too:
Sun enters Aquarius, marking the end of Capricorn and our season of contemplating the Earthly Goat ruled by Saturn.
