Category: Astronomy

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Astronomy Holidays Radio

I Was On CALL-FM This Morning

So I’m laying in bed this morning (off from work and dealing with a cold) when Kelly-Kel – the morning show host on 91.9-CALL-FM – proceeds to announce to her audience that (based on what a listener had told her) we would not have another Easter Sunday in March for another 192 years – until 2200 !

Of course that is absolutely nonsense, but I was still in bed – with a cold. I eventually managed to get out of bed at around 7:45 AM – a good 2½ hours later than normal for a typical Monday morning. After taking a shower, feeling a little bit better (and certainly refreshed) to begin a brand new day Kelly-Kel proceeded to make the stunning announcement again – no more Easter Sundays in March for another 192 years !

That was the final straw that broke the Easter Bunny’s back !

I called Kelly-Kel over the telephone, and I told her the real facts about Easter Sunday. It will always be the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the 21ST of March. This year the full moon occurred on the 21ST of March (Good Friday), so this Easter Sunday was the 2ND earliest Easter Sunday on record. The earliest calendar date that it can possibly occur on is the 22ND of March, and the latest that it can possibly occur on is the 25TH of April. There will be plenty of Easter Sundays to come in March !  Easter Sunday occurs in March generally every 3 to 5 years. Our next Easter Sunday in March will occur in just 5 years – on March 31ST 2013. One more fact. Easter Sunday will occur on April 24TH 2011 – the 2ND-latest calendar date that it can possibly occur on.

Due to audio difficulties at the time Kelly-Kel couldn’t put our actual recorded telephone conversation on-the-air, but she did reiterate the information for all of her morning show listeners.

THANK YOU Kelly-Kel for clearing all of that up for everyone else !

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Astronomy

Up Above

This morning as I drove eastbound to work shortly before 6 AM I watched a nice little show in the southeastern sky featuring an old fading (waning crescent) Moon, the bright and sparkling Venus, and the brilliant Jupiter all right next to each other forming a nice little triangle.

Venus and Jupiter continue to put on a close show for a few more mornings during the hour before dawn. As the month of February progresses Jupiter eases higher in the morning sky while Venus fades away into the Sun’s early-morning glare. (The Moon shows up as a New Moon shortly after Sunset at the end of this week.)

This is one of my favourite web sites to check out what’s goin’ on in the skies up above from dusk to dawn. It’s updated daily.

Categories
Astronomy

Winter Solstice

The Sun finally reaches its southernmost point in the sky at precisely 1:08 AM EST early tomorrow morning (Saturday December 22ND) when it shines directly over the Tropic Of Capricorn. At that precise moment it will then begin its 6-month journey northward again.

It’s the First Day Of Winter tomorrow all across the Northern Hemisphere – and the First Day Of Summer south of the Equator.

From this past Tuesday December 18TH through next Tuesday December 25TH the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky for the year at its peak altitude above the horizon – 41.1° due south – at around 12:20 EST each day here in Homestead Florida.

We’re down to 10 hours and 33 minutes of daylight (from sunrise to sunset) here in Homestead. That makes it our shortest day / longest night of the year.

Our earliest sunset of the year (5:30 PM) actually occurred back on November 29TH and 30TH. Since then the Sun has been setting just a tiny bit later each day (5:36 PM tonight). Our latest sunrise of the season (7:09 AM) is still nearly a month away. It won’t start to get lighter earlier in the morning until January 21ST 2008 !

So enjoy the longer days starting tomorrow – just a tiny bit each day at the end of each day.