Astronomical Excitement

 

So much is happening in the heavens at the moment, and it is quite exciting to go outdoors in the evening and look at it all.  As well, today is our summer solstice – although the actual time is not until 11.02pm.

High up in our skies lies the planet of Mars, looking quite bright and reddish this year.  It is the closest it will come to the earth for another fifteen years.

But the biggest heavenly event of all is the visual conjunction of the two great planets Jupiter and Saturn, to be seen in our western skies for an hour or so after sunset before they sink below the horizon.  I have been watching these each night, (when there is no cloud), and seeing them come closer and closer together. 

The brighter star is Jupiter, 763 million kilometres away from earth, with the fainter Saturn being a further 856 million kilometres beyond that again.

Jupiter and Saturn visually pass each other in their orbits around the sun about every twenty years, but the last time they appeared this close together was 1623.  That sighting was obscured by the nearness of the sun, so the last plainly visible sighting of this phenomenon was in 1226 – making it a rare thing to see now.

The breaking of a new dawn

Astrologically, this Great Conjunction is occurring at 0 degrees in Aquarius and pointing to great change and new beginnings around the earth.  Add this with the current solstice, also a time of change, and a first quarter moon being in our skies (considered a critical point of no return, the last show-down before the crescendo of the full moon is reached), and one wonders what the next couple of years are going to bring.  Hopefully a change for the better.

May the blessings of happiness be upon you,

Margaret 😊