Cold and Spellbinding: An Alignment of Planets in the Sunset Sky – NASA Science

In March, Venus and Jupiter continue their relentless convergence until, on March 12^th and 13^th, the duo lie only three degrees apart—a spectacular double beacon in the sunset sky (sky map).  Now you’ll be able to hide them together behind a pair of outstretched fingertips. 

There’s something mesmerizing about stars and planets bunched together in this way—and, no, you’re not imagining things when it happens to you.  The phenomenon is based on the anatomy of the human eye. [mjh: worth reading the rest at the link]

Cold and Spellbinding: An Alignment of Planets in the Sunset Sky – NASA Science

The Sky This Week, 2012 March 6-13 — Naval Oceanography Portal

One of the reasons we change our clocks is that this time of the year we experience the most rapid changes in the times of sunrise and sunset. As we approach the equinox we gain about three minutes of daylight per day. During the course of the week sunrise will arrive 10 minutes earlier and sunset will occur 8 minutes later. We now experience some two hours more daylight than we did just three months ago. Spring is definitely almost here! …

The present rules were amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. We’ll stay on Daylight Time until the first Sunday in November, which falls this year on the 4th.

The Sky This Week, 2012 March 6-13 — Naval Oceanography Portal

the Sap, Snow Crust, or Wind Moon. (It’ll be the Wind Moon in New Mexico.)

Look for Mars near the moon tonight. [from Kevin McKeown, abqjournal]

[update 8:00pm]

The Sky This Week, 2012 March 6-13 — Naval Oceanography Portal

The Moon brightens the evening and late night sky this week, with Full Moon occurring on the 8th at 4:39 am Eastern Standard Time. This month’s Full Moon goes by many names from many cultures, all of which are symbolic of the changing season: Worm Moon, Crow Moon, Sap Moon, and Crust Moon are the most common examples.

The Sky This Week, 2012 March 6-13 — Naval Oceanography Portal

I can’t quite accept that Julius Caesar or Pope Gregory figured out these adjustments themselves. What forgotten chronologists did?

The Sky This Week, 2012 February 28 – March 6 — Naval Oceanography Portal

As you undoubtedly know, February 29th makes its (almost) once-every-four-year appearance this week, prompting many people to ponder "Why?" The answer lies in our attempt to carve up the year into an integral number of days. The system of leap years as we know it was first instituted by Julius Caesar c. 46BCE. In the Julian Calendar a leap year occurred every four years, giving a mean duration of a calendar year of 365.25 days over a four-year cycle. The Earth’s so-called "Tropical Year" (the time it takes between two successive occurrences of the Vernal Equinox) is 365.2422 years, thus the mean Julian Calendar year exceeded the Tropical Year in length by some 11 minutes. This had the effect of displacing the calendar date of the Equinox by one day every 128 years. By 1582 the cumulative difference between the Julian Calendar and the Equinox was some 10 days (which bollixed up the computation of the date of Easter), prompting Pope Gregory XIII to promote a reform to the calendar which still bears his name. In the Gregorian Calendar leap years occur every four years except in years ending in "00" (e.g. 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, etc.) However, years ending in "00" that are evenly divisible by 400 (e.g. 1600, 2000, 2400) *are* leap years, which yields 97 leap years in a 400-year cycle. Dividing 97/400 = 0.2425, thus the mean duration of a Gregorian year is 365.2425 days, which is only 26 seconds longer than the Tropical Year. This is the system which has been more or less "universally" adopted.

The Sky This Week, 2012 February 28 – March 6 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Incredible accuracy for adjustments made 430 years ago.

I can’t quite reconcile the preceding with a different observation:

With no other correction, the vernal equinox would occur, on average, about 5 minutes earlier each year. — Kevin McKeown

Cold and Spellbinding: An Alignment of Planets in the Sunset Sky – NASA Science

A special night to look is Saturday, Feb. 25^th, when the crescent Moon moves in to form a slender heavenly triangle with Venus, Jupiter and the Moon as vertices (sky map).  One night later, on Sunday, Feb. 26^th, it happens again (sky map). This arrangement will be visible all around the world, from city and countryside alike.

Cold and Spellbinding: An Alignment of Planets in the Sunset Sky – NASA Science

Today, the Sun stands 11.75 degrees south of the equator, on its journey north. This point is midway between the winter solstice and the celestial equator. It has taken the Sun 59 days to move to this halfway point. It completes the second half in only 31 days. Then Spring begins (3/20). [from Sky Watch by Kevin McKeown, abqjournal]

The Sky This Week, 2012 January 31 – February 7 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Full Moon occurs on the 7th at 4:54 pm Eastern Standard Time. February’s Full Moon is popularly known as the Snow Moon or Hunger Moon, indicative of the hardships often associated with the season’s harshest month.

The Sky This Week, 2012 January 31 – February 7 — Naval Oceanography Portal

The Sky This Week, 2012 January 31 – February 7 — Naval Oceanography Portal

[Groundhog Day is] from a tradition brought over to America by German immigrants. Loosely based on the old pagan celebration of Imbolc, it was believed that if a hibernating animal awoke and saw its shadow there would be six more weeks of winter. No shadow indicated an early spring. Imbolc and its derivatives mark one of the so-called "cross-quarter" days in the ancient seasonal calendar, marking the mid-point of astronomical winter. Halloween is another one of these cross-quarter days that are still widely observed here in the New World, continuing traditions that date back millennia in time.

The Sky This Week, 2012 January 31 – February 7 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Roughly 2 minutes a day, nearly 15 minutes each week. Cue “Here Comes the Sun.” http://www.sunrisesunset.com/

By February 29th, the Sun transits 9.5 degrees higher up than on the 1st. The result is a gain of 1 hour of daylight by month’s end. – Kevin McKeown, Abqjournal

From today’s paper:

Today the Sun has reached 20 degrees south of the equator [up from 23.5 or 47/2]. After two months of “hibernation” along the bottom of the zodiac, the Sun really picks up northward speed today. Astronomically speaking, deep winter is over. – Kevin McKeown

The Sky This Week, 2012 January 3 – 10 — Naval Oceanography Portal

The Moon waxes in the evening sky this week, with the year’s first Full Moon falling on the 9th at 2:30 am Eastern Standard Time. January’s Full Moon is popularly known as the Moon After Yule, the Old Moon, or the Wolf Moon, depending on whose mythology you prefer.

The Sky This Week, 2012 January 3 – 10 — Naval Oceanography Portal