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I Saw the LUNAR ECLIPSE!


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I Saw the LUNAR ECLIPSE!

 

 

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Actually, I had no idea that I was looking at a Lunar Eclipse initially. I had become very tired and laid down and fell asleep late in the evening on July 4, but when I woke up, it was after Midnight and I went outside to get some fresh air. So, in the wee hours of the morning on July 5, when I opened my door, I was surprised to see the sky lit up so brightly that I gasped and step outside on my porch to gaze at the night sky. Oh, the moon is full, I came to realize but for some reason, it seemed strange to me that the sky looked so bright and clear. I could see a few clouds gathering but nevertheless, it seemed like a strange night. I was also in awe at the two bright stars nearby the full moon and that would be what led be to learn that this July full moon was in eclipse! One star was exceptionally large, and I thought maybe it was the planet Jupiter or Venus. So, I rushed back to check the internet to find out more about the two stars marked by the Moon. To my wonder, the larger star was the planet Jupiter and the smaller one was the planet Saturn! Wow, I thought, this must be big news for the scientific community. When Jupiter and Saturn show up as a pair, it brings back many historical memories! Since this time, it has been many years since I had the opportunity to look into a telescope to see these two wonders but now, I had decided to star gaze through a telescope again. And although, my experience was like other times in how it took my breath away to see these wonders in closer view, however, I was so disappointed due to my lack of knowledge of how to manipulate a telescope. In the past, I stood by and waited while my son, a young pre-teen focused his telescope in the night sky and then was able to look at the planet Saturn for the first time and later, he fixed his scope so that I was able to see more wonders. But this time and after grueling and numerous attempts to find the stars, I was happy that I achieved my goal, but also confused as to why the stars looked so dark and haunting. I could not believe that I had found the stars. Jupiter was so large and WOW, I knew I was looking at Saturn because I saw the rings! However, both appeared to be a big round dark grey circle suspended in the open dark sky.

 

Penumbral-Lunar-Eclipse-2020.jpg

 

*My Note: This is pretty much how the sky appeared in the early morning of July 5, 2020 but from my viewpoint at the time around 1:30 AM

both planets were about the same distance apart from the moon and from each other, however, Jupiter was located higher than the moon and Saturn

was higher than Jupiter. The partial lunar eclipse lasted for about 2 hours and 45 minutes--as it was reported.  

 

 

I later asked my son why the stars appeared to be so dark and he explained to me that my telescope barrel was narrow, small, etc., and therefore not enough light could be gathered—whatever that means! I guess light can be gathered from the moon and get into the barrel to better illuminate the planets if the barrel has a larger width and length. Nevertheless, I felt as though the store advertisements had duped me. I spent about $20.00 on this telescope and the advertisement did say that the rings on planet Saturn could be seen, but I never read about the other details that concerned the light. Had I known that I needed a longer barrel and a wider barrel, etc., I would not have bought that telescope. Some advertisements say that if the telescope cost less than $300.00, then it would not be worth the purchase, but had I not looked into my son’s telescope many years ago, I would never believe that I would be able to see much more details in the night sky with a lower priced telescope. Back in 2002, the year of a phenomenal planetary alignment, my son focused a $20.00 telescope I bought him for ‘Christmas’ on the planet Saturn and this initial experience for me was life changing. It was unbelievable. I saw the beautiful, round, brightly lit opal-like opaque sapphire blue ball with majestic golden-like banded rings-on-a-tilt suspended in the night sky. When I looked through the telescope in 2009, I was again mystified as I gazed into the same telescope and saw the rings at a different position. Around that time too, I was able to see the red spot on the planet Jupiter and this orange-like banded majestic star! I also witnessed Jupiter’s four moons that year in an incredible alignment! To think that at one point in a distant time, these moving stars [planets] were not part of our solar system world! But then one day, they came into orbit and here they are today! To look at Jupiter and Saturn as they seem closely paired and to know that Saturn would be millions of miles away from Jupiter becomes for me a contemplation and I drift away into deeper thoughts about time and space. Even though Saturn would obviously be much older than 2018 years, however, it was at this time during a planetary alignment, around A.D. 2, on April 17, that it was reported to whirl into our solar system with its’ moons from some unknown origin, position itself to be about 888 million miles away from the sun, and begin to rotate around it as the last of the ancient planets to make this advent. So, to have the opportunity to look into a telescope and see this massive moving star and to see other wonders such as the eclipse, I am exhilarated, and I know this day will not come again. Time moves on.

 

 

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*My Note: Although this picture was taken from the internet, based on my past viewing 

experience, this would be an actual view through a telescope of these planets, although --I could

not view both of these giant planets in the scope at the same time. And they were much larger

 

 

And because of the nature of eclipses, the wondering star, and other star patterns, therefore, star gazing becomes an opportunity. Due to the nature of eclipses revealed even in ancient scriptures, in that they inherently draw clouds, certain celestial events on this wise may be hidden! So as the thick clouds gathered and moved towards the moon and planets, I worked intently and quickly to accomplish my goal. Because of the nature of the planet Saturn as it revolves around the sun on a unique horizontal plane and appears to wonder in and out of view as our earth tilts on its’ axis, I am aware of such an opportunity to be able to see it in the night sky. And so, this month, it has been reported that both Jupiter and Saturn will be in range to view later this month. By way of scientist today, I have learned what it means in that both of these planets will be in opposition later this month and that adds so much more to my amazement. So, this month not only did I wake up, go outside, and looked upon this night as it featured a Lunar Eclipse nevertheless, this ‘Buck Moon’ Eclipse has also been marked by these two planet worlds. I have learned that this full moon of July has been termed ‘Buck Moon’ due to this time being when male deer grow their antlers. But also, for this year, the Full Moon of July was in eclipse and has been viewed as significant because it was the third eclipse in a rare series. For many Americans too, this was a special eclipse due to Independence Day, however, for me, as an African American DOS, this eclipse brings back much more deeper truths about July 4. I was shocked to learn one day by happenstance that two of the early presidents of the American Revolution, slaveholders, and of whom signed the Declaration of Independence for White Americans on July 4 actually died fifty (50) years later on that same day!

 

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 [a] – July 4, 1826)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson

 

John Adams (October 30, 1735 [a] – July 4, 1826)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams

 

John Adams died on July 4, 1826 – the fiftieth anniversary

of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence –

hours after Jefferson’s death. …

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams

 

But that kind of history only scratches the surface about this specific day, July 4. In a much more distant time, it was recorded by ancient people of a phenomenal star explosion to occur on this day, July 4, in which the star cluster, Pleiades,  soon took formation and today, some believe this would be one reason for the American celebration with fireworks. And then there were the ancient Egyptians who celebrated their ‘Christmas in July’ based on other more ancient phenomena. The ancient Chaldeans of Babylon and the Egyptians read the skies without telescopes but today, I am exhilarated to be able to look into a basic telescope and to understand only a little of what they mastered. I appreciate the technology of today and hope that I can better understand the invention of telescopes and how to use them to learn more about the skies and my place in the universe. After a little research, I understand that there are three (3) main types of telescopes; [1] a Compound, [2] a Reflector and, [3] a Refractor and it would be the Refractor telescope that has been the best option for a beginner. So now, hopefully, in the near future when Saturn wonders into our earth viewpoint, I will be ready see it in its glory again through a telescope. But if I do not get that opportunity again, I can still say today that I lived to witness a great wonder in the sky that many ancient priest-scientist had predicted its advent more than a thousand years before it came and they died and did not see it! This giant circular mass in the universe, the Zephyr Star’ [Western Star] that positioned itself at a 180-degree line over Jerusalem, was seen to appear low on the eastern horizon by ancient wise men in the east has marked the real ‘Christmas Day’ to be in the month of April. Although there has been other types of planetary alignments in the past and present, on April 17, 2002, this particular planet line-up returned again and as in the first time it appeared, this Sapphire star wonder Saturn arranged itself within the alignment but this time with the inclusion of the modern day planets that entered the solar system, Uranus and Neptune. All the planets arranged themselves on the same plane with the sun exactly as it had about 2000 years ago and fell into and out of certain star occultations within the zodiac belt again within the next few months and up to years later and then moved out of this sequence. To gaze upon the Thunder Star Planet Jupiter, the Red Star Planet Mars, and the Wondering Star Saturn and more, resonates for me as a deep spiritual awakening and broadens my scope of what may lay beyond this present world and gives me hope of what my human life can attain beyond todays’ walls.

 

 

image.ChacoCanyonRockArt.jpg%20image.ChacoCanyonRockArt.jpg

Ancient America Rock Depiction-

Chaco Canyon

 

SN 1054 is a supernova that was first observed on c. 4 July 1054 [clarification needed], and

remained visible for around two years.

 

… The remnant of SN 1054, which consists of debris ejected during the explosion, is known as the Crab Nebula.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1054

 

 

Is the Chaco Canyon Rock Art a Star Map Showing SN 1054?

Richard L. Dieterle

… a star map showing the famous supernova explosion in 1054 (SN 1054) of the star …

In the second panel, the stars at sunrise, July 4, 1054, when the supernova

This is not a common image for the Pleiades, although Cowan suggests, “To …

https://hotcakencyclopedia.com/cc.ChacoCanyonRockArt.html

 

 

Taurus? Here’s your constellation

Posted by Bruce McClure in ASTRONOMY ESSENTIALS / CONSTELLATIONS / February 5, 2020

 

Taurus is one of the most spectacular constellations in the nighttime sky. In addition to

Aldebaran, Taurus has the intriguing star Elnath. Plus it has two fine star clusters,

the Pleiades and the Hyades. And this constellation is the radiant point for the

annual Taurid meteor shower in November.

 

What more, Taurus also features the telescopic Crab Nebula (M1), the remains

of a cataclysmic supernova explosion that lit up the daytime sky in 1054 A.D.

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/taurus-heres-your-constellation

 

 

Definition of zephyr

1a: a breeze from the west

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zephyr

 

 

Full moon, faint eclipse, on July 4-5

Posted by Bruce McClure in TONIGHT / July 4, 2020

 

For us in the Americas, the moon will turn precisely full during the nighttime hours on

July 4-5, 2020, to present a partial penumbral eclipse of the moon. … On the night of

July 4-5, there’s another astronomical event taking place that we all can see. This July

full moon will shine near on the sky’s dome to the very bright planet Jupiter, and also

to the ringed planet Saturn. You need a telescope to see Saturn’s rings. But you’ll get

a kick out of seeing Jupiter and Saturn close together!

https://earthsky.org/tonight/full-buck-moon-faint-eclipse-july-4-5

 

 

 

Sports & Fitness

BUYING GUIDE FOR THE BEST TELESCOPES

Last Updated July 2020

HOW A TELESCOPE WORKS

TELESCOPE DESIGN

https://bestreviews.com/best-telescopes

 

Best Telescopes

https://bestreviews.com/best-telescopes

 

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