The Full Moon of Passover

In 2016, the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month of Nisan begins at sunset on Friday, April 22. The Full Moon of Passover rises above the eastern horizon at sunset. This evening is the “Erev Pesach, ” the Eve of Passover. The Israelites would kill the paschal lamb before the next sunset, and eat the Passover meal early after the… Continue reading

Planetary Conjunction – Venus and Saturn

The first big event in Saturn’s fun year will be a VERY CLOSE conjunction with Venus on the morning of Saturday, January 9.  If you are able to spot these two planets when the Moon was nearby during the week, you should be able to spot them again on Saturday morning when they draw closest.  Saturn is the little “speck”… Continue reading

Lunar Conjunction – Venus and Saturn

The fun begins in 2016 with the morning conjunction of the waning crescent Moon with the bright planet Venus this week, on the morning of Thursday, January 7, before sunrise.  But as a special added bonus, Venus is currently lining up with the planet Saturn, which recently emerged from the sunrise, after being invisibly hidden on the opposite side of… Continue reading

2016: A Year of Lunar and Planetary Conjunctions

Friends, 2015 was a very interesting year for conjunctions of the Moon and planets.  Long-time readers of this newsletter and other experienced sky observers understand that the classical planets are among the brightest objects in the sky, and are brighter that the actual fixed stars. The planet Venus is blazingly bright, the third brightest object in the sky, exceeded in… Continue reading

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