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The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. - Joel 2:31
IN THIS UPDATE:
Announcements
"Challenging COSMOS" Podcast
Astronomy Nights - You Can Too!
"Consider Thy Heavens" Astronomy Campouts - 2014
Light Pollution World Map
Dance of the Planets
Another Season of Mars
Total Eclipse of the Moon - Tuesday, April 15
"Blood Moon"?
Dear Friends,
Wow, what a winter! Though it's still hanging on, the cold season is slowly loosening its grip, and warmer days are finally here! So why not plan early to join us this year for our "Consider Thy Heavens" astronomy campouts?
Sorry for the long newsletter, but I got pretty backed up, and there's LOTS of news to report!
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Visit our archive of previous editions of the Classical Astronomy Update newsletters, going back to 2007.
Visit this page to subscribe to the Classical Astronomy Update and the Northeast Ohio Astronomy (NEOastro) newsletters.
"Challenging COSMOS" Podcast
Have you been watching the new COSMOS series airing Sunday nights on the FOX network? We have, and we are here to give the "democratic response" to this show. This new show is hosted by mainstream astronomer Neil deGrass Tyson, and is a contemporary reprise of the original COSMOS program, which was hosted by Carl Sagan in 1980. Like it's predecessor, the new COSMOS includes science lessons and splashy special effects, mingled together with an atheistic worldview and numerous slams against Christianity and the Bible.
To help provide some balance, John Wilkerson from The Wired Homeschool and I have teamed up to create a weekly podcast called:
Each week, John and I have a 30-40 minute conversation discussing the show, it's positive and negative points, and giving our opinions, about the topics presented on the program. We especially challenge the anti-Christian slant of this show, and point out factual errors, presenting sources for our facts, and explain some of the egregious propaganda masquerading as "fact." In this way, we hope to present a young-earth creation lens for viewing the subject matter presented on this program.
Astronomy Nights - You Can Too!
One of my hopes and prayers for Classical Astronomy is that all you readers out there will learn some things about the sky, and then share what you learn with your friends, family and neighbors, including people from church. Last fall, I encouraged Karen in Connecticut to try this with the kids at her church. Here's what Karen wrote back in November:
Well tonight was my first outing. It was partly cloudy so we needed to "wait" for certain stars to appear, but after 4 weeks of downright impossible conditions, last week, as we were leaving the clouds "parted." I just decided I was tired of postponing. AND WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!
We covered a fair amount- the Triangle, the Square, Cassiopeia, Polaris, and the way to find it off of Ursa Major and Minor.... We did basic directions - NSEW - and I used the drinking gourd story as an example. I tried to give them practical examples for needing to know directions.
They were like sponges, and with the help of my laser pointer, we saw everything except Capella and Betelgeuse that was blocked by trees.
But that's seven constellations, and 3 first mags-on the first night.
So, as the sky presents something different, and the weather is in agreement, we'll keep going out and learning more.
I'm so glad you encouraged me to do this!
Karen
So Karen had learned some constellations and turned her knowledge into a very enjoyable series of outdoor events for her church gave glory to God. Everyone learned a lot and had a great time, spent outside under the LORD's firmament. I emailed Karen again this week and here's her latest update:
Hi Jay-
I finished up my youth group astronomy the last Wednesday before DST-and not a moment too soon both for dst and the moon growing by the day. I have to say we didn't do too badly for amateurs. We got 12 out of 15 first mags, almost half the constellations (and I think we only missed 4 "zodiacs"), I set up the telescope to see Jupiter and it's moons as well as our moon-and all this in about 4 evenings! The Lord parted the clouds for us on our final night and we saw SO MUCH! It's really amazing what is in the sky this month alone.
So thanks for the challenge, I'm really glad I accepted it. I'm enjoying astronomy more than I did when I started and now I know a WHOLE lot more. I also am a WHOLE lot more in awe of our God, which for me is the whole point.
In the love of Christ,
Karen
I really appreciate Karen's commitment and devotion, to share what she had learned of her LORD's sky with her church family, and was blessed herself in the process. Folks, you don't need to know a whole about astronomy to share the sky with others. As the evenings warm up here in the spring, and as the grey clouds of winter blow away, let me encourage and challenge you all to follow Karen's example and plan little astronomy nights for your own circles. For starters, if you can learn to find Mars from the article below, share that with your church! I promise that you all will be blessed! Please drop me an email if I can give you any advice or suggestions for coordinating such a gathering.
"Consider Thy Heavens" Astronomy Campouts - 2014
We've had a small but enthusiastic response about the upcoming astronomy campout weekends for this year. I'd like to encourage everyone to consider adding one of these to your summer vacation plans. We read that the "heavens declare the glory of God," and yet most people today are unacquainted with a truly glorious dark sky. The purpose of these campouts is to help you all discover and experience a "biblical" sky, in the hopes that you will learn a lot and take it back home to your communities.
So for 2014, we've planned three camping events in remote locations in our region of the country, in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Virginia, where "biblical" dark skies are still available. If these go well, we're considering more ambitious events for 2015, branching out to dark sites in Arkansas, Missouri, the Florida panhandle, and South Dakota (near Mt. Rushmore). After that, who knows? We're hoping that homeschoolers will catch the vision for these events in preparation of the big total eclipse of the Sun that will pass over the USA in August, 2017.
Some folks have balked at the idea of driving a few hours within their
own state to participate in this experience. Well, I've
not planned one for my state of Ohio, due to lack of quality skies here at home. The goal is not personal convenience and
easy accessibility, but to seek out dark skies that give glory to God,
and experience them with others also willing to seek them out. We've been pleased that a family from Chicago and another from Indianapolis have reserved campsites for the Michigan event, since the sky at this location is, by far, the most pristine darkness that we will encounter this year. It's encouraging to hear from others also interested in pursuing the wonders of God's creation. Why not your family too? Come join us!
We have created Facebook event pages for these campouts. If you are on FB, please join these events, and use them to invite your friends. The more, the merrier, and anyone who is interested can participate. The online reservation pages for campsites in VA and MI are listed on these pages. The sites surrounding ours are filling up fast, so book yours now!
Thu-Sun July 17-21, 2014 (Last Quarter - moonrise after midnight) Visit the Virginia 2014 Facebook Event Page for more info.
Wed-Sun August 20-24, 2014 (waning crescent Moon)
Light Pollution World Map
This link is a very interesting page with a Google Map overlaid onto a map showing light pollution versus dark skies around the globe. It's pretty self explanatory, and there is a slider to adjust the visibility of the maps. White areas are the light-drenched cities, and black areas represent pristine "biblical" dark skies. Red and yellow indicate "suburban" skies, and green and blue represent good quality rural skies. As you can see, most of the eastern USA is awash with night lighting, though considerable dark skies are still abundant west of the Mississippi.
It's interesting to see light pollution as an indicator of global prosperity and development. Looking around the world map, note the contrast between poor countries with that border wealthier countries, such the difference in light levels between North and South Korea, and also Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Find your home on the map, and compare those light levels to other places within your driving radius. I was amazed to note that nearby dark areas to our home in Ohio are really not all that dark compared to a truly "biblical" dark sky. It reinforces the need for the astronomy campouts, and hope that you all will consider joining us.
Another Season of Mars
As mentioned in our newsletter of February 24, the bright planet Mars has returned to prominence in the sky, as it does every two years. You really can't make a mistake with spotting Mars, since it truly is "The Red Planet." Mars currently has a "shiny copper penny" color as lingers near the bright star Spica in Virgo. Notice the reddish color of the star Arcturus, north in the sky from Mars.
Mars will be at opposition on April 8, when it is opposite the Sun in the sky, rising in the east as the Sun sets in the west. Mars is always at its brightest near opposition, so everyone should be able to see it, even from the most light polluted cities. After that date, Mars will be visible in the early evening after sunset for many months, at hours convenient for even the most inexperienced sky watcher.
Because of its proximity to Spica, Mars is also super-duper easy to find, if you can spot the the Big Dipper in the evening sky. As explained on page 126 of our Signs & Seasons curriculum, you can find Arcturus by following the "arc" of the handle of the Big Dipper, and then "spike" in a straight line in the same general direction toward Spica. The simple pneumonic is:
Follow the Arc to Arcturus, and Follow the Spike to Spica.
In the current month, Mars, Arcturus and Spica are coming up in the east in the early evening, just after sunset. Try looking about 9:00 PM or thereafter, when these bodies are higher above the horizon.
These stars are the brightest objects in the eastern part of the sky, coming up as Orion and friends are going down in the west. You can still use the Big Dipper to find these objects in the months ahead. In June, Spica and Arcturus will be high in the sky after sunset, and Mars will be even harder to miss at that time.
If you actually succeed in spotting Mars, please drop me a line. I get so little feedback, it would be really nice to know that someone is actually reading these newsletters and making an effort to spot these objects that I write about. Thanks for your consideration.
Even if you cannot find Mars from the Big Dipper, you'll have a special opportunity on Tuesday, April 15, as the eclipsing "Blood Moon" passes right between Mars and Spica. (More on that in the next article.)
Total Eclipse of the Moon - Tuesday, April 15
There will be a total eclipse of the Moon in the early morning after midnight on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. This eclipse will occur at rude hours for just about everyone in North America. If you're an "earlybird" who lives back east, you'll have a chance to see the tail end of this eclipse, as totality ends at 4:25 AM EDT, and the partial stage of eclipse during egress ends at 5:33 AM. However, if you're a "night owl" who lives out west, you'll have a crack at seeing the early stages at a decent hour for your local time, as the partial stage of ingress begins at 10:58 PM on Monday night, and totally begins just after midnight, at 12:06 AM.
As if this lunar eclipse is not interesting enough with all the "Blood Moon" publicity, it's even more interesting since the eclipsed Moon will be in a very close conjunction with the star Spica, and very close to Mars, which is just past opposition and at its brightest. These objects will make an amazing trio in the night sky! If the skies are clear in your area, it'll be worth staying up or rising early to get a look at this rare sight!
Try
to catch this eclipse conjunction and tell all your friends! As in the past, if
anyone sends me some pix of this eclipse, I'll include them in the
next newsletter.
An eclipse of the Moon occurs when the Moon enters the Earth's shadow. The best eclipses are when the Moon enters the Earth's umbra, or full shadow. There is a stage of every partial and total eclipse when the Moon passes through the penumbra, or partial shadow of the Earth. This stage is hard to even notice, and only appears as a dimming of the Moon, not very apparent most of the time. There are also penumbral eclipses, when the Moon misses the umbra entirely, and these are usually not even reported in the media, since they are inconspicuous, with not much to see.
The total eclipse of Tuesday, April 15, 2014 is the first in a tetrad of total eclipses, four in a row, an uncommon alignment of the astronomical circumstances that cause eclipses to take place. There will be another total eclipse this year on October 8, and also on April 4 and September 28 of 2015. Tetrads are somewhat uncommon astronomical events. Interestingly, the eclipses of this tetrad also happen to coincide with the Jewish feasts of Passover and Sukkoth (or Tabernacles).
This series of eclipses is being represented as "Blood Moons" in a couple
of books that are currently making the rounds, and the Christian media is all abuzz. These books are predicting that this tetrad of eclipses
are prophetic portents, harbingers of significant events ahead for the
nation of Israel, and even the End Times, presaging the Second Coming of
Jesus.
Honestly friends, this touches a couple of my pet peeves.
For one thing, I've been involved in astronomy education and promotion
for over two decades, and it can be annoying when rookies with little knowledge or experience with astronomy jump in on the
subject. (It's also annoying when they sell way more books than I have ever
been able to sell!)
For a long time, I've watched the "End Times" industry, which
cranks out a new interpretation of Bible prophecy every couple years.
So many Christians get blown around "by every wind of doctrine" and jump on
the latest bandwagon. I've seen a lot of apocalyptic prophecies come
and go since the 1970s, from back in the days of "The Late Great Planet Earth" and "88
Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Back in 1988."
In Scriptures such as Matthew 24, Jesus teaches us that "but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Pop eschatology writers read a loophole into that verse, presuming to open up an acceptable window of time larger than a "day and hour" in which we should await Jesus' return. But the apostles instruct us that the Day of the LORD will come "as a thief in the night" (1 Thess. 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10) and Jesus also said that "therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
I encourage everyone to consult their pastors for how to approach these issues, and be settled in their own minds. As for me an my house, I prefer to not get caught up in the latest End Times fads, which always seem to come and go. Insofar as the "Blood Moon" craze touches on astronomy, I would rather that Christians take the time to educate themselves about the wonders of
God's creation in the heavens above, and understand that eclipses are commonplace natural events.
The new "Blood Moon" theory turns on these well-known passages from Scripture:
The Sun shall be turned into darkness, and the Moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come. - Joel 2:31, quoted in Acts 2:20
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the Sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the Moon became as blood. - Revelation 6:12
For many years, every time there is an eclipse, I always get an email from someone asking me if it is "a sign of the end times." Long-time readers will recall the Update article Lunar Eclipse - the Sixth Seal? that explains why every little eclipse of the Moon cannot be construed as fulfilling these prophecies. Briefly, eclipses are very common natural phenomena, a couple of which occur every single year. Also, the causes of eclipses are well understood, today as well as back in New Testament times.
Fact is, there's really nothing supernatural about eclipses, and no reason to believe that such common, well-understood natural phenomena should be construed as a divine sign in fulfillment of Scripture every time one comes around. Unfortunately, the term "Blood Moon" will probably now stick, and be associated with all future eclipses, further perpetuating this confusion.
The "Blood Moon" promoters are making a big deal out of the fact that the tetrad of lunar eclipses occurring in 2014 and 2015 coincide with the Jewish feasts of Passover in spring and Sukkoth (Tabernacles) in the fall. Well, this is not such a big deal either. The fact is, lunar eclipses can only occur at a Full Moon, when the Moon is behind the Earth, and passes through the Earth's shadow. Because of the circumstances of eclipses, it's a normal occurrence to have two lunar eclipses that are six months apart. It so happens that Passover and Sukkoth also occur at or near the Full Moon, and these feasts are also always six months apart.
For more info on eclipses and the astronomy of the Jewish feasts, check out the following articles, from previous newsletters:
So it's really not very unusual to have a lunar eclipse at either Passover or Sukkoth, or even at both. It's simply a natural convergence of two lunar cycles. However, it is unusual to have four lunar eclipses in a row that fall over two consecutive commemorations of Passover and Sukkoth. But contrary to the "Blood Moon" teaching, there really is not a clear pattern of prophetically significant events that has accompanied previous instances of this convergence between a lunar eclipse tetrad and biblical feasts.
Though I have not read these books myself, I have read that the authors purport that previous eclipse tetrad feasts occurred in 1948, coinciding with the establishment of the state of Israel (a fave event with eschatology buffs), in 1967 with the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, and previously, in 1492, with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
Here are the factual eclipse events, calculated and posted at the NASA web site. The links will take you to pictures displaying the actual circumstances and visibility of each eclipse, so you can judge for yourselves:
As is apparent, there actually were two lunar eclipses in 1948, but these were practically invisible, especially from the global location of Israel. The actual tetrad did not occur until 1949 and 1950, after the establishment of the state of Israel. I don't claim to have any insight into Bible prophecy, but it does not seem to me that a "sign" would have much prophetic value if it occurs after the event with which it is associated.
For the tetrad of 1967-68, the first eclipse occurred prior to the Six Day War in June, 1967, and was visible from Israel. This still does not impress me as having much significance, since the other three eclipses occurred after the fact, though they were at least partly visible from Israel. Note that there were also three inconspicuous penumbral eclipses in 1969, during the feasts and in between. This is pointed out just to illustrate how the cycles of the Moon can line up with regular calendar events like these feasts.
I'm not so certain how to handle these dates, as they were before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, and I'm not certain if the Spanish Jews of that period used the same calendar reckoning as in the modern Jewish calendar. Taking the data at face value, the feasts of 1492 occurred after the Edict of Expulsion from Spain, and both were accompanied by invisible penumbral eclipses, with another in between, in May of that year. The tetrad of total eclipses did not actually commence until 1493, which again is after the fact, and not very useful as a prophetic portent.
This secular astronomy page points out that there have been other lunar eclipse/Jewish feast tetrads in history:
A.D. 162-163
A.D. 795-796
A.D. 842-843
A.D. 860-861
However, none of these tetrads appear to coincide with any significant historical events in Jewish history.
For my own part, I am not persuaded that there is anything prophetically significant to the "Blood Moon" interpretation. But as with all such predictions, we'll wait and see. There are some potential dire apocalyptic events on the horizon, such as the prospect of development of nuclear weapons by Iran. The LORD is control, and we can only pray and trust.
Hope this is enough of an explanation to help you better understand this issue and make an informed decision for yourself. Please feel free to share this with your pastor and any interested members of your congregation.
Til next time, God bless and clear skies,
- jay
The Ryan Family
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Psalm 8:3-4, a Psalm of David
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