Conjunction Sunday

Left: Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon, in conjunction, Sunday night. The view is to the southwest, from DMTC in Davis, looking above the building housing 24-Hour Fitness.


Bruce sent this on Sunday evening:

Jupiter and Venus begin December in conjunction at dusk in the southwestern sky. If the sky remains clear, the Jupiter-Venus conjunction, officially occurring tomorrow night, will be spectacular. Venus is the brighter of the two planets, and it remains high in the southwest throughout December, while the gaseous Jupiter descends the western horizon all month.

Venus, ever effervescent, is visible at negative fourth magnitude (ultra bright), and it is easily mistaken for a distant jetliner approaching Dulles International Airport with its landing lights on. Jupiter at negative second magnitude is bright enough to enjoy from the urban light-polluted sky. At month's end, Venus sets after 8 p.m., and Jupiter sets before 6 p.m.

Tonight, notice that the sliver of a young moon is below Jupiter and Venus, while tomorrow night the crescent can be seen above the planetary duo. Young moons always appear briefly in the western sky at dusk and early evening.

At the very end of December, the fleet Mercury (zero magnitude, or bright) joins with Jupiter at dusk in the southwest for another conjunction. The brighter Jupiter is to Mercury's left, and Venus is far above the fray.

The full moon Dec. 12 will be at its closest (356,556 kilometers, or 221,554 miles) to Earth since 1993, and the full moon won't be this close again until 2016. Once a month the moon gets close to Earth at perigee, but sometimes the monthly lunar perigee coincides with the full moon. On Jan. 1, 2257, the full moon will be closer than this year's event -- at 356,371 kilometers, or 221,439 miles -- according to Belgian astronomer and mathematician Jean Meeus.

Bruce also sent this regarding the recent presidential election:

(from December 2008 Celestial Timings By Cayelin K Castell):

...There was a wave of heart opening energy that swept the globe and set a powerful heart directed template for the coming revolutionary changes. I also know there were many who did not share in the joy of this event for many reasons. Even so it seems the genuine joy, hope and love experienced by so many reached a critical mass that altered our reality and established a new template for the Earth.

Speculation about the effect of the Uranus/Saturn opposition on election day ranged from no election, to another stolen election, to concerns about riots and unrest if the election appeared to be stolen again. Ultimately, Uranus surprised us when it came through with an unexpected outcome, a land slide victory that powerfully opened the hearts of so many around the globe. I experienced an unprecedented profoundly powerful physical shift in my surroundings when the announcement came that Barack Obama had been elected our 44th president.

The only way I feel I can come close to describing my experience is by saying I felt the whole room literally spin around me and I knew a major assemblage point had shifted as we were clicked into an alternate reality or alternate timeline. I have read other accounts that though worded differently seem to have expressed a similar experience acting as a confirmation for me. I feel we were witness to the imprint of a whole new planetary template anchored in the vibration of love, hope and inspiration.

The news was full of stories about the joyous reactions and celebrations around the planet suggesting we reached a large enough critical mass to establish a new holographic field. Meaning those waves of hope, inspiration, joy and love are now fully anchored into the new template and the new timeline of the mass consciousness. My sense is that this new template will be the basis for the recurring Saturn Uranus oppositions still to come and will be greatly assisted when we remember to keep it energized with our thoughts, feelings and actions.