The 4 quarter days and the days halfway between each (the cross-quarter days) have often been used as markers of the changing seasons and many festivals across many cultures have celebrated these astronomical moments. Groundhog Day is an astronomy holiday - a cross-quarter day - falling approximately midway between the December solstice. Much lore is associated with this day, including this proverb: After Lammas Day, corn ripens as much by night asbyday., It was upon a Lammas night, Section 2: Select the sky events to include in the calendar (moon phases, eclipses, planet positions, meteor showers, etc). There are typically two Super Moons in any given year, and while the second occurs next month, its Junes full Moon thats the closest. ET (3:41 a.m. PT), the partial phase ending at 7:49 a.m. In reply to Love Farmer's Almanac by Sharon Cardenas (not verified). The next full Moon will be Monday evening, Jan. 17, 2022, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 6:48 p.m. EST. But the seasonal traditions of this holiday go back a long, long way. ( chart ) Jan 24, 2022, 12:53. Cross Quarter Day - Imbolc - Sunset Rodwin Chamber, Northern Vermont, USA. This should make the planet relatively easily seen as a pinkish-white solitary star about 9 degrees above the eastern horizon at 30 minutes before dawn. Meanwhile, about five and a quarter degrees to the west of Venus is coppery Mars. The second total lunar eclipse of the year takes place in the early hours of the morning - but not everyone in North America will get to see it. In the article about the Celtic Calendar and the quarter/cross-quarter days, there is an error in the one for Mid-summer's day. After making an appearance in the evening sky at the beginning of the year, Mercury is now best seen in the morning sky. The second of the years Super Moons occur today; Junes full Moon was 224,000 miles (360,000 km) away, while the Moon today is 226,000 miles (363,000 km) distant. If youve been rising early over the past few weeks, you may have noticed Jupiter creeping away from the Sun and into the morning twilight. February 2023. Modern Wiccans are trying to steal the Christian holiday. The sky will need to be dark in order to easily see Uranus, even with binoculars, so youll need to be outside by around 3:30 a.m. before the sky starts to brighten. In the 1950s, when people began resurrecting the ancient Celtic religion they began to celebrate Samhain on 1 November, the same day as All Saints Day and All Saints Eve (Halloween). A new noteworthy comet has been discovered! Thank you, Sharon, for reading the Almanac! What's in the Sky This Month? Since the solstices and equinoxes can shift slightly from year to year, so can the cross quarter dates when using this method. Finally, December boasts a triple-whammy of Mars at opposition, the full Moon, and an occultation of Mars by the Moon - all on the same night! Living in houses and especially in cities, where the ambient light and the tall buildings block out the heavens, we have forgotten the natural flow of the cosmos. Therell be 3.9 degrees between them on the 16th and then the two will slowly move apart until a little more than four degrees separates them on the 20th. Discover the Quarter Days and theCross-Quarter Days of the ancient Celtic calendar. Love reading all the articles in this publication. Jan 4: Earth's Perihelion 4 Jan At 16:17 UTC, the Earth will reach its perihelionthe point on its orbit closest to the Sun. The U.S. Please use another browser such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari for the best experience. What Is An Open Star Cluster & Which Are The Best Ones? Mars, however, will appear as a bright, coppery star towards the east. The solar cross-quarter days occur midway between the equinoxes and solstices. If you live on the west coast, the gap between them will have widened to two and a half degrees by 3 a.m., local time. Halloween stems from the ancient celebration of Samhain! Some believe that the Celts divided the year into just four major sections: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh (what we call Cross-Quarter days). or It was not until 835 CE that Halloween was celebrated on 31 October (moved from 15 May). Mercury is at its greatest elongation from the Sun today, which makes it visible in the west from about 15 minutes after sunset. It will be visible from most of Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and the western part of Asia. Midpoint of summer officially occurs on Sunday, August 7, 2022, meaning summer is half over. It seems from the astronomical alignment that the megaliths mark cross-quarter holidays. During the mission, the Luna 25 spacecraft will land near the lunar south pole at the Boguslavsky crater and study the composition of the polar regolith. This fit readily into the rhythm of the ways peoplefarmed. Winter Solstice 2022: The First Day of Winter. It could reach naked-eye visibility by mid-October 2024. The Cross-Quarter Days were symbolized by the four much smaller dots in the crotches of the Cross. Along with the Quarter Days, they make up the "Wheel of the Year." These holidays "cross" the quarter days (the solstices and the equinoxes) by falling about halfway in between, thus dividing the year into four parts of approximately three months each. Elections came to be shifted to November in the American climate, where the harvest season was more stretchedout. | How Is Easter's Date Determined? The waning Moon will appear half-full as it reaches its last quarter at 8:41 a.m. EST. The days that marked the four major divisions of the year were called Quarter Days; they marked the solstice(when the sun sets at its most northern or southern point on the horizon) and equinoxes (when the sun sets due west). Here is what we know about it so far. Image: AMidsommar celebration in Stockholm,Sweden. The 2 solstices and 2 equinoxes are called the quarter days in many ancient traditions, since they divide the year up into quarters. After that, theyll start to drift apart, with the gap more than doubling to nearly a degree by the 6th. All planets Sun Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Node Lilith Chiron. August. The time flew by, wi tentless heed, The Celtic rituals merged easily with the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus. The partial phase then ends at 1:55 a.m. The full Moon in March is typically known as the Worm Moon, as this is the time of year when earthworms can often be seen on the ground. What about Imobolc, Litha, Mabon, and Yule? Beneath the moons unclouded light, ( chart ) Jan 20, 2022, 02:39. I held awa to Annie; Festive Lughnasa is actually the first Sunday in August, Cross quarter days actually fall about five days after we celebrate them because the Celts had a lunar calendar with thirteen months and they fell on the first day of their month and when the calendar changed to the twelve month calendar that we use now they continued to celebrate them on the first of the month if you Count the days between solstice and equinox the halfway point is later. The four Quarter Days in southern England, Wales and Ireland are: Lady Day - March 25, Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, the traditional day for hiring farm workers for the coming year Midsummer - June 24, Feast of St John the Baptist, the midpoint of the growing season Youll need an unobstructed view toward the east-northeast at about 30 minutes before sunrise; Mercury will appear as a relatively dim star about six degrees above the horizon. Februarys full Moon is known as the Snow Moon, as the heaviest snowfall often occurs this month. Although the Leonids have a reputation for producing some stunning displays, the reality is that most years its a fairly run-of-the-mill meteor shower. Do the same with I/s3 and I/s3. It seems from astronomical alignment that the megaliths mark cross-quarter holidays. There very interesting & informative. From an astronomical point of view, the four arms represent: Winter Solstice - around December 21st (on the cross above: at 6:00 o'clock). This year the planet appears 50 arcseconds in diameter and shines at magnitude -2.9, making this Jupiters best opposition until 2034. Thats because theres a full Moon tonight, which will substantially brighten the sky and drown out all but the brightest shooting stars. Lammas bread was often made in shapes including wheat, owls, and corndolls. This meteor shower can produce up to 120 meteors per hour, but on average, its hourly rate equals about 25. Up until now, we have been assuming that there is a level horizon. Its best to start your observations after midnight. That being the case, unless youre up and outside at that time, your best opportunity to see the Moon at its fullest will be during the evening of the 17th, when the Moon will be roughly 99.8% illuminated. Comae Berenicid meteor shower 2022 Moon at Last Quarter; 20: December Leonis Minorid meteor shower 2022; 21: Look carefully some seven degrees to the west of Mercury and you might also see the star Aldebaran in the twilight. The actual calendar date of Samhain/Halloween is November 11th. Ancient Celtic Calendar: Quarter Days and Cross-Quarter Days Andrew E. Rothovius October 28, 2022 For daily wit & wisdom, sign up for the Almanac newsletter. If youre not a morning person, youll be pleased to know theres one planet youll be able to see in the evening sky. Founded in 1830 as the U.S. Navy Depot of Charts and Instruments, USNO is recognized as the world's foremost authority on spatial and . (The English church later celebrated this day as the birthday of John the Baptist, who foretold the coming of Jesus. Theres a very nice opportunity to see the waning crescent Moon close to Venus and Mercury in the predawn twilight today and tomorrow. In 1752 when we switched tot he Gregorian calendar, we began celebrating Halloween several days BEFORE Samhain. Southern Hemisphere observers will have to wait until the middle of the night for meteors to appear. The Druidic Cross to the left indicates the Quarter Days with the four arms of the Cross. Lyra, the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate, rises at about 11 p.m., while the waning gibbous Moon rises in Sagittarius some four hours later. Answer: Based on the fact that September has 30 days, September 15th would be exact middle of the month. That should give you plenty of time between sunset on the 21st and dawn on the 22nd to see some shooting stars! The Moon itself is just over the border in Cancer, the Crab, but its light will drown out the faint stars of that constellation. To its upper left is Mars, while Venus shines brilliantly toward the east. It's hard to follow up a month like August: every year the August night sky wows with the Perseids shower and a host of other astronomical events. Saturn is the first of the outer planets to reach opposition this year. It is understood that no pre-Christian people celebrated all eight festivals. PT.) If you want to explore the night sky and always stay informed about the upcoming space-related events, download our stargazing apps Sky Tonight and Star Walk 2. With the potential for 150 shooting stars an hour being visible under ideal conditions, the Geminids produce more meteors than the Perseids and are brighter and more colorful. 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