The Space Age

For those who wish to pursue new theories based on the Old Wisdom and who wish to look more deeply into our vastly changing world from a different perspective.

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James Strom
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The Space Age

Post by James Strom »

For your pleasure I have made a list of interesting astronomical events that occurred during the Space Age.

1955/06/26 Pluto conjuncts Haumea apart 2º 11' at 144º 53'
1956/09/10-21:58 Mars at super opposition at 348º 08'
1957/04/30-00:05:28 Annular solar eclipse mag. 0.9992, dur. 0:00
1957/10/04-19:28:34 Sputnik 1
1957/10/05-16:02 Jupiter conjuncts Sun apart 1º 06' at 192º 09'
1957/10/23-04:54:02 Total solar eclipse mag. 1.0022, dur. 0:00
1958/09/24-16:12 Jupiter conjuncts Neptune apart 43' at 213º 19'
1958/10/11 Pioneer 1
1958/10/12-20:55:28 Total solar eclipse mag. 1.0608, dur. 5:11
1961/01/29-08:36 Venus at greatest evening elongation apart 46º 57' at 356º 10'
1961/02/12 Venera 1, first Venus flyby
1961/02/15-8:19:48 Total solar eclipse mag. 1.036 dur. 2:45
1961/02/19-00:01 Jupiter conjuncts Saturn apart 14' at 295º 12'
1961/04/10-23:48 Venus conjuncts Sun apart 7º 07' at 20º 52'
1961/04/12-6:07 Vostok 1, first man in space
1961/05/01-23:17 Mercury occulted by Sun apart 11' at 41º 20'
1961/05/05 Mercury 3 First American in space
1961/07/19-09:12 Mercury greatest morning elongation apart 20º 21' at 96º 15'
1961/07/21 Mercury 4 Spacecraft sunk
1961/08/11-10:46:47 Annular solar eclipse mag. 0.9375, dur. 6:35
1962/02/05-0:12:38 Total solar eclipse and great syzygy width 16º 15', mag. 1.043, dur. 4:08
1962/02/20 Mercury 6 First American in orbit
1962/03/03-05:32 Mercury greatest morning elongation apart 27º 08' at 315º 03'
1962/05/13-21:54 Mercury greatest evening elongation apart 21º 46' at 74º 17'
1962/05/24 Mercury 7
1962/10/03 Mercury 8
1962/10/06:15:49 Mercury conjuncts Sun apart 2º 04' at 192º 55'
1963/05/15 Mercury 9, First day-long flight
1963/05/18-03:09 Mercury conjuncts Sun apart 53' at 56º 29'
1963/05/19-14:12:42 Mercury at super perigee (best since 1930, until 1976)
1963/10/08-11:00 Jupiter at super opposition
1965/03/23-14:24 Gemini 3
1965/04/22-13:26 Jupiter enters tropical Gemini
1965/05/21-06:34 Sun enters tropical Gemini
1965/06/02-03:39 Mercury enters tropical Gemini
1965/05/30-21:17:31 Total solar eclipse mag. 1.0544 dur. 5:15
1965/06/03-07 Gemini IV First American EVA
1965/06/15-03:47 Mercury leaves tropical Gemini
1965/06/15-22:21 Mercury enters sidereal Gemini
1965/06/21-06:04 Sun enters sidereal Gemini
1965/06/29-23:21 Mercury leaves sidereal Gemini
1965/07/20-10:52 Sun leaves sidereal Gemini
1965/08/21-29 Gemini V
1965/09/17-11:45 Jupiter enters sidereal Gemini
1965/09/21-03:24 Jupiter leaves tropical Gemini
1965/11/20-17:42 Jupiter leaves sidereal Gemini
1965/11/23-4:14:51 Annular solar eclipse mag. 0.9656, dur. 4:02
1965/12/04-18 Gemini VII
1965/12/15-16 Gemini VIA First American rendezvous
1965/12/17-1:06 Jupiter at perigee
1966/03/16-17 Gemini VIII First docking, emergency landing
1966/05/03-19:54 Jupiter enters sidereal Gemini
1966/05/21-12:16 Sun enters tropical Gemini
1966/05/24-17:52 Mercury enters tropical Gemini
1966/06/03-06 Gemini IXA
1966/06/07-15:21 Mercury enters sidereal Gemini
1966/06/07-19:04 Mercury leaves tropical Gemini
1966/06/21-12:04 Sun enters sidereal Gemini
1966/06/21-20:19 Sun leaves tropical Gemini
1966/06/24-13:18 Mercury leaves sidereal Gemini
1966/07/18-21 Gemini X
1966/07/20-16:50 Sun leaves sidereal Gemini
1966/09/12-15 Gemini XI
1966/09/12-04:30 Jupiter leaves sidereal Gemini
1966/09/27-12:21 Jupiter enters tropical Leo
1966/11/11-15 Gemini XII
1966/11/12-14:23:28 Total solar eclipse mag. 1.0234, dur. 1:57
1967/01/16-03:22 Jupiter leaves tropical Leo
1967/01/26-06:43 Full moon at 125º 25'
1967/01/27 Apollo 1
1967/05/23-07:26 Jupiter enters tropical Leo
1967/08/17-04:37 Jupiter enters sidereal Leo
1967/10/15-17:20 Jupiter conjucts Regulus apart 19' at 149º 23'
1967/10/19-10:00 Jupiter leaves tropical Leo
1968/02/27-02:44 Jupiter enters tropical Leo
1968/03/02-21:52 Jupiter conjucts Regulus apart 47' at 149º 23'
1968/06/11-02:55 Jupiter conjucts Regulus apart 36' at 149º 23'
1968/06/15-14:07 Jupiter leaves tropical Leo
1968/10/09-19:20 Jupiter leaves sidereal Leo
1968/11/06-14:23 Mars conjuncts Jupiter apart 16' at 178º 23'
1968/12/11-14:58 Jupiter conjuncts Uranus apart 29' at 183º 39'
1968/12/14-00:31 Moon occults Uranus at 183º 43'
1968/12/14-00:54 Moon occults Jupiter at 183º 55'
1968/12/15-09:43 Moon occults Spica at 203º 24'
1968/12/21-27 Apollo 8
1969/03/05-15:45 Moon conjuncts Uranus apart 1º 51' at 182º 42'
1969/03/05-17:59 Moon conjuncts Jupiter apart 2º 40' at 183º 11'
1969/03/11-19:37 Jupiter conjuncts Uranus apart 47' at 182º 26'
1969/03/3-13 Apollo 9
1969/05/18-26 Apollo 10
1969/05/26-07:16 Moon conjuncts Jupiter apart 2º 06' at 176º 07'
1969/05/26-08:39 Moon conjuncts Uranus apart 1º 46' at 179º 56'
1969/07/16-24 Apollo 11
1969/07/20-08:00 Moon conjuncts Jupiter from S 62º 27', W 148º 00' at 180º 40'
1969/07/20-08:00 Moon conjuncts Uranus from S 62º 27', W 148º 00' at 180º 40'
1969/07/20-08:00 Jupiter conjuncts Uranus from S 62º 27', W 148º 00' at 180º 40'
1969/11/08-04:04 Moon occults Spica at 203º 25'
1969/11/14-24 Apollo 12
1970/04/11-17 Apollo 13
1971/01/31-02/9 Apollo 14
1971/02/01-06:48 Jupiter conjuncts Neptune apart 44' at 242º 47'
1971/02/10-07:45 Total lunar eclipse mag. 1.313, dur. 1:22
1971/05/22-04:58 Jupiter conjuncts Neptune apart 43' at 241º 44'
1971/07/26-08/07 Apollo 15
1971/08/06-19:43 Total lunar eclipse mag. 1.734, dur. 1:40
1971/08/10-06:53 Mars at super opposition at 317º 00'
1971/09/16-05:28 Jupiter conjuncts Neptune apart 1º 02' at 240º 37'
1972/01/30-10:53 Total lunar eclipse mag. 1.055, dur. 0:36
1972/04/16-27 Apollo 16
1972/12/07-19 Apollo 17
1972/12/08-04:42 Moon occults Jupiter at 282º 24'
1973/12/23-05:51 Saturn at super opposition at 91º 15'

It all began with Sputnik. The next day Jupiter conjuncted the Sun.
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A week before the launch of Apollo 8, which took men around the Moon for the first time, the latter occulted both Jupiter and Uranus at almost the same time. It must have been quite a sight to see both the God of the Heavens and the King of the Gods blocked by the Moon. Here's how it would've looked if you zoomed in on it.
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On the day we landed on the Moon an even more extraordinary event occurred with these same planets; a true conjunction of all three simultaneously. By true I mean they all have exactly, not approximately, the same ecliptic coordinates. At precisely 8:00 AM GMT on July 20, 1969, the Moon, Uranus, and Jupiter formed a perfect line in the sky. This is very rare; one involving two Jovian planets with the Moon may happen only about once every 500 years or so. And they can only be seen at certain exact locations on the Earth but for an instant. Here's what someone might have seen.
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That such an incredibly rare event involving the Moon would happen on the day we first stepped on it speaks volumes.
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