Solar System Bodies: Astronomical Considerations

Sun. To the Egyptians it was Ra, Amen, Aten, or Osiris, each with a different religious significance. The winged globe in Egyptian art is a familiar representation of the solar orb. Atenism, the first impersonal concept of the Deity, worshipped only "the power which came from the Sun," and forbade any emblem or idol that would tend to substitute a symbol for the thing itself. To The Persian it was Mithras; to the Hindu, Brahma; to the Chaldean, Bel; and to the Greek, Adonis and Apollo. In Free-masonry Sol-om-on, the name of the Sun in three languages, is an expression of light.

Actually the Sun has no visible motion, although we know it moves because nothing in the universe can hold its place by standing still. However, ancient astrology dealt with things as they appear rather than as they are; just as the wind which blows South was to the ancients the North wind because it came out of the North. Therefore, when astrology speaks of the Sun's motion we must not overlook the fact that what we actually mean is the Earth's motion which we measure by or describe in the terms of the apparent motion of the Sun. That the ancient masters knew this, can be seen in the order of the planetary hours: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus - the placing of the Sun between Mars and Venus clearly showing that it represents the Earth in this sequence.

The Nodes at which the Earth intercepts the plane of the Sun's equator, lie at heliocentric longitudes 75° and 255°, which the Earth crosses in Junc and December. The Sun's North Pole is inclined toward the Earth by 7° in July, and away from the Earth by 7° in January. The plane of the Sun's orbit is not known, but since the Milky Way galaxy is a flat disc of stars it is probable that the Sun's orbit does not deviate to any great extent from the average of the stars within the galaxy - similar to the orbits of the planets which lie within a narrow band that extends some 7° on either side of the Ecliptic.

We do know that the plane of our ecliptic is inclined to the plane of the Milky Way galaxy at a steep angle of approximately 50° hence the three-dimensional motion of the Earth with reference to the orbit of the Sun must involve a considerable degree of elevation and depression above and below the plane of the Sun's orbit; also that there must be a considerable declination of the Sun's pole with reference to its orbit, not unlike that of the Earth's pole to which we ascribe our seasonal variations. Because of this, the Nodes where the Earth intersects the Sun's equator are not the same as those at which the Earth intersects the plane of the Sun's orbit. It is not improbable that the latter nodes may pursue a precessional cycle not unlike that of the Moon's Nodes.

The Sun is a variable star, unlike any other star yet discovered. It revolves from East to West; i.e., looking down on its North pole, it moves counter-clockwise. Its period of rotation at the Equator is 24.65 d.; at the pole, 34 d. Its mean period as seen by the Earth is 25.38 d.; but its synodical period of rotation is 27.25 d.

The diameter of the Sun is 864,392 miles. Driving in an automobile at the rate of 500 miles a day, it would require 14 y, 10 m, 2 d, to circle the Sun.

Its weight in tons is 2,200 plus 24 ciphers, or 2.2 octillion tons. In bulk it could contain 1,300,000 Earths.

The Sun-Earth distance - 92,897,416 miles - is taken as a unit of measurement of inter-solar system space, and is known as one Astronomical Unit. Its light requires 498.59 seconds, or about 8 1/3 minutes, to reach the Earth. To travel the distance by an airplane at 300 miles per hour, would consume 35 years; to walk at 4 m.p.h., 6300 y.

Hugh Rice, astronomer of the Hayden Planetarium of New York, says, "The Sun is the source of almost all the power, heat and life on the Earth." Heat reaching the Earth amounts to 1.94 calories per minute, per square mile of the Earth's surface. One caloric is the amount of heat required to raise one gram of water by one degree of temperature.

In terms of power the Sun's radiation amounts to 1.51 h.p. per sq. yard of the Earth's surface, or 643,000 h.p. per sq. mile. Were it not for loss by curvature and reflection it would amount to 4,690,000 h.p. per sq. mile, or for the entire surface of the Earth, 127 plus twelve ciphers, or 127 trillions of horsepower - more than we could possibly use. Actually our absorption amounts to from 0.34 to 0.38 h.p. per sq. yard, or the equivalent of a 60-watt lamp in continuous operation. When it is recalled that the Earth as seen from the Sun is a point in the sky apparently less than half as large as Venus when it is our brilliant evening star, and that this is the tiny object which intercepts a total of 230 million-million horsepower of solar radiation, it becomes evident that the Sun radiates an incomprehensible amount of energy. Indeed, we find that it radiates nearly 2,200,000,000 times as much energy as that which lights and warms and gives life to our planet, and hundreds of millions of times as much energy as is intercepted by all the planets, satellites, and planetoids combined.

Most of the Sun has a temperature of a million degrees. Its energy travels at the rate of 186,271 miles per second. The Sun's heat would melt a block of ice the size of the Earth in 16.6 minutes; a block of iron of the same size, in Less than 3 hours. Its heat for a year is equal to the burning of tons of coal amounting to 400 Plus 21 ciphers.

The Sun's Spectrum of visible light extends from 7700 Angstrom units on the red end, to 3600 Angstrom units on the violet end. An Angstrom unit is one ten-millionth of a millimeter. A millimeter is 1/25th of an inch. A wave of red light measures one 32-thousandths of an inch; of violet, one 64-thousandths. Hence the visible Spectrum consists of one octave, although 40 octaves are known to Science. The ultra-violet band extends from 3600 to 1000 Angstrom units. However, the ozone in the Earth's atmosphere cuts out all rays shorter than 2900 A.U. Tanning is nature's way of protecting the body against an excess of ultra-violet radiation.

The light of the Sun is 465,000 times brighter than the Full Moon; 900,000,000 times brighter than Venus at its brightest. In the Zenith this has been computed at 103,000 meter-candles. A meter-candle is the light received from a candle at a distance of a meter.

According to the latest astronomical computations the Sun's proper motion in orbit is approx. 200 miles per second; its apparent motion towards a point in the constellation Hercules is 12 miles per second.

Moon. A satellite of the Earth, which to different civilizations has also been known as Luna, Soma, Isis; the "mother of the Earth." It has given us the name for the first day of the week-Monday; also lunacy, lunatic, moonstruck.

The Moon, reflecting the light of the Sun, emits a degree of heat which can be registered by concentrating the rays on the bulb of a thermometer. It may have some slight vegetation, but because of the apparent absence of atmosphere or clouds it lacks sufficient water to support vegetation such as is on the Earth.

The period of the Moon's axial rotation is the same as its period of revolution, hence the same side of the Moon is always turned toward the Earth. That its orbit was formerly smaller and its velocity correspondingly greater is proved by comparing records of ancient eclipses to tables based on observation of its present motion. The Moon's mean distance from the Earth is 238,840 miles, or 60 times the Earth's radius. It travels a trifle faster than its diameter per hour. Nor is it entirely the nearest body to the Earth, for in part of its orbit the minor planet Hermes (disc. in 1937) approaches to a distance of only 200,000 Miles. Traveling by airplane at 200 m.p.h. one would traverse the Earth-Moon distance in 5o days; but it would take a rocket ship speed of 7 m.p.s. to get beyond the Earth's gravitational field-at which rate we could arrive in 2 days.

Lifetimes have been devoted to the study of its incredibly complex motions. Among its various perturbations are the Equation of the Center, the retrogression of the Nodes, Evection, the anomalistic period, Lunar Variation, Annual Equation, and Secular Acceleration.

Galilee, in 1610, was the first selenographer to study the Moon through a telescope. In 1647 Hevelius published a chart of the Moon's surface that was not improved upon for a century. Its phases are familiar: The crescent of the new moon, and the reverse crescent of the fourth quarter of its circuit; the gibbous phase of the second and third quarters, when more than half of the moon is light; and the Earth-shine, when the Earth reflects a dim light upon the surface of the Moon during a few days before and after the Lunation.

Because of its faster motion near perigee we are able to see 7°45' around the Eastern and Western edges. This is termed its Libration in Longitude. Because of the inclination of the plane of the Moon's orbit to that of the Earth, we are able at times to see 6°41' beyond each of the poles. This is termed Libration in Latitude. There is also a Diurnal Libration of 1° on the Eastern limb of the Moon when rising, and on the Western when setting. The net combined result is that 41% of the Moon's surface is visible all the time, with another 18% that is visible part of the time, leaving 41% that has never been seen from the Earth.

Meton discovered the recession of the Moon's node in 432 B.C. and reformed the calendar in accordance therewith. He determined that there were 235 synodic periods in 19 years, varying by i day according to the number of leap years contained in the period.

The node recesses 360° in 6793.5 days or 18 2/3 years, or roughly 1½ years to a sign.

The Draconitic period of the Moon's motion, that from node to node, is 27.2122 days.

The moon rises 50 minutes later each night.

Harvest Moon. At this season of the year the Moon's path more nearly parallels that of the Earth, hence it remains near to the horizon for several days, at the same hour. Similarly with the Hunter's Moon, which is the nearest Full Moon to September 23rd. This effect is further intensified when the descending node is at 0° Aries. For example, with the Ascending node at 0° Aries : 23° 27', Plus 5° 9', equals 28° 36'. With the Descending node at 0° Aries : 23° 27', minus 5° 9', equals 18° 18°'. The Full Moon rides low in Summer but high in Winter, thus making Winter the season of least sunlight but of most moonlight.

Moonlight contains streaks of bright rays, apparently from some special mineral that fails to absorb light, or which may have some such property as radio-activity - to conjecture on a point regarding which scientists fail to agree. The rays consist largely of shades of yellow and gray, and from certain areas a shade of green. The Earth's surface has a reflective power six times greater than that of the Moon.

The Lunar spectrum is much the same as that of the Sun, except that the light is yellower, and more diffused because of the roughness of the Moon's surface. At the quarter, the Moon's light has a brilliance of one-millionth that of the Sun; at the Full, 1/465 thousandths. However, the Moon absorbs 93% of the light it could reflect.

The Moon's aspects by Right Ascension differ some minutes from those by Geocentric Longitude.

Tropical period minus Precession from 0° Aries : 6.9 seconds per period.

The color white is often associated with the Moon to symbolize purity. That it is chemically white is due to the absence of all color. Prismatically it is the presence of all colors of the spectrum, or the three primary colors in the proportions of three parts of yellow, five of red, and eight of blue.

Mercury. A small planet, with pale bluish light; the planet closest to the Sun. Never more than 28 degrees from the Sun, it is rarely visible to the naked eye. The Roman god Mercury and the Greek god Hercules, the winged messenger of the Gods, were endowed with the qualities that are associated with the influence of the planet Mercury. To the Chaldeans it was Nebo, the planet of warning; also associated with Buddha, the wise.

Ancient astrologers considered the existence of a planet nearer to the Sun than Mercury, to which they gave the name Vulcan. It has not as yet been discovered by astronomers.

From a stationary point about 28° in advance of the Sun, it retrogrades to an inferior conjunction with the Sun - after which it becomes a "morning star," visible on the Eastern horizon shortly before Sunrise. From a stationary point about 20° behind the Sun, it advances by direct motion to a superior conjunction with the Sun - after which it becomes an "evening star," visible on the Western horizon shortly after Sunset.

As with the Moon, and all satellites with reference to the planet around which they revolve, Mercury always turns the same face toward the Sun, except for a libration of 23° 7' in both directions: making a 47° zone of temperate conditions, and 132° zones of perpetual heat and cold.

As seen from the Earth, Mercury presents phases, similar to those of the Moon, because of which its visible size varies from 30' to 104' -- its crescent or new moon phase occurs at its inferior conjunction; its full moon phase at its superior conjunction. Its minor elongation, about 18°, occurs 22 days before and after its inferior conjunction; its major elongation, about 28°, 36 days before and after its superior conjunction. At its maximum its visible size is 3¼ times its diameter. Two of Jupiter's moons are larger than the planet Mercury.

To locate Mercury in the evening sky, find in the ephemeris the dates of its major elongation before or after a superior conjunction, and for 10 and 5 days before and after. Transfer into hours its R.A. and declination on these five dates, and plot its course on a star map, making note its nearness to known bright stars. Tilt this map toward the celestial North pole, and assume a horizon about 23° below the Mercury position. If weather conditions permit it can be seen with the aid of a field glass - sometimes even with the naked eye.

Mercury made a transit across the face of the Sun on May 11, 1937.

Venus. A brilliant planet reflecting a silvery-white light, it is the most brilliant object that illuminates the evening sky. The Greeks associated it with Aphrodite. To the Romans, it was known as Lucifer, when the Morning Star: and Vesper, when the Evening Star. To the Chaldeans it was Ishtar, and compared to the Sumerian virgin mother, the "Lady of Heaven," and the goddess of fertility.

Like Mercury, Venus exhibits phases, from a large twin crescent at the Inferior Conjunction, when it is closest to the Earth, and some- times visible in daylight if you know where to look for it, to a small round orb at the Superior Conjunction, when it is on the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth. After the Superior Conjunction it is an Evening Star, and thus is visible in the evening, sky after sun-down, setting later each evening until it reaches its maximum elongation of about 47° - at which time it sets about 3 hours after the Sun.

Shortly thereafter it attains to its greatest brilliancy, then grows rapidly smaller as it again comes closer behind the Sun, until at its Inferior Conjunction it becomes invisible. Thereafter it reappears on the other side of the Sun and becomes again visible as the Morning Star. Its motion as a Morning Star, as measured from the Earth, is slower because of its greater distance from the Earth: 26 million miles at the Inferior Conjunction, as compared to 160 million miles at the Superior Conjunction.

Its rotation period has never been established because of the layer of clouds in which it is perpetually enveloped. Its period has been variously estimated at from 68 hours to 225 days. Its axis is inclined to its orbit plane at an angle of 5 degrees. Its low albedo, or reflecting power (.59), is due to this constant cloud covering. The periods when it is a Morning and Evening Star are of about 10 months' duration each.

Transits over the Sun are rare and occur only when the Sun is within 1°45' of the node, with the Earth also at the node. Though infrequent, they come in pairs. The last such transits occurred in 1874 and 1882. It will not recur until June 8, 2004 and June 6, 2012. The duration of such a transit is about 8 hours.

Earth. The planet we inhabit. Astrologically, the Earth is the center of its universe, since one is concerned not with the position of the planets in reference to the Sun, but with the angle from which their reflected frequencies enter into the experience of those who dwell upon the Earth. When one speaks of the Sun's position he is but expressing the position of the Earth in its orbit in terms of the apparent position of the Sun. The Earth's orbit is an ellipse, of an eccentricity of about 1:60 - but which is slowly diminishing. Its longest diameter is its major axis. Its half length, or semi-axis, taken as the Mean distance from the Earth to Sun, amounts to about 92,900,000 miles. At perihelion the Earth is more than three million miles closer to the Sun than at aphelion; or about 3% of the maximum distance. The velocity of the Earth in its orbit is approximately 18.5 miles per second.

The Precession of the Equinoctial Point amounts to 360 degrees in about 24,800 years. The Earth's rotation appears to be slowing down at a rate which if continued will amount to 1 second in about 120,000 years.

The common center around which the Earth and the Moon revolve has been computed to be about 3000 miles from the Earth's center - or 1000 miles below the crust of the Earth. That this point is a variable one has been used by some as a basis for a computation based on the assumption that as this point approaches the surface of the Earth there result phenomena known as Earthquakes. The Earth curves from a straight line at the rate of about 1/9th of a degree per second. Its Diameter at the poles is 7900 m.; at the Equator, 7926 m.

The inclination of its axis to the Ecliptic, 66°33'.

Mars. The nearest planet to the Earth, and frequently visible, it may be recognized through the distinct reddish hue of its ray. Mars was known as Ares, the god of war; and as Nimrod, the god of the chase, whose mission it was apparently to dispel terror and fear. To the Greeks, it was Pyrois, the fire. The Romans celebrated the festival of Mars in March, before an altar in the Campus Martius. From it comes our word martial, war like - as martial music. To the Chaldeans it was Nergal, called the "raging king" and the "furious one"; to the Babylonians, the god of war and pestilence, said to preside over the nether-world. For the Alchemists, it represented Iron. Mars has two satelites: Deimos, 6 miles in diameter, distant from Mars by 6.9 radii; and Phoetus, with a revolutionary period of 7h 39M. Deimos has a sidereal period of 30h 18m. Phoetus makes 1330 eclipses a year.

Asteroids. An orbit, approximately midway between those of Mars and Jupiter, occupied by a large number of planetoids or minor planets: variously explained as fragments of a major planet broken up in some prehistoric catastrophe; or particles drawn out of the Sun which failed to coalesce into a single planet. In all there are estimated to be some 50,000 of these Asteroids, of which 1380 had been identified in 1937. As many as 5000 are estimated to have been seen, and again lost. Many of them are more readily visible than Pluto, and may have some astrological significance not as yet identified. Their average diameter is less than 100 miles.

The Astronomischer Rechen-Institut at Dahlem, near Berlin, was world headquarters for Asteroid research, and up to World War 11 published a yearly ephemeris of the larger Asteroids for the periods when they are best observed.

Statistics of the five principal Asteroids are as follows:

The next five, in the order of their discovery, are Hebe (1847), Iris (1847), Flora (1847), Metis (1848), Hygeia (1849).

The orbit of 944 Hidalgo has an eccentricity of 0.65 - more elongated than some comets. At its aphelion distance (9.6 units) it extends into Saturn's orbit.

That of 1177 Gounessia, has an eccentricity of 0.006399, more circular than that of Venus, the most circular among the major planets.

That of 846 Lipperta, is almost parallel with that of the Earth, with an inclination of 0°.244 - more nearly parallel than that of Uranus 0°.77.

That of 2 Pallas has an inclination of 34°.726 - double that of Pluto's 17°.1.

Three Asteroids come closer to the Earth than do any of the major planets. They are Amor, Apollo, and Adonis. 1936 CA or Adonis was discovered in 1936 by Delporte in Belgium. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.78, an inclination to the Ecliptic of 1°.48, and a major axis of 1.969 units. On February 7, 1936, it approached to within 1,200,000 miles of the Earth, in the sign Leo. It had reached perihelion in December 1935, at a point slightly outside Mercury's orbit, at a distance of less than half an astrom. unit. Its diameter is less than ½ mile. At aphelion it will go almost to the Jupiter orbit. Its period is about 2 years.

Another asteroid was discovered in 1940 that had approached to within 110,000 miles beyond the Moon's orbit. v. Hermes.

Jupiter. The largest planet in the solar family: larger in fact than all other planets combined. Yet it is exceeded in brightness by Venus, because of her greater proximity to the Earth. To the Greeks, known as Zeus; also associated with Marduk, one of the gods of the Pantheon; known to the Hindus as Brahmanaspati. Jupiter has 11 satellites. The first four were among the earliest discoveries of Galileo, and can be seen with the aid of a field glass. Statistics concerning the first five are as follows:

The dates of discovery are V, 1892; VI, 1904; VII, 1905; VIII, 1908; IX, 1914; X, 1938; XI, 1938. The orbits of the outer four are so far distant from the planet that their motion is affected by perturbations due to the Sun's attraction, to such an extent that they can hardly be said to have an orbit.

No. IX has an orbital inclination in excess of 90°, to that of Jupiter's orbit. No. VIII has an orbital eccentricity of 0.38, whereby its distance varies from 9 to 20 million miles.

Saturn. The planet next smaller in magnitude to Jupiter, and next more remote from the Sun, is remarkable for its engirdling system of rings. It was the most remote planet known to the ancients. The surface of Saturn shows markings somewhat similar to those of Jupiter, but fainter. Spectroscopic observations have confirmed the theory that the rings are composed of a dense swarm of small solid bodies. of ten identified satellites of Saturn, the brightest is Titan. The ninth, Phobe, is fainter and more distant than any of the others. The tenth, Themis, lies between Titan and Hyperion. When the Alchemists and early Chemists used the name Saturn they referred to its association with the metal lead. Lead poisoning was once called the Saturnine colic.

Saturn was the ancient god of the seed sowing. His temple in Rome, founded in 497 B.C., was used as a state treasury. In 2I7 B.C. the worship of Saturn was conformed to that of its Greek counterpart, Cronus, son of Uranus, and god of Boundless Time and the Cycles. There was a myth that Saturn in Italy, as Cronus in Greece, had been king during an ancient golden age - hence was the founder of Italian civilization. Also associated with the Greek god Phoenon, "the cruel one," and the Assyrian god Ninib, patron of Agriculture, and one of the gods of the Pantheon. From it we have the English word Saturnian or Saturnine. The Saturnine colic was lead poisoning. Its atmosphere contains a high percentage of methane and ammonium gases, with no oxygen. For some unexplained reason it changes color from year to year.

There are 25,824 Saturn days in one Saturn year.

The Saturn rings consist of: A, the outermost ring, about 11,000 miles in width; B, the middle ring, about 18,000 miles in width; and C, the inside ring, the gauze or crepe ring, about 11,000 miles in width. Between it and the surface of the planet is a gap of about 5,000 miles. Separating A and B is the Cassini division, a dark strip some 2,300 miles in width.

Because the planet's equator is inclined about 28° to the plane of the ecliptic, the Saturn ring as seen from the Earth passes through phases: from Saturn's equinoctial point, where the rings are visible only as a thin line, to Saturn's solstices, where they lie transverse to us in a wide expanse. The edgewise view occurs in longitudes 172° and 352°; the maximum elongation, in longitudes 82° and 262°. The edgewise view was had in 1921 and 1936; the full-faced view in 1929 and 1944. As this constitutes a 15-year cycle, it is possible that there are related variations and fluctuations in the resultant astrological influences, which further research will be able to reduce to usable distinctions.

Uranus. Its discovery by Sir William Herschel on March 13, 1781, added a new factor to the problems of Astrology, and incidentally widened the horizon of observation of planetary influence upon human life. Inserting the planet into the existing horoscopes, revealed that Uranus had been the previously inexplicable cause of violent dislocations, fractures, separations, mental disturbances and deaths. With its discovery there came a new interpretation to the old phrase "by visitation of God." Herschel called it Georgium Sidus, but England continues to use the name Herschel - from which derives the symbol although the rest of the world adopted the name Uranus by which Bode referred to it in 1783. Astrologers had long speculated upon its existence, referring to it as Ouranos. It is sometimes called "The cataclysmic planet."

The astronomers' symbol is one of the few cases in which astronomers and astrologers fall to employ the same symbols.

As its Equator is inclined by 82° to the plane of its orbit, the regions of perpetual day and night reach to within 8° of the Equator.

Its satellites are:

Neptune. Until the discovery of Pluto in 1930, Neptune was supposed to be the outermost member of the solar system. It was discovered September 23, 1846 by Galle in Berlin, in the region suggested by Leverrier of Paris; but later was identified as the "star" observed in 1795 by Lalande of Paris. Agrippa dedicated a temple to Neptune in honor of the naval victory of Actium. To the Greeks, known as Poseidon. It is a greenish disc of the magnitude of 7.7, and is distant from Earth by 30 astrom. units. Its revolutionary period is 164y.

It has one known satellite, Triton, about the size of our Moon, and 220,000 miles distant from the planet. It has a magnitude of 13. Its period is 5d, 21h, its orbit inclined to the Neptune orbit by an angle of 40°; its motion retrograde, with a recession period of 580y, or 140° direct. Inclination of Triton's orbit to Neptune's equator is 20°.

Neptune was in Virgo from 1435 to 1449; from 1600 to 1614; from 1761 to 1778; and most recently from 1921 to 1942. It was in Libra from 1450 to 1465; from 1615 to 1635; from 1779 to 1793; and 1943 to 1957.

Pluto. The outermost planet of the solar system so far identified, was discovered in 1930. It lies 800 million miles beyond Neptune. The nearest conjunction of Neptune and Pluto occurred in 1892.. A previous exact conjunction occurred in prehistoric times, and will not recur for several thousand years, when they will remain close together for 100 years. As 3 Neptune revolutions take 494y. and 2 of Pluto 496y, an approximate conjunction occurs every 492.328 years.

Pluto was discovered by Percival Lowell, who delayed publication of the news until his birthday, March 13, 1930 - the day on which Uranus had been discovered 140 years before.

The name Pluto, beginning with P.L., the initials of the discoverer was suggested by an eleven-year-old English girl.

The size or volume of Pluto has not been ascertained, but its mass is less than that of the Earth. The extreme eccentricity of its orbit brings it at times nearer to the Sun than Neptune. There is no certainty that the orbits do not cross, in which event a collision is not impossible. Experience seems to increase the probability of the eventual discovery of other Trans-Neptune planets.

The years in which Pluto entered the various signs is shown in the following table, from which its position in any year can readily be approximated: