Did you know the planets run like a clock? In passing someone mentioned that the planets went around the Sun like a clock. I put the most accurate numbers I could find in my ATARI 400 (citra 1984) and came up with the following facts that seem to show the inner planets work like a clock. If you except this concept, then it would be congruent thinking to believe the planets and a clock would either be created or evolved. The more accurate our understanding of planets revolution the more accurate I believe this table will become.
THE PLANETS AS A CLOCK
| Planet | Comparison Planet | Plus/Minus |
| 5 Mercury orbits = | 3 Venus orbits | 10 days |
| 10 Mercury orbits = | 4 Venus orbits | 19.1 days |
| 4 Mercury orbits = | 1 Earth orbit | 13.35 days |
| 13 Venus orbits = | 8 Earth orbits | 1 day |
| 25 Mercury orbits = | 6 Venus orbits | 7.7 days |
| 15 Earth orbits = | 8 Mars orbits | 17 days |
| 39 Mercury orbits = | 5 Earth orbits | 4.1 days |
ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR
All times in Pacific local time. Pacific Standard Time (UT=PST-8) in winter and after the time change, reverts to Pacific Daylight Time (UT=PDT-7).
Tycho Brahe, Kepler's teacher never saw Mercury and did not believe in it's existance. This should be a good year to view Mercury
but you need to be quick. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, so it is always close to the Sun in the sunrise or sunset hours. Look
toward the almost rising or just after it sets at a bright star near the horizon. Mercury travels around the sun in 88-89 earth days, so it moves from morning to evening sky every 44-45 days. Most of the time it is too close to the Sun or below our horizon to view Mercury, but occasionally, it comes high enough in the sky and we get a beautiful peak at one of our most illusive planets.
Jan 01, Happy New Year! 2006
Jan 01, Moon is 7 degrees SSE of Venus
Jan 01, Moon at pegree 56.7 earth-radii
Jan 03, Quadrant meteor shower
Jan 04, 7:22 latest sunrise at 40 degrees latitude.
Jan 04, Earth at Perihelion (nearest the Sun) 0.9833 a,u. (147,100,000 km)
Jan 06, Monday, Eastern Orthodox Christmas, 12 days after the Winter Solstice
Jan 06, Vesta at opposition (up all night) As bright as 6.1 magnitude
Jan 06, Moon at first quarter
Jan 08, Moon 1.3 degrees from Mars (bad for viewing up close, but it shows where it is in the sky.)
Jan 13, Friday the 13th
Jan 14. January 1 in Julian Calendar. We use Gregorian calendar.
Jan 14, 1:47 PST Full moon (Moon After Yule)
Jan 14, midnight, Moon 2 degrees from Pollux (Gemini)
Jan 15, Beehive cluster up most of the night
Jan 17, Moon at apogee. 63.6 earth-radii
Jan 22, 7:14 PM PST Moon last quarter
Jan 27, Saturn at opposition, in the sky all night.
Jan 29. 6:15 AM PST Mew Moon
Jan 31, 1427 A.H. Muslim New Year
Feb Sky: About half of the 24 brightest stars in the sky can be seen by looking clockwise around Orion.
Feb 01, meteor shower you can hear. Pick a weak FM station and see if you can hear it get clear and loud tonight.
Feb 02, Candlemas or Ground Hog Day, this is half way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.
Feb 02, Moon only 0.6 degrees from Saturn
Feb 02, Saturn 0.6 degrees from center of the Beehive cluster.
Feb 04, My Dad's 85th birthday.
Feb 05, Moon at first quarter.
Feb 07, Moon 10 degrees from Aldebran (one finger held at arm's length fro Moon)
Feb 08,Alpha Centaurid meteors (The brightest star in the Centaur. Probably in the southern sky)
Feb 13, meteor shower you may hear. Pick a weak FM station and see if you can hear it get clear and loud tonight.
Feb 13, Full Moon, Snow Moon
Feb 14, Valentine's Day
Feb 14, Mercury and Uranus, almost one star with binoculars. Mercury is bright(-1.1), Uranus very dim (5.9.)
Feb 15, Venus high in the morning sky.
Feb 18, Mars 2.3 degrees from center of Pleiades.
Feb 21, Moon at last quarter
Feb 21, Moon 0.3 degrees from Antares (looks like Mars)
Feb 27, Moon at perigee 56.0 earth-radii
Feb 27-28 Perigee and New Moon 4.5 hours apart. High tides, especially if raining.
Feb 28, New Moon, Lunation 1029
Mar 01, Ash Wednesday, first day of Lent (40 days till Easter)
Mar 05, 22:00, Moon 4 degrees Northwest of Mars.
Mar 06, midnight, Moon 10 degrees from Aldebaran
Mar 06, Moon at First quarter
Mar 12, Moon 2.5 degrees Northeast of Regulus
Mar 13, Moon at apogee 63.7 earth-radii
Mar 14, 15:35 PST Full Lenten Moon
Mar 14, Lunar Penumbral Eclipse, if you are on the East Coast, the maximum will be 6:47 pm.
Mar 15, Ides of March: Brutus's made Julius Caesar holy as he assinated him in 44 B.C.
Mar 20, 10:25 AM PST, Spring Equnox (first day of Spring)
Mar 25, Venus at greatest elongation west, (up high in the morning sky about 2 hours before Sunrise)
Mar 27, 10 AM in California, Moon, Venus, Uranus in binocular field 2.12 degrees wide.
Mar 28, Moon at perigree. 56.3 earth-radii
Mar 29, New Moon Lunatio 1030,
Mar 29, Solar Eclipse over Africa and Asia
Apr 02, Clocks Spring Forward one hour
Apr 02, 17:00, Moon brushes Pleiades
Apr 03, Moon is 3.5 degrees from Mars
Apr 05, Moon at first quarter
Apr 08, Mercury easiest to view just before sunrise in East.
Apr 08, 22:00, Moon 2.5 Northeast of Regulus
Apr 09, 06:00, Moon at apogee. Distance 63.6 earth-radii
Apr 12, 09:41, Full Grass Moon
Apr 16, Easter
Apr 18, 02:00, Venus 0.3 Northeast of Uranus in morning sky. (Probably not visible in Western US)
Apr 21, 20:28, Moon at last quarter
Apr 22, Lyrid meteor shower, good year to view
Apr 23, Pi Puppid, good year to view
Apr 24, Deltas Piscid radio shower, turn your radio to a distant station and see if you can hear the "pop".
Apr 25, Moon at perigee. Distance 57.0 earth-radii
Apr 27, New Moon, lunation 1031
May 01, Cygnus the swawn, or Northern Cross is part of the Summer triangle and it is moving higher in the sky this month.
May 01, May Day, cross quarter day. Half-way between Spring and Summer.
May 02, Moon is 3.6 degrees from Mars
May 03, 04:00, Moon is 2 degrees from Pollux (in Gemini)
May 03, 04:00, Moon is 4 degrees from Saturn
May 04, Jupiter at opposition, Planet is up all night.
May 04, 10:13, Moon at first quarter
May 06, Astronomy Day
May 06, Eta Aquarid meteor, good year to view this shower.
May 06-07 midnight, Moon at apogee 63.7 earth-radii
May 12, Moon 4.6 degrees from Jupiter. Should be a good show.
May 12, 23:52, Full Planing Moon
May 13, 20:00, Moon 0.3 degrees from Antares (looks like Mars)
May 20, 14, 20, Moon at last quarter
May 22, Moon at perigee. 57.8 earth-radii.
May 23, 18:00 Mars is 5 degrees from Pollux
May 27, New Moon, lunation 1032
Jun 01, Summer triangle high in the sky. Milky Way visible in dark skies.
Jun 03, 16:00, Moon at first quarter
Jun 04, Whit Sunday, Penticost, 50 days after Easter.
Jun 04, Saturn is half a degree south of the Beehive cluster
Jun 08, 09:00 Moon 4 degrees from Jupiter
Jun 11, Full Rose Moon
Jun 14, 04:30 earliest sunrise at 40 degrees North latitude
Jun 16, 18:00 Mars virtually inside Beehive cluster
Jun 16, Moon at Perigee, 57.8 earth-radii
Jun 18, Mars is half a degree from Saturn
Jun 18, Moon is in last quarter
Jun 20, Mercury is in the evening sunset
Jun 21, 05:30, Summer Solstice (Summer begins)
Jun 25, New Moon, Luniation 1033
Jun 27, good year for minor meteor shower, try a weak station on your FM radio today and tomorrow and see if it gets loud.
Jul 01, Moon at apogee. Distance 63.4 earth-radii
Jul 02, At noon it is the midpoint of the 2004
Jul 04, 15:00, Earth at aphelion, farthest from the Sun. 1.0167 au or 152,100,000. While Kepler was correct, all planets orbits are eliptical. But for life to exis the Earth's orbit is more round than most of our wedding bands.
Nov 11, Full Hay Moon or Thunder Moon
Jul 13, Moon at perigee. Distance 57.1 earth-radii
Jul 17, Moon at last quarter
Jul 22, Mars half a degree from Regulus
Jul 24, Moon near Pleiades in morning sky, Job 9:9, Job 38:31 and Amos 5:8 all mention the Pleiades
Jul 25, New Moon, Luniation 1034
Jul 29, Moon at apogee. Distance 63.6 earth-radii
Aug:
Aug 01, Lammas, the only cross-quarter day we don't celebrate in the US. 1/2 way between the Solstice and Equinox
Aug 02, Moon at first quarter
Aug 09, 03:55, Full Green Corn Moon
Aug 10, Moon at perigee. 56.4 earth-radii
Aug 12, Perseid meteor shower, full moon all night ruins view of shower
Aug 16, Moon at last quarter
Aug 23, Noon, New Moon, lunation 1035
Aug 20 Iota Aquarid meteor shower, all meteor showers view better after midnight and before dawn.
Aug 26, Moon at apogee. 63.7 earth-radii
Aug 26, Evening sky, Venus and Saturn at closest planet-planet appulse this year.
Sep 01, When we moved to Oakley, 26 years ago the skies were dark enough to see Uranus. It is usually about 5.9 to 6.2 magnitude in the skies over your head, but you may need to go to the Sierras to view this with the naked eye.
Sep 01, More than twice as many of the 1940 numbered asteroids have been discovered (344) in September.
Sep 01, Alpha Aurigid meteors, appears to be a good year for this minor meteor shower.
Sep 05, Uranus at opposition. Opposition means the Sun is on one side and opposing it is in this case Uranus. At midnight it is at the meridian, but the planet is up all night.
Sep 07, Partical Lunar eclipse along Atlantic but not in California
Sep 08, Perigee only 8.5 hours after full moon. Expect high tides.
Sep 14, 10:00, Last quarter moon
Sep 20, Piscid meteors
Sep 22, Autumn equinox, first day of fall
Sep 22-24 Happy New Year! Rosh Hashanah, high holy day and first day of Jewish New Year 5767. Remember their day runs sunset to sunset, so they don't have to stay up until midnight to celebrate.
Sep 22, Annular eclipse of the Sun across the Atlantic from just above antartica to Brazil. The next solar exciplse in Western Alaska, California, Nevada and New Mexico will be on May 20, 2012
Sep 30, Moon at first quarter
Oct 03, Don and Karen 36 years and still going.
Oct 06, 07:00, Moon at perigee. Distance 56.0 earth-radii
Oct 06. perigee only 12.9 hours before full moon. High tides expected.
Oct 07, Full Harvest Moon, as it is the closest full moon after the Equinox.
Oct 08, Draconid Meteor Shower, should be fairly poor only being a day away from the full moon
Oct 14, Moonat last quarter
Oct 19, Moon at apogee, Distance 63.7 earth-radii
Oct 21, Orionid meteor shower. Ideal conditions for viewing this year.
Oct 22. New Moon, lunation 1037
Oct 22, Mercury 3 degrees from Jupiter 24 degrees from Sun in evening sky
Oct 26, Change your clocks back, Spring forward, Fall back. You get 25 hours today, enjoy an extra hour of sleep
Oct 29, First quarter moon.
Oct 30, Change clocks: Spring forward, fall backward
Oct 31 Halloween, or "holy eve" the eve before All Saints Day.
Nov 01, All Saint's Day Cross quarter day. Half-way between Fall and Winter.
Nov 01, Moon half a degree from Uranusin evening sky
Nov 03, Moon at perigee. 56.5 earth-radii
Nov 05, Full Beaver Moon
Nov 08, Beginning at dawn Mercury will TRAnSIT the Sun! This is a rare event. Never look directly at the Sun, but use the shaddow.
Nov 12, Moon at last quarter.
Nov 15, Moon at apogee. Distace 63.5 earth-radii
Nov 17, Leonid meteor shower, should be good viewing
Nov 20, 14:17, New Moon
Nov 28, Moon at first quarter
Nov 23, Jupiter crosses behind Sun is now in morning sky.
Nov 30, Alpha Capicornid meteor shower
Dec 02, Moon at perigee. 57.4 earth-radii
Dec 04, Moon is 10 degrees from Aldebaran
Dec 05, 16:24 Full Moon before Yule
Dec 07, earlest sunset of year at 4:35 @ 40 degrees north latitude.
Dec 10, 06:00, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter all within 1 degree, one telescope or binocular view.
Dec 12, Moon at last quarter.
Dec 13, Moon 63.4 earth-radii at apogee.
Dec 14, Geminid meteor shower should be good this year.
Dec 20, Coma Berenicid shower, very favorable
Dec 20, 06:00, New Moon lunation 1039
Dec 22. 16:25, Winter Solstice
Dec 22, Ursid meteor shower. very favorable this year
Dec 25, Christmas,
Dec 27, Moon at first quarter
Dec 28, Moon at perigee. Distance 58.1 earth-radii
Sources:
Astronomical Calendar 2000, Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613
Old Famrer's Almanac, Dublin, NH 03444
Moon Perigee and Apogee calulator