Calendar

Moon at Perigee

Every month, the Moon’s eccentric orbit carries it to perigee, the Moon’s closest point to Earth in its orbit – then 2 weeks later, to apogee, its most distant point from Earth.

First Sunday of Advent

Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity.

New Year’s Day

The year in the Roman calendar naturally starts on March 1. After all, the words September, October, November, and December literally mean Seventh Month, Eighth Month, Ninth Month, and Tenth Month, respectively. Keeping track of the passage of years was primarily the concern of those keeping historical records. Ordinary people were not particularly concerned with […]

Inf. Conjunction of Mercury

Mercury passes very close to the Sun in the sky as its orbit carries it between the Sun and Earth. This happens once in 116 days (the synodic cycle of the planet), and over the course of a couple weeks, Mercury will change from appearing in the evening sky to appearing in the morning sky.

Moon at Apogee

The Moon’s distance from Earth varies throughout its monthly orbit because the Moon’s orbit isn’t perfectly circular. Every month, the Moon’s eccentric orbit carries it to apogee – its most distant point from Earth – and then, some two weeks later, to perigee – the Moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit. - earthsky.org

Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas).

A tapestry from Strasbourg depicting the Purification of the Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Candlemas (also spelled Candlemass), also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ and the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Christian Holy Day commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. It is based […]

International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

Illustration of Vera Rubin from a series of illustrations for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Credit: BEATRIZ ARRIBAS DE FRUTOS. A significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines all over the world. Even though women have made tremendous progresses […]

Br. Guy Consolmagno to talk at Hampstead Church

St.Mary's Chruch, Hampstead 4 Holly Walk, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom

Br Guy Consolmagno, S.J. will give a talk on the history of Vatican Observatory and its activities today.

U.S. Daylight Savings Time starts

Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), or summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typically by one hour) during warmer months so that darkness falls at a later clock time. The typical implementation of DST is to set clocks forward by one […]