Happy New Year Eclipses
Here we go. Out with 2009 and in with 2010. With a double whammy: partial lunar eclipse on December 31st and annular solar eclipse on January 15th, 2010. Go ahead, defy destiny and make your resolutions, but count on setbacks. Don't say we didn't warn you. But seriously, who needs eclipses to portend major events when we've got every economic analyst and environmental expert forecasting imminent global crisis?
Feeling helpless and a little anxious? There is something you can do about it. Become a link in a chain of transcendental vibrations encircling the globe. Set aside a few minutes in the day to chant this sixteen-word mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Guaranteed: all problems will be solved – or not. But it's much more pleasurable to meditate on the sound vibration of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra than on doom and gloom. And it will bring clarity of mind, if nothing more perceptible than that at first.
First contact begins: 17:17 UT (GMT)
At that time it will be:
Greatest Eclipse: 19:23:45 UT (GMT)
At that time it will be:
Final contact ends: 21:28 UT (GMT)
At that time it will be:
Annular Solar Eclipse January 15, 2010
Duration: 11 min 07.8 sec
First contact begins: 04:05 UT (GMT)
At that time it will be:
Greatest Eclipse: 07:06:31 UT (GMT)
At that time it will be:
Final contact ends: 10:07 UT (GMT)
At that time it will be:
Partial Lunar Eclipse - December 31, 2009
So coming right up is the last eclipse of 2009, a partial lunar eclipse on the 31st of December (Happy New Year's Eve). The eclipse will be visible for all of the Eastern hemisphere.
Click to view enlarged image of Partial Lunar Eclipse path, from Fred Espenak's eclipse site, hosted by NASA (image link).
Looking at the December 2009 ephemeris online at Light on Vedic Astrology, here are the planetary positions for the 31st of December (as of 12:00am GMT):
- Sun 15 deg 25 min Sagittarius
- Moon 04 deg 17 min Gemini
- Mars 24 deg 57 min Cancer (Retrograde)
- Mercury 25 degrees 55 min Sagittarius (Combust and Retrograde)
- Jupiter 02 deg 09 min Aquarius
- Venus 12 deg 35 min Sagittarius (Combust)
- Saturn 10 deg 28 min Virgo
- Rahu 27 deg 05 min Sagittarius
What to expect? I leave it to the astrologers to comment. But it's always a good occasion for chanting the holy names, and the more and the louder the better, so New Years Eve partiers, go for it! Grab the chance to jump up on stage, grab a mike and sing: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Don't know the tune? Head on over to KRSNA Tunes and pick one.
Annular Solar Eclipse - January 15, 2010
The first eclipse of 2010 is set to occur on Amavasya, the new moon. Like the partial lunar eclipse preceding it, the eclipse will be at least partly visible all over the Eastern hemisphere. The path of greatest eclipse extends from Congo in the middle of Africa, crossing the lower Arabian Sea and Laccadive Sea, swiping the tip of India and Sri Lanka and reaching up across the Bay of Bengal, through Myanmar and into China. Greatest annular eclipse occurs approximately two-thirds distance between Mogadishu and India's southernmost tip (lat 01 degrees 38 min North, long 69 degrees 18 min East) – just 490 km Northwest of Maldives – at 07:06:31 UT (GMT), for a duration of 11minutes 07.8 seconds.
Click to view enlarged image of the path of the Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010, from Fred Espenak's eclipse site, hosted by NASA (image link).
Astrologers take note: Mercury is Retrograde from December 27th 2009 right up until January 15th, Mars is Retrograde from December 21st 2009 through March 10th 2010, and Saturn is Retrograde from January 14th (day before the eclipse) through May 30th. Here are the planetary positions for 12am GMT, January 15, 2009, from the sidereal ephemeris for January 2010 (Light on Vedic Astrology):
- Sun 00 deg 42 min Capricorn
- Moon 27 deg 28 min Sagittarius (Combust)
- Mars 21 deg 22 min Cancer (Retrograde)
- Mercury 11 deg 35 min Sagittarius (Retrograde)
- Jupiter 05 deg 18 min Aquarius
- Venus 01 deg 27 min Capricorn (Combust)
- Saturn 10 deg 38 min Virgo (Retrograde)
- Rahu 27 deg 07 min Sagittarius
The ephemeris is calculated using Lahiri Ayanamsha.