Sounds pretty fancy, right? It simply means three solar system bodies coming together, not in distance, but in perspective. For star watchers it means some pretty sweet night sights! It’s particularly exciting when the moon and planets are involved.
This time a crescent moon, Mars and Saturn will cluster together in a bright and beautiful display around dusk.
Take a peek at the sky tonight and you’ll see a full moon. A full moon is when the moon and the sun are opposite of each other from an earth perspective.
Also called the Moon Cake Festival, China’s harvest festival is an occasion to scoff these sweet treats. The cakes, made of a thin dough shell containing fillings such as jelly, dates and nuts or red bean paste, start appearing everywhere a month before the celebration. If they’re not sick of the snacks by the time of the event, celebrants eat them within view of the real star of the festival: the moon. Held on the September full moon, during the autumn equinox, the tradition is about observing the transition of the seasons. In Japan, one of the other Asian countries where faces turn to the night sky, people even climb onto rooftops to get closer to the moon.
The waning gibbous moon passes just north of Uranus in the constellation Pisces. The moon will occult Uranus as seen from eastern Canada, Greenland, and northern Siberia.
The waning last quarter moon will pass just north of the bright star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus.
World Water Monitoring Day was established in 2003 by America’s Clean Water Foundation as a global educational outreach program that aims to build public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by empowering citizens to carry out basic monitoring of their local water bodies. Participate in your home and community this year!
Like the Cure Salée, the festival held in the High Atlas town of Imilchil is all about livestock and finding a partner. The most famous example of 600-plus moussems, the event is a homecoming celebration for herders who have spent the summer taking advantage of grazing grounds. The cattle fair adds to the chaos created by souqs (markets) and nomadic campgrounds, which look as striking as the surrounding mountains.
Clean Up the World is a community-based, environmental campaign that inspires and empowers communities around the globe to clean up, fix up and conserve their environment. Participate in an event in your community or start one yourself!
