Conjunctions – not the usual Ands, Ors or Buts

Look around at the alignments. At last in 2020, things are coming together.
Great conjunctions of protective vaccines meeting arms of otherwise unprotected millions, the House and Senate have a meeting of minds to let needed aid and money meet up with needy folks.


However, for the “greatest great conjunction” according to NASA, look above and marvel at the alignment International Business Times describes in their story as:

“Triple Sky Event: Don’t Miss The Great Conjunction, Solstice and Ursids Meteor Shower:
As expected, people have been waiting for Monday’s Jupiter-Saturn Great Conjunction for weeks. Such an event is already rare on its own, occurring only every 20 years, but NASA has called Monday’s event the “greatest great conjunction” between the two giants because it will be the closest they will be in the next 60 years.
This means that the next time that they will be as close will be in 2080. What’s more, having an alignment as close as the one on the 21st has not happened for hundreds of years.“

Share

51 thoughts on “Conjunctions – not the usual Ands, Ors or Buts”

  1. Once every 20 years, the two largest planets in our solar system—Jupiter and Saturn—appear to meet in Earth’s skies. This “Great Conjunction” happens next on December 21, 2020, but this time, Jupiter and Saturn will be closer than they’ve been in nearly 400 years. December 21 also happens to be the night of the winter solstice, and the peak of the Ursid meteor shower. For most Great Conjunctions, Jupiter and Saturn are separated by about 1 degree, which is the width of two full moons in the sky. This year, they will be separated by just one-tenth of a degree, which is one-fifth the size of the full moon. A Great Conjunction happens every 20 years, but the last time Jupiter and Saturn were this close was the year 1623.

  4. NYTimes:

    Not an Ideal Process or an Ideal Agreement, but, Finally, a Deal

    Americans nationwide are glad that Congress, after a painfully prolonged process, has agreed to a stimulus package, however imperfect.

     

    Wapo:

    Dec. 20, 2020 at 11:55 p.m. EST
    Senate leadership announced a bipartisan deal on an approximately $900 billion economic relief package late Sunday afternoon that would deliver emergency aid to a faltering economy and a nation besieged by surging coronavirus cases.
    After months of contentious negotiations and seemingly intractable partisan gridlock, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the Senate floor to say that a deal had been finalized and could be quickly approved.
    The emerging stimulus package was expected to direct hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to jobless Americans, ailing businesses and other critical economic needs that have grown as the pandemic ravages the country and batters the economy.
    “More help is on the way. Moments ago, in consultation with our committees, the four leaders of the Senate and House finalized an agreement. It would be another major rescue package for the American people,” McConnell said. “As our citizens continue battling this coronavirus pandemic this holiday season, they will not be fighting alone.”

  5. another day and another parody about you-know-who.  the Founders Sing “freeloader”

    They say there are two certainties in life: Death and Taxes. It seems, however, that Trump’s been avoiding and evading both. Here the late, and extremely great Tom Petty lays it out to the tune of “Free Fallin’.”

  16. I tried to find a web link for the Great Conjunction, but didn’t see one on the NASA site.  For those of us who are not allowed to see sky most of the year, does anyone know of a site to at least get a look at Jupiter and Saturn doing the cosmic cuddle?

     

  19. jamie,  at the end of a mercury news story on viewing it in the bay area they have this helpful suggestion of alternate sites for those who have to watch online:

    In case weather conditions in your area aren’t agreeable to witnessing this celestial event, several livestreams will be available.

    The Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, will host a program beginning at 4 p.m. Pacific time, showcasing live views through its telescopes. The stream will be on the observatory’s YouTube page.

    The Virtual Telescope Project in Rome will also share live views on its website.

  23. Bink – The Biden’s and Harris’s got theirs as did the presidential secession plan people.
     
    Federal departments are sending out the information about how fed employees are being charged for the Social Security that SFB dictated was to not be withheld.  I hope no private employer did this to their employees. 

  24. the slimed by the slimy sues

    NYTimes;

    The ‘Red Slime’ Lawsuit That Could Sink Right-Wing Media
    […]
    In an era of brazen political lies, Mr. Mugica has emerged as an unlikely figure with the power to put the genie back in the bottle. Last week, his lawyer sent scathing letters to the Fox News Channel, Newsmax and OAN demanding that they immediately, forcefully clear his company’s name — and that they retain documents for a planned defamation lawsuit. He has, legal experts say, an unusually strong case. And his new lawyer is J. Erik Connolly, who not coincidentally won the largest settlement in the history of American media defamation in 2017, at least $177 million, for a beef producer whose “lean finely textured beef” was described by ABC News as “pink slime.”
    Now, Mr. Connolly’s target is a kind of red slime, the stream of preposterous lies coming from the White House and Republican officials around the country.
    “We’ve gotten to this point where there’s so much falsity that is being spread on certain platforms, and you may need an occasion where you send a message, and that’s what punitive damages can do in a case like this,” Mr. Connolly said.
    Mr. Mugica isn’t the only potential plaintiff. Dominion Voting Systems has hired another high-powered libel lawyer, Tom Clare, who has threatened legal action against Ms. Powell and the Trump campaign. Mr. Clare said in an emailed statement that “we are moving forward on the basis that she will not retract those false statements and that it will be necessary for Dominion to take aggressive legal action, both against Ms. Powell and the many others who have enabled and amplified her campaign of defamation by spreading damaging falsehoods about Dominion.”
    These are legal threats any company, even a giant like Fox Corporation, would take seriously. And they could be fatal to the dream of a new “Trump TV,” a giant new media company in the president’s image, and perhaps contributing to his bottom line. Newsmax and OAN would each like to become that, and are both burning money to steal ratings from Fox, executives from both companies have acknowledged. They will need to raise significantly more money, or to sell quickly to investors, to build a Fox-style multibillion-dollar empire. But outstanding litigation with the potential of an enormous verdict will be enough to scare away most buyers.
    And so Newsmax and OAN appear likely to face the same fate as so many of President Trump’s sycophants, who have watched him lie with impunity and imitated him — only to find that he’s the only one who can really get away with it.  [continues]

  26. Thank you for the links.  

    One of the things I miss about time in California/Arizona/Nevada/New Mexico are the night skies when you can get away from city lights and actually see the stars.

     

  33. And as the Orange idiot rages about having won, 

    Undercutting Trump, Barr says there’s no basis for seizing voting machines, using special counsels for election fraud, Hunter Biden

     
    Outgoing Attorney General William P. Barr said Monday that he saw no basis for the federal government seizing voting machines and that he did not intend to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations of voter fraud — again breaking with President Trump as the commander in chief entertains increasingly desperate measures to overturn the election.
     

    At a news conference to announce charges in a decades-old terrorism case, Barr — who has just two days left in office — was peppered with questions about whether he would consider steps proposed by allies of the president to advance Trump’s claims of massive voter fraud.
     

    Barr said that while he was “sure there was fraud in this election,” he had not seen evidence that it was so “systemic or broad-based” that it would change the result. He asserted he saw “no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government,” and he would not name a special counsel to explore the allegations of Trump and his allies.
    (Continues)

    And so it goes.  BTW, Dumbass does not have the power to appoint a special counsel – only the Attorney General or if AG is not available to do so, Deputy AG.  And Flynn is back in the WH participating in discussions about the election and suggesting martial law to keep Dumbass in power?  The guy Dumbass fired because he lied to Pence and the FBI? 

    Thirty days and counting…

  34. Oh, and happy Winter Solstice.  Feel free to get naked and dance around an oak tree if that kind of thing moves you.

  36. Well, i see Mars- no Jupiter or Saturn, yet, which means you’ll have to stay up late to see it

    Oh, shit- it’s actually setting very early, better run before it’s gone

  39. Mincemeat pies are baked and cooling.  I do like them now, however, I was severely traumatized as a child by a grandmother who made her own “mincemeat” for pie filling.  I do not remember it having the same flavor and texture of today’s mincemeat.  It was more like spoiled venison burger with some weird spices in it.  I can say I really like mincemeat pie now. Yum.

  41. I took a pic with my phone last night.   One bright dot and a tiny blur.
    Bought a jar of vegan, mincemeat filling last year. Raisins and oranges and spices. 

  46. Conjunction was actually really cool through a telescope, would have been cooler if i had the foresight to put my equipment outside for an hour to adjust for the cold temperatures.

    i’ll remember for next time.

Comments are closed.