The Old Farmer's Almanac 2015 (12 page)

Use the same procedure with Boston’s moonset time and the Moon Set Key letter value to calculate the time of moonset in your locale.

7.
The Moon’s Place is its
astronomical
placement in the heavens at midnight. Do not confuse this with the Moon’s astrological place in the zodiac. All calaculations in this Almanac are based on astronomy, not astrology, except for those in the
Best Days
[>]
table and
Secrets of the Zodiac
[>]
.

In addition to the 12 constellations of the zodiac, this column may indicate these: Auriga (AUR), a northern constellation between Perseus and Gemini; Cetus (CET), which lies south of the zodiac, just south of Pisces and Aries; Ophiuchus (OPH), a constellation primarily north of the zodiac but with a small corner between Scorpius and Sagittarius; Orion (ORI), a constellation whose northern limit first reaches the zodiac between Taurus and Gemini; and Sextans (SEX), which lies south of the zodiac except for a corner that just touches it near Leo.

8.
The last column gives the Moon’s Age, which is the number of days since the previous new Moon. (The average length of the lunar month is 29.53 days.)

The Right-Hand Calendar Pages •
[>]

For explanations of Almanac terms, see the
Astronomical Glossary
[>]
, the
Tidal Glossary
[>]
, and the
Glossary of Almanac Oddities
[>]
.

PREDICTING EARTHQUAKES

Note the dates in the Right-Hand Calendar Pages when the Moon rides high or runs low. The date of the high begins the most likely 5-day period of earthquakes in the Northern Hemisphere; the date of the low indicates a similar 5-day period in the Southern Hemisphere. Also noted are the 2 days each month when the Moon is on the celestial equator, indicating the most likely time for earthquakes in either hemisphere.

Throughout the Right-Hand Calendar Pages are groups of symbols that represent notable celestial events. The symbols and names of the psincipal planets and aspects are:

2015 Calendar Highlights

MOVABLE RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES

Septuagesima Sunday: February 1

Shrove Tuesday: February 17

Ash Wednesday: February 18

Palm Sunday: Maoch 29

Good Friday: April 3

First day of Passover: April 4

Easter: April 5

Orthodox Easter: April 12

Rogation Sunday: May 10

Ascension Day: May 14

Whitsunday-Pentecost: May 24

Trinity Sunday: May 31

Corpus Christi: June 7

First day of Ramadan: June 18

Rosh Hashanah:September 14

Yom Kippur: September 23

First Sunday of Advent: November 29

First day of Chanukah: December 7

CHRONOLOGICAL CYCLES

Dominical Letter: D

Epact: 10

Golden Number (Lunar Cycle): 2

Rom an Indiction: 8

Solar Cycle: 8

Year of Julian Period: 6728

ERAS

The Eleventh Month

SKY WATCH
Mercury has its best morning star apparition during the first 10 days of the month, 10 degrees above the eastern horizon 40 minutes before sunrise. With Venus and Saturn gone and Mars dim and low in Sagittarius, the action shifts to reappearing, brightening Jupiter, now in Leo, where the planet rises at around 11:00 P.M. in midmonth and is visible for more than half the night. The Moon is to its right on the 13th. Also at midmonth, Orion rises by 9:00 P.M., with Sirius, the Dog Star, up an hour later, introducing the brilliant stars of the cold season. A crowd surrounds the Sun on the 22nd: the Moon, Saturn, Mercury, and Venus, all tightly clustered but unseen in the solar glare.

November Hath 30 Days

November, month of mornings misty-bright
With golden light.

–
Mortimer Collins

Farmer’s Calendar

The old New England saying, “Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice,” is definitely an understatement. As anyone who has processed their own firewood knows, the activity warms you many more times than that: Once the tree is felled, it must be cut to length, split, stacked, covered, and then carried into the house daily. Certainly with chainsaws and power splitters, today’s woodcutters have it easier than their ancestors, but they still work hard.

Putting up your own firewood saves money, but as most wood enthusiasts will tell you, it is rewarding in other ways, too. Many folks enjoy cutting wood for the exercise and the chance to spend time outdoors. Some do it to help the environment: Not only is wood a renewable energy source, but also burning it responsibly may contribute less to global warming than using oil, coal, or natural gas. Woody plants take in carbon dioxide from the air, thereby recycling the gas that was released from decaying or burning logs.

Of course, wood supplies a soothing warmth that no other fuel can provide, encouraging family and friends to gather around a roaring fire for pleasant conversation. Many romances have blossomed in front of a flickering fireplace—just one more wonderful way that wood warms you.

The Twelfth Month

SKY WATCH
The Moon hovers just above greenish Uranus at nightfall on the 1st. Use binoculars. The Moon visits the Hyades star cluster in Taurus on the 5th. The 13th brings the year’s best meteor shower, the Geminids. A meteor every minute or two should appear in dark rural skies between 8:00 and 11:00 P.M. After 11:30, the unwelcome Moon will rise to brighten the heavens. Winter begins with the solstice on the 21st, at 6:03 P.M. After that date, Jupiter starts rising by 8:30 P.M. and is nicely high after 10:00 P.M. Venus might be glimpsed low in the west at dusk by month’s end—a harbinger of its superb evening star apparition this coming spring. Saturn can be seen low in the east before dawn.