SPACEWEATHER.COM NEWS: 12/21/2024

MERCURY’S TAIL HAS RETURNED: Space weather affects some planets more than others. It’s really hard on Mercury. The solar wind scours Mercury’s rocky surface at point-blank range, creating a “sodium tail” occasionally visible from Earth. David Marshall of Christ Church, Barbados, saw it on Dec. 20th:

 

“It’s back! Mercury’s sodium ion tail is approximately 1 degree long in this image and is expected to become more prominent over the next couple of days,” says Marshall.

First predicted in the 1980s, Mercury’s tail was discovered in 2001. It is a yellow-orange tail of sodium-rich gas more than 24 million kilometers long.

Mercury’s tail brightens and dims as it orbits the sun. The predictable pattern is shown in this movie from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft, which spent years observing Mercury’s tail from close range:

For reasons having to do with the Doppler shift of sodium absorption lines in the solar spectrum, Mercury’s tail is most luminous when the planet is ±16 days from perihelion (closest approach to the sun). The most recent perihelion was Dec. 7th.

This means the tail will reach peak brightness on Dec. 23rd. Astronomers who wish to photograph the plume must wake up before dawn. Mercury is currently a bright “morning star” (magnitude –0.3) low in the southeast about 60 to 45 minutes before sunrise.

Observing tip: A 589 nanometer filter tuned to the yellow glow of sodium greatly enhances the visibility of Mercury’s tail.

WINTER SOLSTICE: Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:20 AM (Old Farmer’s Almanac)
The Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere aligned at 3:20AM Central Time (9:20 AM UTC). 

We often think of the winter solstice as an event that spans an entire calendar day, but the solstice actually lasts only a moment. Specifically, it’s the exact moment when a hemisphere is tilted as far away from the Sun as possible.

The winter solstice marks the official beginning of astronomical winter (as opposed to meteorological winter, which starts about 3 weeks before the solstice). It occurs once a year in each hemisphere: once in the Northern Hemisphere (in December) and once in the Southern Hemisphere (in June). It marks the start of each hemisphere’s winter season. When one hemisphere is experiencing its winter solstice, the other is simultaneously experiencing its summer solstice!

The word solstice comes from the Latin sol (“sun”) and sistere (“to stand still). So, loosely translated, it means “sun stands still.” Why? The Sun’s path across the sky appears to freeze for a few days before and after the solstice. The change in its noontime elevation is so slight that the Sun’s path seems to stay the same or stand still.

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BIG SUNSPOT ALERT: A large and complicated group of sunspots has just emerged over the sun’s southeastern limb. The group includes at least 15 dark cores and sprawls across more than 250,000 km of the sun’s surface. Amateur astronomers, point your solar telescopes here.

Daily Sun: 20 Dec 24

Sunspots 3922, 3924 and 3927 *all* have ‘beta-gamma’ magnetic fields that pose a threat for M-class solar flares. Photo credit: Ivo Demeulenaere of Flanders, Belgium

more images: from Germany; from Nevada;

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Mayan Time

6 Night/AKBAL is associated with our Darkest Nights. Tone 6 is a symbol of 3 x 2, a balance of Divine Trinities Above and Below. Time is ordered to willingly enter the Darkness where a Light beyond the veil will reveal the Dream that was written in our Heart. It’s often a Dark Night of the Soul when face a Dream we left beyond, when we discerned that it was “impossible.” AKBAL Days get us in touch with our Feelings about it. As we face it again, we see all the Human choices we made to settle for something less. Night/AKBAL is the Heart and Home of the Light beyond the veil, the Eternal Flame of a Dream the Creator has held in waiting for the Day the Dreamer would believe in the Dream. Something that was lost can be found again, when the Creator speaks to us in our Dreams. AKBAL synchronizes a Day when the Sun is positioned close to us near its Perihelion position. Human’s calendar is synchronized with Earth’s calendar this year for the Winter Solstice, suggesting that the Sun is in position to reach our heart on a global scale. If you are willing to feel your feelings, and share them with the Creator directly from the Heart, there is potential for a mystical experience when you hear the Master’s Voice share the Truth that your Dream is still alive in the realm of Spirit where it’s still intended to come true. We add the Power of Love to our prayers, when we ask for the same blessing upon the whole. (At least, Job’s bad luck was turned around when he prayed for his friends, instead of asking for himself.)

God is with us always. He knows that some Days we need to know it more than others. This is one of those Days when by the Mayan Human calendar when we the effects of the Darkest Nights are magnified by the repeating Signs of 3.  (12/21/2024 repeats the symbol 3 times 4,  times 7, and times 6 in the year 24; that’s 8 repetitions in an 8 year, the symbol of Divine Justice.) When we call from the Heart our Divine Justice is to hear the Answer to our Prayers.

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THE TRECENA OF FLINT/ETZNAB: TRUTH AND LOVE THAT SETS US FREE
MAYAN CALENDAR DAYKEEPER’S JOURNAL
6 Night/AKBAL, Cherokee, Hearth/O’YA , Destiny Kin 123, Position 3
December 21, 2024, 12/21/2024; Last Round: April 5, 2024, 04/05/2024

THE TRECENA OF FLINT/ETZNAB: TRUTH THAT SETS US FREEMy gift for the Tzolk’in round is the “Tzolk’in Field Guide: A Daily Practice for Personal Discernment.” Volume 1 covers the first two seasons of the Tzolk’in round. The “Field Guide” is available to download from a link on the 13-day Trecena Guide Page.

Tracking your thoughts during one 13-day trecena, you will see the synchronicity of Time, and an ascension as the answer to a prayer you hold as an Intention of thought from the beginning.

The Flint/ETZNAB trecena is part of Season 2, found in Volume 1.

NOTE: If you see repeating numbers, SacredScribes is a resource to check the meaning of Angel Numbers.

6 Night/AKBAL (Cherokee, Hearth/O’YA) – Day 6 of 13 in the 1 Flint/ETZNAB cycle of Truth from Above

Descriptions by Ian Xel Lungold (12 Sun/AHAU), wisdom preserved on MayanMajix.com

Galactic Tone 6: Six is responsiveness and the art of negotiation. It is the movement of volume through space that creates time. This energy in action is like the art of dance or a great athlete in motion. Six facilitates dynamic developments in all aspects of life.

Night/Akbal: Bringers of the Dawn. Dreamers who bring the new sun to clarify and illuminate the road of life. Thus the insecurities and doubts born of darkness of the sub-conscious mind are dispelled. These persons travel the Void… a place where nothing yet exists but all potential dwells, the womb of creation. From this void, Night persons bring forth new solutions and artistic inspiration. Night’s voyages of dreams build confidence and happiness with a sense of well being. If night does not bravely journey into the void they may find themselves wandering the darkness of self doubt and insecurity.

A GOOD DAY TO: Spend some time contemplating the stars.

Cherokee, Hearth/O’YA: Hearth’s symbol is the fire pit in the Center, velvet black as the night. The triangle in Orion. The M42 nebula (home of the Central race from the WingMakers) in the center of the triangle of Orion is the fire in the Hearth, also matching the Mayan. The Hearth is the Torchbearer who holds the light and warmth throughout the night.

[Text in italics was the primary source of inspiration for my journal. These are the sources that started my journey and they are the reference for interpretation each day. By providing the original text, I hope to offer a way to see what inspired my thoughts and by including all the aspects – allow for something more to inspire you. Mayan descriptions are those written by Ian Lungold. Cherokee descriptions came from multiple sources. Links to sources and other resources of study are offered on the Daykeeper Resources Page. ~Debra]