Pope Francis attended the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening in St. Peter’s Basilica, filled with 5,500 pilgrims. This celebration is the most solemn and noblest of all Solemnities.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, presided over the celebration, while Pope Francis delivered his homily and baptised seven catechumens. The Pope has suffered from knee pain in recent months, something he also mentioned when speaking to journalists recently after his pastoral journey to Malta.
Closeness to Ukraine
Present at the celebration were members of a small delegation from Ukraine, made up of representatives of the local government and the country’s parliament, whom the Pope met with just before the liturgy began.
The delegation included the mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, now an exile. The Pope greeted him in particular during the celebration.
“In this darkness that you are living, Mr. Mayor, Parliamentarians, the thick darkness of war, of cruelty, we are all praying, praying with you and for you this night. We are praying for all the suffering. We can only give you our company, our prayer and say to you: “Courage! We are accompanying you!” And also to say to you the greatest thing we are celebrating today: Christòs voskrés! Christ is risen!”
Delivering his homily seated, the Pope recalled how many writers have evoked the beauty of starlit nights, whereas nights of war are marked by streams of light portending death.
From bewilderment to joy
Reflecting on this Easter night, he encouraged everyone to see the hopeful light of dawn as experienced by the women of the Gospel who discovered the empty tomb of Jesus. They show us “the first rays of the dawn of God’s life rising in the darkness of our world.”
Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica
The Pope recalled how the women who went early in the morning to annoint the body of Jesus were startled to find it empty while meeting two figures in dazzling garments telling them Jesus was risen.
“They saw, they heard, they proclaimed” – three aspects of their experience we also can gain from when remembering the Lord’s passover from death to life.
The women saw
The first news of the resurrection marked “a sign to be contemplated,” the Pope observed, as it totally overturned expectations and came as an amazing and surprising hope.
Sometimes radically good news many not “find a place in our hearts,” the Pope added, and like the women in the Gospel we can initially react with doubts and especially fear, as the Gospel narrative describes their reaction.
Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica
We can sometimes keep looking at life and reality with a downcast persepctive, the Pope went on to say, and even write off the future, believe things will never change or improve, burying “the joy of living.”
Yet, the Easter hope we proclaim today is a call by the Lord to see life with different eyes, and make the jump to really believing that “fear, pain and death will not have the last word over us.”
While death can fill us with fear and sadness, he said, we must remember that “the Lord is risen!”
“Let us lift up our gaze, remove the veil of sadness and sorrow from our eyes, and open our hearts to the hope that God brings!”
The women heard
Recalling the two men in dazzling garments who spoke to women, saying “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen,” the Pope said we do well to hear and repeat their words “He is not here!”
This response can be for us too when we think we have understood everything about God and allow our own ideas and perspectives to contain Him, or we only seek the Lord in times of need and forget Him the rest of our daily lives, or when we neglect the Lord present in our brothers and sister who need our help.
Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica
The Pope added that we need to break free of moribund ways of thinking and behaving, where we can become prisoners of the past, lacking courage to to let ourselves be forgiven by God, to opt in favour for Jesus and his love.
We need to accept and encounter the living God who desires to change us and to change our world.
“Yet the Lord is risen! Let us not tarry among the tombs, but run to find him, the Living One! Nor may we be afraid to seek him also in the faces of our brothers and sisters, in the stories of those who hope and dream, in the pain of those who we suffer: God is there!”
The women proclaimed
The final verb the Pope underscored is how the women proclaimed the joy of the resurrection, opening “hearts to the extraordinary message of God’s triumph over evil and death.”
This joy was not just a happy consolation, but animated them to generate missionary disciples who “bring to all the Gospel of the risen Christ.”
The Pope said after the women saw and heard, they were overcome with a drive and the exhilaration to tell this good news, even if people thought they were crazy or would not believe it.
Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica
Joy of the Gospel
The Pope expressed his wish for a Church that can proclaim in the same way, with the same fervour, the joy of the Gospel, what all Christians are called to do “to experience the risen Christ and to share the experience with others” and the joy it brings.
Easter Vigil baptism of catechumens
“Let us make Jesus, the Living One, rise again from all those tombs in which we have sealed him…Let us bring him into our everyday lives: through gestures of peace in these days marked by the horrors of war, through acts of reconciliation amid broken relationships, acts of compassion towards those in need, acts of justice amid situations of inequality and of truth in the midst of lies. And above all, through works of love and fraternity.”
Hope has a name: the name of Jesus
In conclusion, Pope Francis recalled how Jesus entered “the tomb of our sin” and “bore the weight of our burdens” restoring us to life.
“Let us celebrate Easter with Christ! He is alive! Today, too, he walks in our midst, changes us and sets us free…For with Jesus, the Risen Lord, no night will last forever; and even in the darkest night, the morning star continues to shine.”
By Nathan Morley – Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday.
This site in Jerusalem’s Old City saw frenzied scenes as 150 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli riot police after dawn prayers.
The Palestinian news media reported many were injured by rubber-coated bullets; stun grenades, and beatings with truncheons.
After the clashes, the Israeli police said that they moved into the mosque to disperse a crowd of Palestinians who had been hurling firecrackers and rocks.
At least three police officers were hurt, according to security services, whilst hundreds of Palestinians were detained.
The police and army in Israel have been on high alert after a series of deadly Arab street attacks throughout the country over the past fortnight.
Tensions this year have increased in part by Ramadan coinciding with the Jewish celebration of Passover.
The holy site – which sits in the heart of old Jerusalem – is revered by Jews as the holiest site in Judaism, and known to Muslims as one of the three holiest sites in Islam.
In a message to the press, the Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli actions, and the Jordanian news agency, Petra, reported authorities in Amman described it as a ‘flagrant violation’.
Late on Friday, a large group gathered outside a mosque near the Israeli embassy in Jordan to show their solidarity with Palestinian people.
Violence has flared at this site dozens of times of the past few years.
Separately, Washington says is deeply concerned by violence. In a statement, spokesperson Ned Price called on all sides to exercise restraint, avoid provocative actions and rhetoric, and ‘preserve the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount’.
Psychiatry medicalizes problems that are actually social
How Modern Capitalism Created our Mental Health Crisis. A provocative and shocking look at how western society is misunderstanding and mistreating mental illness. Perfect for fans of Empire of Pain and Dope Sick. In Britain alone, more than 20% of the adult population take a psychiatric drug in any one year.
Last April 9th, 2022, Irene Hernandez Velasco a reporter for Spanish newspaper El Mundo, published an astonishing interview with Dr. James Davies, author of “Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good“. For those who don’t speak Spanish, we offer here a translation, but its original can be found in the this link.
James Davies, Professor of Anthropology and Psychotherapy at the University of Roehampton (UK). In “Sedated: How Modern Capitalism Created our Mental Health Crisis” he reveals what is wrong so that, despite the enormous increase in the consumption of psychotropic drugs, mental illnesses do not stop rising.
Psychiatric prescriptions have increased in the UK by 500% since 1980, with all Western countries registering a huge rise. However, mental health problems have not only not diminished but have grown. How is it possible?
I think fundamentally it is because we have taken the wrong approach, an approach that medicalizes and over-medicates understandable human reactions to the difficult circumstances we often face.
Is it a coincidence that this increase in the consumption of psychiatric drugs began in the 1980s?
No, it is not by chance. Since the 1980s the mental health sector has evolved to serve the interests of today’s capitalism, neoliberalism, at the expense of people in need. And that explains why mental health outcomes haven’t improved over that time period: because it’s not about helping individuals, it’s about helping the economy.
Can you give us an example of that link between psychiatry and neoliberalism to which you allude?
From the point of view of neoliberalism, the current over-medicalization approach works for several reasons: first, because it depoliticizes suffering, it conceptualizes suffering in a way that shields economics from criticism. We see an example in the dissatisfaction of many workers. But that dissatisfaction, instead of giving rise to a debate about the poor conditions of modern working life, is addressed as something that is wrong within the worker, something that needs to be confronted and changed. And I could give you many other examples.
Is it then about turning a social problem into an individual problem?
Yes. It is about reducing suffering to an internal dysfunction, to something that is wrong within us, instead of seeing it as a reaction of our organism before the bad things that are happening in the world and that need our attention and care.
The data show that people with the worst economic conditions, those most affected by unemployment and poverty, are the ones who are prescribed the most psychoactive drugs. Does that also have something to do with the economy?
-Absolutely. Just look at what has happened during the pandemic. Single mothers living in large city blocks were three times more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than people with a house in the country with a large garden. The circumstances one finds oneself in determine one’s state of mind. But instead of focusing on those circumstances through political reforms, what we do is medicalize the problem and think that we can treat it in clinics and health centers. That has been the main problem for the last 40 years, the arrogant idea that through a pill we can solve problems that are not rooted in neurochemistry, but in the world. And, ultimately, it is political reforms that we have to think about if we want to solve that problem.
And do you think that approach to psychiatry in line with neoliberalism is deliberate?
Well, there have been powerful industrial interests that have supported the over-medicalization of everyday life. That has been very good for the pharmaceutical industry, because the more people that can be classified as mentally ill or mentally disturbed, the bigger the market for products that seem to solve the problem. The pharmaceutical industry has absolutely promoted that idea in a very calculated way for the last 30 years. On the other hand, when it comes to governments I don’t think they have necessarily been colluding with the pharmaceutical industry. I think that it has rather had to do with ideologies and ideas that seem to fit with their own, and in this way they have privileged ways of intervening and thinking about stress and anguish that fit with their criteria. In that sense, the depoliticizing narrative is good from a political point of view. This mutual alliance between the pharmaceutical industry and political powers has been evolving slowly for 40 years and is what has led us to the situation in which we now find ourselves. I don’t think that alliance was necessarily calculated, it was simply the inevitable result of both finding some kind of support in each other.
Isn’t neoliberalism then just an economic paradigm?
No. We know from social history that the dominant economic paradigm at a time shapes social institutions, molds them to fit that system. So all social institutions, to one degree or another, change to serve that larger superstructure. We have seen it in schools, in universities, in hospitals… Why shouldn’t it also happen in the field of mental health? Of course it happens.
In the end, is psychiatry doing more harm than good?
I believe that if psychiatry does not recognize to what extent it is an accomplice of a system that harms, it is itself harming. Psychiatry can evolve, see to what extent it is complicit and can change. Psychiatry is a social institution that by nature is not harmful, it all depends on how it operates as a social institution. And at this time as a social institution, and given what it privileges, I would say that in many cases it is doing more harm than good. The data I provide in my book on the long-term prescription of psychoactive drugs I think illustrates this very well. These data show that these drugs are not only not generating the results that we would expect from an effective service, but that they are also harming many people who are negatively affected by these long-term treatments. And third, those drugs are costing an enormous amount of money. Putting all this together, I believe that psychiatry as a social institution is not acting as it should at this time.
He says that psychiatry is hyper-medicating many patients… But I guess there are people who really need medication, right?
Yes I agree. I am not anti-drugs or anti-psychiatry. Psychiatry plays a role in society, psychiatric medication plays a role for seriously distressed people. In fact, research shows that prescribing short-term psychotropic medications can be very helpful and advantageous. What I criticize is the overextension of a system that is now approaching a quarter of our adult population being prescribed some one type of psychiatric medication a year. That system is completely out of control. It is this excess that I criticize, the medicalization of problems that are actually social and psychological and therefore should be addressed with social and psychological interventions. Yes, there is a role for psychiatry in society, but not the one it currently represents.
When you talk about psychological interventions, do you mean doing therapy?
I think there are different ways to proceed. I think therapy plays a role, but I think we also need to recognize that therapy in the past has been responsible for reducing problems to internal dysfunction, family dynamics, or past incidents. We must understand that families are inserted into larger social systems. Suffering cannot be reduced to the family, because the family is often an expression of something else. A father who comes home in a foul mood may do so because he is depressed with his job, because he is in danger of his job, or because his salary is not enough. Those are factors that can make family life very difficult, and if therapists aren’t aware of that, it’s a big problem. I believe that therapy that takes political and social issues into consideration can be very supportive in raising awareness not only of immediate issues, but also of broader structures and how these affect health. That kind of therapy is very valuable. There are many psychological interventions that can be very helpful, but I don’t think we should stop there.
What else should be done?
I think we should also recognize that there are very serious and real social determinants of distress, and the only way to address them is through social policies. We need to think more about what kind of policies should be put in place to solve the current crisis we find ourselves in. Political reforms must be the central pillar of any mental health reform.
And do you think it will be done?
If history is any guide, we know that economic paradigms rise and fall. We have seen this over the last 200 years, and I suspect that many people are thinking that neoliberalism as an economic paradigm is coming to an end. As for what comes after neoliberalism, I hope it will be something with a more humanistic style, a kind of mixed economy capitalism. I believe that this could fit in with a vision of mental health that privileges political, social and psychological interventions over psychotropic drugs, knowing of course that there is a space for psychotropic drugs, but less than the one they occupy now. It is very difficult to know for sure where we are going to be, but I believe that there will be no mental health reform until there are political and economic reforms.
How have psychiatrists reacted to your book?
So far the reaction has been pretty good. I have friends who are psychiatrists, I don’t see psychiatrists or primary care doctors as enemies in any way. They are good people trying to do a good job under very, very difficult circumstances, and they are often victims of a larger structural system, as are the people who come to them for help. The psychiatrists I have talked to are interested in the analysis that I do, an analysis in which I try to go beyond blaming a psychiatrist or a hospital and in which I examine the structural reasons that have led us to this situation. And I think that’s interesting for a lot of psychiatrists. They may agree or disagree with my argument, but most seem to me to be sympathetic to the analysis and its intent. Besides,
Has the pandemic made it more evident that we need a paradigm shift?
I think so. I think that the pandemic has shown the extent to which circumstances, relationships and situations affect mental health, and that narrative has been reinforced because the entire population has had a change in circumstances that for many people has had a strong impact on the way they feel and function. The social model of anxiety and stress has gained credibility as a result of what we have seen. And we’ve also seen more people acknowledge that medicalizing distress not only doesn’t solve the problem, it’s not feasible. In the UK, for example, there has been a strong push to demedicalise distress and stress because the health service is unable to deal with it. For the first time in 40 years, major bodies like England’s Public Health said: ” Your anguish and stress are not medical problems. Don’t come to us, our hands are tied. We have too many people right now, it’s a social problem. It’s just the opposite of what we’ve been told for a long time. More credence is being given to new narratives now, let’s see how that evolves.
Today the National Assembly of Bulgaria holds an “Open House” on the occasion of April 16 – Day of the Bulgarian Constitution and the celebration of 143 years since the adoption of the first Bulgarian Basic Law, as well as the celebration of the legal profession.
Visitors will be able to see the building from 10 am.
The originals of the Tarnovo Constitution and the Silver Constitution are being exhibited, as well as liturgical items of the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Exarch Antim the First.
The Speaker of the National Assembly Nikola Minchev welcomed the first visitors to the official entrance.
On the occasion of the Constitution Day, President Rumen Radev stated in a special address that today’s Constitution regulates a stable institutional framework of representative democracy, and protects equality and fundamental rights of citizens.
Radev wishes all Bulgarian lawyers determination in defending the basic constitutional principles.
On the private sector, the Chairman of the Notary Chamber of the Republic of Bulgaria, Dr. Krassimir Katrandzhiev, issued a statement that reads as follows:
Dear colleagues,
On April 16 we celebrate the Day of the Bulgarian Constitution and the lawyer. The Basic Law of the Republic of Bulgaria is a symbol of the rule of law, a pillar and defender of the fundamental rights and freedoms of every Bulgarian citizen.
As Bulgarians and lawyers, we pay a well-deserved tribute to the great Revival minds, participants in the Constituent Assembly, held in Veliko Tarnovo in the distant 1879, which give life to the Bulgarian Constitution. The Basic Law of the Principality of Bulgaria marks the beginning of the parliamentary existence of our liberated homeland and becomes a prerequisite for the subsequent social, economic and cultural rise of a young European country with a centuries-old history.
For 136 years now, the Republic of Bulgaria has been proud of its Constitution, which reflects the spirit of its time, but at the same time is distinguished by its democracy and progress. The Bulgarian Constitution is the embodiment of a sovereign, independent and democratic Bulgaria.
The Notary Chamber of the Republic of Bulgaria expresses its warmest congratulations on the occasion of the Day of the Bulgarian Constitution and the lawyer, wishing you – the Bulgarian notaries, good health, reaching professional and personal heights, satisfaction and pride in our cause and aspiration to preserve of the rights and legitimate interests of the society, affirmation of our positions as a significant and highly authoritative guild, which monitors the protection of morals and the law in the service of Bulgarian citizens and civil turnover!
The next full moon is the Pink Moon, the Sprouting Grass, Egg, or Fish Moon; the Pesach, Passover, or Paschal Moon; the Hanuman Jayanti Festival Moon; and Bak Poya.
The next full moon will be on Saturday afternoon, April 16, 2022, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 2:55 p.m. EDT. This will be on Sunday morning from the India Standard Time Zone eastward across the rest of Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean to the International Date Line. The Moon will appear full for about three days centered on this time, from early Friday morning through early Monday morning, making this a full moon weekend.
One Moon, Many Names
In the 1930s the Maine Farmer’s Almanac began publishing Native American names for the Moon each month of the year. According to this almanac – as the full moon in April – this is the Pink Moon, named after the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox, a plant native to the eastern U.S. that is one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring. Other names for this Moon include the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Fish Moon, as this was when the shad swam upstream to spawn.
This is also the Pesach or Passover Moon. Pesach or Passover begins at sundown on Friday, April 15, and ends at nightfall on Saturday, April 23, 2022. The Seder feasts are on the first two evenings of Passover.
In the Christian ecclesiastical calendar, this is the Paschal Moon, from which the date of Easter is calculated. Paschal is the Latinized version of Pesach. Generally, the Christian holiday of Easter, also called Pascha, is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. However, there are differences between the times of these astronomical events and the calendars used by the Eastern and Western churches. This is one of the years where these differences matter. Western Christianity will be celebrating Easter on Sunday, April 17, 2022, the Sunday after this first full moon of spring. Eastern Christianity will celebrate Eastern Orthodox Easter a week later on Sunday, April 24.
For Hindus, this full moon corresponds with Hanuman Jayanti, the celebration of the birth of Lord Hanuman, celebrated in most areas on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar month of Chaitra.
For Buddhists, especially in Sri Lanka, this full moon is Bak Poya, commemorating when the Buddha visited Sri Lanka and settled a dispute between chiefs, avoiding a war.
The Moon and Calendars
In many traditional lunisolar calendars, the months change with the new moon and full moons fall in the middle of the lunar months. This full moon is in the middle of the third month of the Chinese calendar.
In the Islamic calendar, the months start with the first sighting of the waxing crescent moon shortly after the new moon. This full moon is near the middle of the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is honored as the month in which the Quran was revealed. Observing this annual month of charitable acts, prayer, and fasting from dawn to sunset is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
As usual, the wearing of suitably celebratory celestial attire is encouraged in honor of the full moon. Enjoy the spring flowers, consider acts of charity, leave an extra seat at the table, and try to avoid starting any wars.
Summary of Celestial Events
Here’s a summary of other celestial events between now and the full moon after next (with specific times and angles based on the location of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.):
As spring begins, the daily periods of sunlight continue to lengthen, having changed at their fastest around the spring equinox on March 20. On Saturday, April 16, 2022 (the day of the full moon), morning twilight will begin at 5:30 a.m. EDT, sunrise will be at 6:30 a.m., solar noon will be at 1:07:49 p.m. when the Sun will reach its maximum altitude of 61.42 degrees, sunset will be at 7:46 p.m., and evening twilight will end at 8:47 p.m. By Monday, May 16 (the day of the full moon after next), morning twilight will begin at 4:48 a.m., sunrise will be at 5:55 a.m., solar noon will be at 1:04:27 p.m. when the Sun will reach its maximum altitude of 70.33 degrees, sunset will be at 8:15 p.m., and evening twilight will end at 9:22 p.m.
Chance to See a Comet
There is a slight chance that Comet C/2021 O3 (PANSTARRS) will be visible in the evening sky in early May. Falling toward the Sun from the coldest reaches of the solar system, this comet is expected to make its first and last pass by the Sun – passing well within the orbit of Mercury – on April 21, 2022, after which it will speed on its way out of the solar system forever, passing closest to Earth on May 8. The last observations used to make this prediction are from early February, as this comet is now too close to the Sun to observe.
We don’t know if this comet will survive passing close to the Sun without breaking up (many similar comets have broken up under similar conditions). If it does survive, it is unclear how much gas and dust it will be giving off in early May. If it doesn’t break up and is giving off lots of gas or dust, then we might be able to see it (probably requiring a backyard telescope or binoculars). Most likely, we will not be able to see it at all, but pay attention to the news, as it may surprise us!
Brief Window to See a Meteor Shower
The Eta-Aquariids (031 ETA) will peak early on the morning of May 6, 2022. This meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Aquarius, as the meteors appear to radiate out from a point (called the radiant) in this constellation (for much the same reason that snowflakes appear to radiate out from one point when you are driving in a snowstorm). The higher in the sky the radiant is, the more meteors you should be able to see. Since the radiant for this meteor shower only rises a few hours before dawn, there will be a fairly short window to look for these meteors.
For the Washington, D.C.-area, the radiant will rise above the eastern horizon around 2:40 a.m. EDT, the predicted peak meteor rate for this year will be around 4 a.m., and the first hints of dawn will start interfering with seeing these meteors after about 4:30 a.m.
For locations farther north, the window for viewing these meteors shortens or vanishes altogether, as this shower is best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. The International Meteor Organization’s 2022 Meteor Shower Calendar shows that the observed peak rates have been trending down in recent years, from 85 visible meteors per hour in 2008 to 45 visible meteors per hour last year, so it’s hard to predict what the peak rate will be this year. According to the IMO Calendar, in past years this shower has shown a fairly broad peak, with rates near 30 visible meteors per hour (under ideal conditions) for several mornings around the peak, so if you’re out in the early mornings around this date, you might catch a meteor or two. These meteors are caused by debris from Halley’s Comet entering our atmosphere at 148,000 miles per hour (66 kilometers per second).
Ideal conditions for viewing these meteors would be if the weather is clear with no clouds or high hazes, after moonset but before any sign of dawn interferes. Go to a place far from any light sources or urban light pollution, and find a clear view of a wide expanse of the sky. Be sure to give your eyes plenty of time to adapt to the dark. The rod cells in your eyes are more sensitive to low light levels but play little role in color vision. Your color-sensing cone cells are concentrated near the center of your view with more of the rod cells on the edge of your view. Since some meteors are faint, you will tend to see more meteors from the “corner of your eye” (which is why you need a view of a large part of the sky). Your color vision (cone cells) will adapt to darkness in about 10 minutes, but your more sensitive night vision rod cells will continue to improve for an hour or more (with most of the improvement in the first 35 to 45 minutes). The more sensitive your eyes are, the more chance you have of seeing meteors. Even a short exposure to light (from passing car headlights, etc.) will start the adaptation over again so no turning on a light or your cell phone to check what time it is!
Several other meteor showers will peak during this lunar cycle but are not well suited for viewing from our more urban Northern Hemisphere locations this year, so I’ve not put them in my detailed listing below. If you’re interested in these meteor showers, you can search by name or look up the International Meteor Organization’s 2022 Meteor Shower Calendar. Here are the names: The Lyrids (006 LYR) are expected to peak on the morning of April 22 when moonlight will interfere. The Pi-Puppids (137 PPU) will peak the next morning but are best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere, have an uncertain peak rate, and also will have interference from moonlight. The Eta-Lyrids (145 ELY) will peak on the morning of May 10 but are only expected to produce about 3 meteors per hour.
Total Lunar Eclipse in May
With the full moon after next, we will have a total eclipse of the Moon, peaking early on Monday morning, May 16, 2022. The Moon will begin entering the partial shadow of Earth at 9:32 p.m. EDT on Sunday night, May 15, but the slight darkening of the Moon will not stand out until the Moon starts entering the full shadow of the Earth at 10:28 p.m. It will take until 11:29 p.m. for the full shadow of Earth to cover the Moon. The peak of the eclipse will be at 12:11 a.m. on Monday morning, May 16. The Moon will begin emerging from the full shadow of the Earth at 12:54 a.m. and finish emerging from the full shadow at 1:55 a.m. The Moon will finish exiting the partial shadow at 2:51 a.m., but the subtle shading from this last part of the eclipse will be difficult to notice.
Evening Sky Highlights
On the evening of Saturday, April 16, 2022 – the day of the full moon – as evening twilight ends at 8:47 p.m. EDT, the full moon will appear about 9 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon with the bright star Spica about 9 degrees to the upper right of the Moon. The bright planet Mercury will appear only 2 degrees above the west-northwestern horizon. The bright stars of the local arm of our home galaxy will appear spread along the west-southwestern horizon. Sirius, the brightest of the stars in our night sky, will appear 24 degrees above the southwestern horizon. The bright star appearing nearest overhead will be Pollux (the brighter of the twin stars in the constellation Gemini) at 68 degrees above the west-southwestern horizon. Pollux is an orange-tinted star about 34 lightyears from Earth. It is not quite twice the mass of our Sun but about 9 times the diameter and 33 times the brightness.
As the lunar cycle progresses the background of stars will appear to shift westward each evening, although it is actually the Earth that is moving around the Sun toward the East. The planet Mercury will appear to shift in the opposite direction, appearing higher above the west-northwestern horizon each evening until April 28, after which it will start shifting toward the horizon. May 11 will be the last evening that Mercury will appear above the horizon as evening twilight ends, although Mercury may remain visible in the glow of dusk before evening twilight ends until around the evening of the full moon after next. The waxing moon will appear to the upper left of Mercury on May 2 (with the bright star Aldebaran about 7 degrees to the left of the Moon), to the lower left of the bright star Pollux on May 6, above the bright star Regulus on May 9, and to the upper left of the bright star Spica on May 13.
By the evening of Monday, May 16, 2022 – the day of the full moon after next – as evening twilight ends at 8:47 p.m. EDT – the full moon will just be rising above the east-southeastern horizon, and the bright star Antares will rise to the lower right of the Moon about 10 minutes later. The constellation Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear or the Big Dipper, will appear nearly overhead in the northern sky. No particularly bright star will appear near to directly overhead, the highest being Regulus at 54 degrees above the southwestern horizon, with Arcturus a close second at 53 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon.
Morning Sky Highlights
On the morning of Saturday, April 16, 2022 (the day of the full moon), as morning twilight begins at 5:30 a.m. EDT, four of the five visible planets will appear in a line above the east-southeastern horizon, with Saturn to the upper right at 15 degrees above the southeastern horizon, Mars at 12 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon, Venus at 8 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon, and Jupiter to the lower left at 2 degrees above the eastern horizon. The full moon will appear 11 degrees above the west-southwestern horizon with the bright star Spica to the lower left of the Moon. The bright star appearing closest to overhead will be Vega at 83 degrees above the eastern horizon. Vega is the 5th brightest star in our night sky and the brightest of the three stars in the Summer Triangle. Vega is about twice as massive as our Sun, 40 times brighter, and about 25 light-years from us.
As the lunar cycle progresses, the background of stars along with Jupiter and Saturn will appear to shift westward each morning, while Venus and Mars will appear to shift the opposite way. The waning gibbous moon will appear near the bright star Antares on the morning of April 19, 2022. The Moon will join the lineup of planets in the morning sky on April 23, and will shift along this line, appearing near the planet Saturn on April 25, Mars on April 26, and Venus and Jupiter on April 27. The two brightest of the planets, Venus and Jupiter, will appear only half a degree apart on the mornings of April 30 and May 1, visible about 7 degrees above the eastern horizon as morning twilight begins. May 1 and 2 will be the mornings when the bright star Vega will appear almost exactly overhead as morning twilight begins (for the Washington, D.C. area and similar latitudes). As mentioned above, the Eta-Aquariids (031 ETA) will peak early on the morning of May 6, with the radiant for this meteor shower rising around 2:40 a.m. and the first hints of dawn interfering sometime after 4:30 a.m.
By the morning of Monday, May 16, 2022 (the day of the full moon after next), as morning twilight begins at 4:48 a.m. EDT, four visible planets will appear in a line above the east-southeastern horizon, with Saturn to the upper right at 26 degrees above the southeastern horizon, Mars at 16 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon, Jupiter at 13 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon, and Venus to the lower left at 6 degrees above the eastern horizon. The full moon will appear 12 degrees above the southwestern horizon. The “Summer Triangle” will appear directly overhead, with the bright star Vega appearing closest to overhead at 83 degrees above the western horizon.
Detailed Daily Guide
Here is a more detailed, day-by-day listing of celestial events between now and the full moon after next. The times and angles I give are based on the location of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and some of these details may differ for your location.
April 12
Beginning the morning of Tuesday, April 12, 2022, the planet Jupiter will join Venus, Saturn, and Mars above the eastern horizon as morning twilight begins, giving us a view of four of the five visible planets!
April 13
On Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, April 12 to 13, 2022, the bright star Regulus will appear to the right of the waxing gibbous moon. They will appear about 8 degrees apart as evening twilight ends Tuesday at 8:42 p.m. EDT, the Moon will reach its highest in the sky for the night less than 2 hours later at 10:24 p.m., and the Moon will set Wednesday morning (at 5:17 AM) about 10 minutes before morning twilight begins.
April 14
Beginning Thursday evening, April 14, 2022, Mercury will begin appearing above the west-northwestern horizon as evening twilight ends.
April 15-16
On Friday evening into Saturday morning, April 15 to 16, 2022, the bright star Spica will appear below the full moon. They will appear about 9 degrees apart as evening twilight ends and will shift closer together as the night progresses.
April 16: The Next Full Moon
As mentioned above, the next full moon will be Saturday afternoon, April 16, 2022, at 2:55 p.m. EDT. The Moon will appear full for about three days centered on this time, from early Friday morning through early Monday morning, making this a full moon weekend.
April 19
Tuesday morning, April 19, 2022, the bright star Antares will appear below the waning gibbous moon. As Antares rises above the southeastern horizon (Monday night at 11:25 p.m. EDT) it will be about 10 degrees below the Moon. Antares will be about 8 degrees to the lower left of the Moon as the Moon reaches its highest in the sky Tuesday morning at 3:22 a.m. Antares will be about 6 degrees to the left of the Moon as morning twilight begins at 5:25 a.m.
Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at 11:14 a.m. EDT, the Moon will be at perigee, its closest to the Earth for this orbit.
April 20
By Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, April 19 to 20, 2022, the waning gibbous Moon will have shifted to appear on the opposite side of the bright star Antares. As the Moon rises above the east-southeastern horizon (Tuesday at 11:39 p.m. EDT) Antares will appear about 8 degrees to the upper right of the Moon, and the pair will appear to separate as Tuesday night progresses into Wednesday morning.
April 23
Saturday morning, April 23, 2022, the waning half-moon will join the morning lineup of planets (Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter) along the southeastern horizon. The Moon will appear half-full, as it will reach its last quarter at 7:56 a.m. EDT. The Moon will shift along this line of planets on subsequent mornings.
April 25
On Monday morning, April 25, 2022, the planet Saturn will appear about 8 degrees to the upper right of the waning crescent moon, with the Moon about 11 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon as morning twilight begins at 5:15 a.m. EDT.
April 26
On Tuesday morning, April 26, 2022, the planet Mars will appear about 7 degrees to the upper right of the waning crescent Moon, with the Moon about 7 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon as morning twilight begins at 5:14 a.m. EDT.
April 27
On Wednesday morning, April 27, 2022, the bright planets Venus and Jupiter will form a triangle with the thin, waning crescent Moon. Venus will appear about 5 degrees above the Moon and Jupiter to the left about 4 degrees above the Moon. The Moon will rise last above the eastern horizon, rising at 4:58 a.m. EDT, only about 14 minutes before morning twilight begins. The Moon will be only about 2 degrees above the horizon as twilight begins at 5:12 a.m. EDT.
April 28
Thursday evening, April 28, 2022, will be the evening when the planet Mercury will appear highest above the west-northwestern horizon as evening twilight ends for this apparition.
April 29
Friday morning, April 29, 2022, will be when the planet Mercury reaches its greatest angular separation from the Sun as seen from the Earth for this apparition (called greatest elongation), appearing half-lit through a large enough telescope.
On Friday evening, April 29, 2022, the planet Mercury will appear less than 2 degrees to the left of the Pleiades star cluster above the west-northwestern horizon.
April 30
On the mornings of Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1, 2022, the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, will appear only half a degree apart, visible about 7 degrees above the eastern horizon as morning twilight begins. Two other planets, Mars and Saturn, will appear farther to the upper right of Venus and Jupiter. The close pairing of the two brightest planets is unusual and should be a worthwhile site to see!
Saturday afternoon, April 30, 2022, at 4:28 p.m. EDT, will be the new moon, when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and is usually not visible from the Earth. However, if you happen to be in the southeastern Pacific Ocean or the southern part of South America, you might be able to see the silhouette of the Moon as it blocks part of the Sun in a partial solar eclipse.
May 1
Sunday, May 1, 2022, will be May Day. We currently divide the year into four seasons based upon the solstices and equinoxes, with summer starting with the summer solstice in June. This approximates summer as the quarter of the year with the warmest temperatures. Much of pre-Christian northern Europe celebrated “cross-quarter days” halfway between the solstices and equinoxes, dividing the seasons on these days. Using this older definition, summer was the quarter of the year with the longest daily periods of daylight, starting on Beltane, traditionally celebrated on May 1 (the middle of our spring). Many of the European May Day traditions trace back to these earlier celebrations of the start of summer under the old calendar.
The day of or the day after the new moon marks the start of the new month for most lunisolar calendars. The fourth month of the Chinese calendar starts on Sunday, May 1, 2022 (at midnight in China’s time zone, which is 12 hours ahead of EDT). Sundown on Sunday, May 1, marks the start of Iyar in the Hebrew calendar.
In the Islamic calendar, the months traditionally start with the first sighting of the waxing crescent Moon. Many Muslim communities now follow the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia, which uses astronomical calculations to predict the start of the months. This calendar predicts the holy month of Ramadan will end and Shawwal will begin with sunset on Sunday evening, May 1, 2022. Because of the religious significance of the end of Ramadan, Shawwal is one of 4 months in the Islamic year where the start of the month is updated in the Umm al-Qura calendar based upon the actual sighting of the crescent Moon. Some of the other websites I’ve checked predict Shawwal will begin the evening of May 2. Starting with the sighting of the crescent Moon (whether on May 1 or May 2), the end of the Ramadan fast will be celebrated with Eid al-Fitr (the Feast of Breaking the Fast), lasting from one to three days.
The mornings of Sunday and Monday, May 1 and 2, 2022, will be the mornings when the bright star Vega will appear almost exactly overhead as morning twilight begins (for the Washington, D.C.-area and similar latitudes).
May 2
On Monday evening, May 2, 2022, the planet Mercury will appear about 5 degrees to the lower right of the thin, waxing crescent moon, with the bright star Aldebaran about 7 degrees to the left of the Moon.
Pay attention to the news in early May, in case the comet C/2021 O3 (PANSTARRS) survives its pass by the Sun and is giving off enough gas or dust to be visible as it passes by the Earth on its way out of the solar system.
May 5
Thursday morning, May 5, 2022, at 8:47 a.m. EDT, the Moon will be at apogee, its farthest from the Earth for this orbit.
May 6
As described in more detail earlier in this post, the Eta-Aquariids (031 ETA) meteor shower will peak early on the morning of Friday, May 6, 2022. For the Washington, D.C.-area, there will be a short window for viewing these meteors, as the radiant for this shower will rise around 2:40 a.m. EDT and the first hints of dawn will begin interfering sometime after 4:30 a.m.. The viewing for these meteors will be better for more southern latitudes (and worse for more northern latitudes).
On Friday evening, May 6, 2022, the bright star Pollux (the brighter of the twins in the constellation Gemini) will appear near the waxing crescent moon. The Moon will be about 47 degrees above the western horizon as evening twilight ends at 9:11 p.m. EDT with Pollux about 3 degrees to the upper right. The Moon will set first on the west-northwestern horizon Saturday morning at 1:38 a.m. with Pollux about 4 degrees to the right.
May 8
On Sunday evening, May 8, 2022, the waxing moon will appear half-full as it reaches its first quarter at 8:21 p.m. EDT.
May 9
Monday night into Tuesday morning, May 9 to 10, 2022, the bright star Regulus will appear below the waxing gibbous moon. The Moon will appear 63 degrees above the south-southwestern horizon as evening twilight ends at 9:14 p.m. EDT with Regulus about 5 degrees below the Moon. Regulus will set first on the west-northwestern horizon Tuesday morning at 2:47 a.m.
May 11
Wednesday evening, May 11, 2022, will be the last evening that Mercury will appear above the horizon as evening twilight ends, although Mercury may remain visible in the glow of dusk before evening twilight ends until around the evening of the full moon after next.
May 13-14
Friday evening into Saturday morning, May 13 to 14, 2022, the bright star Spica will appear to the lower right of the waxing gibbous moon. They will appear about 5 degrees apart as evening twilight ends, the Moon will reach its highest in the sky at 11:20 p.m., and Spica will set first on the west-southwestern horizon on Saturday morning about 20 minutes before morning twilight begins.
May 15-16: Full Moon and Total Lunar Eclipse
On Sunday night into Monday morning, May 15 to 16, 2022, we will have both a full moon and a total eclipse of the Moon, peaking early on Monday morning, May 16. The Moon will begin entering the partial shadow of the Earth at 9:32 PM EDT on Sunday night, May 15, but the slight darkening of the Moon will not stand out until the Moon starts entering the full shadow of the Earth at 10:28 PM. It will take until 11:29 PM for the full shadow to cover the Moon.
The peak of the eclipse will be at 12:11 AM on Monday morning, May 16. The Moon will begin emerging from the full shadow at 12:54 AM and finish emerging from the full shadow at 1:55 AM. The Moon will not finish exiting the partial shadow until 2:51 AM, but the subtle shading of this last part of the eclipse will be difficult to notice.?
Relative to other countries in the WHO European Region, Kazakhstan has low levels of childhood overweight and obesity. However, recent WHO surveillance data show that these levels may be increasing, especially among boys. This new finding formed the basis of the new factsheet “Results of surveillance of childhood obesity, nutrition and physical activity 2020”, prepared by WHO and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health.
Latest country data: more sugary drinks and more screen time
According to the latest WHO data, 21% of children aged 6–9 years in Kazakhstan are living with overweight or obesity.
For 8-year-old girls, this rate is around 18%, and has remained almost stable since 2015. For boys, the trend is more worrying. From 2015 until 2020, overweight and obesity levels among 8-year-old boys increased by more than 5%, reaching 24%.
“In Kazakhstan, we can see a gradual shift towards consumption of more sugary drinks and more sedentary leisure time spent with gadgets. But at the same time, we see more positive trends. Prevalence of daily physical activity (60 minutes and above) has increased by more than 15% and reached 86%,” explained Dr Zhanar Kalmakova, acting Board Chair at the National Center of Public Health of the Ministry of Health.
Overweight and obesity among school-aged children are major challenges in the WHO European Region. Even after childhood, these conditions are major risk factors for developing several noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes.
According to data from the same study, around 5% of children in Kazakhstan are thin, which can also lead to health problems later in life.
Parents under-evaluate their children’s weight
“There is an old saying, ‘We value what we measure’,” said Dr Caroline Clarinval, WHO Representative to Kazakhstan. “When we measure childhood obesity, we are better equipped to ensure that we are giving our children a healthy future. The results from this survey show that levels of overweight and obesity in Kazakhstan are low, relative to levels in other parts of the Region. But they also indicate that there are areas where we need to remain vigilant, including children’s exposure to screen time, to ensure that levels of overweight and obesity do not rise to the levels we see in other parts of the Region.”
Dr Clarinval added, “One of the strengths of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) is that it enables decision-makers to examine the factors that have an influence on weight: from gender and dietary behaviours to geographical differences to multiple social factors that indirectly impact obesity and overweight issues.”
For instance, the WHO data show that parents in Kazakhstan tend to under-evaluate the weight of their children. Parents of 77.6% of surveyed children with overweight or obesity stated that their children fell into an average weight category. As parents play an important role in developing dietary patterns and exercise habits for their children, this challenge should be considered when developing an effective policy approach.
The new data come from the nationwide survey carried out jointly in 2020 by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health (through its National Center for Public Health) and COSI, and with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Fighting obesity: WHO recommendations
Population-based policies to tackle childhood obesity and overweight include:
broad fiscal policies to reduce affordability and accessibility of foods and beverages high in sugar, salt and fats;
policies to increase access to healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, including within schools;
restrictions on the advertising (including digital advertising) of foods and beverages high in sugar, salt and fats;
policies to promote exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and continued breastfeeding up to 2 years and beyond; and
policies to advance universal health coverage and strengthen health systems to ensure that every child living with overweight or obesity has access to high-quality weight management services.
Special consideration should be given to the ways that socioeconomic factors may influence obesity risk. Efforts must be made to ensure that everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status, has access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity.
The recommendations reflect the core principles of the European Programme of Work 2020–2025, which appeals to Member States for united action to eliminate health inequities and strive for better well-being across the WHO European Region.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is a true technological marvel. The largest and most complex space telescope ever built, Webb is able to gather light that has been traveling for 13.5 billion years, almost since the beginning of the universe. In effect, Webb is a time machine, allowing us to peer at the first galaxies to form after the Big Bang. Because it gathers infrared light, sees right through the giant clouds of dust that block the view of most other telescopes. Webb is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope. Most notably, with its 21-foot-wide (6.5-meter-wide) set of segmented mirrors, Webb is powerful enough to search for water vapor in the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars. It will open a new window on these exoplanets, observing them in wavelengths of light at which they have never been seen before and helping us gain new insights about their nature. Webb will help us understand how galaxies evolve over billions of years into grand spirals, like our own Milky Way, search for signs of habitability on distant planets, and penetrate into the hearts of dust-shrouded stellar nurseries. The observatory launched from South America on Christmas Day 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The journey of commissioning the Webb telescope continues this week with the successful cooling of the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), through the critical ‘pinch point,’ down to its final operating temperature of less than 7 kelvins (-447 degrees Fahrenheit, or -266 degrees Celsius). This was a precondition to completing the seventh and final stage of the mirror alignment process. The next steps include initial check-outs of MIRI and continue on to the final stages of multi-instrument, multi-field alignment with all four science instruments.
Last week we shared the cool science on star and planet formation planned for Webb. Today, we get into details on how Webb will study planets around other stars, which are known as extrasolar planets, or exoplanets. Knicole Colón, Webb’s deputy project scientist for exoplanet science, takes us into the discovery space of exploring new worlds beyond our solar system. Dr. Colón brings a unique perspective as she is also the project scientist for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a mission that has found many exoplanet targets that Webb will observe.
This illustration shows an exoplanet orbiting its much brighter star. With its onboard coronagraphs, Webb will allow scientists to view exoplanets at infrared wavelengths they’ve never seen them in before. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
“Over the last 30 years, astronomers have discovered over 5,000 extrasolar planets. These discoveries have revealed that exoplanets span a vast range of masses, sizes, and temperatures and orbit all types of stars, leading to extraordinarily diverse worlds.
“With its powerful spectroscopic and imaging capabilities across a wide infrared wavelength range, Webb is poised to revolutionize our knowledge of the composition of these worlds and of planet-forming disks. From small, potentially rocky exoplanets up to giant, gaseous ones, Webb will observe these worlds with the transit technique. Direct imaging techniques will be used to study young, giant exoplanets along with the environments in which planets form and evolve around stars, known as protoplanetary disks and debris disks.
“One specific exoplanet observation that will be done with Webb involves collecting observations over the course of a planet’s orbit to enable measurements of the atmospheric composition and dynamics. I am involved in a program to observe the gas giant HD 80606 b as part of Webb’s first year of observations. Because the orbit of HD 80606 b is extremely eccentric (non-circular) and long (111 days), the amount of energy received by the planet from its star ranges from approximately 1 to 950 times what Earth receives from the Sun! This results in extreme temperature variations, which are predicted to cause clouds to rapidly form and dissipate in the planet’s atmosphere on very short timescales. Our science team will probe these predicted cloud dynamics in real-time over the course of a continuous ~18 hour observation of HD 80606 b as it passes behind its star, using the NIRSpec instrument on Webb to measure thermal light from the planet’s atmosphere.
The orbital configuration of HD 80606 b is shown along with expected temperature variations as viewed from Earth and Webb at several orbital phases. The planned “start” and “end” of the ~18 hour stretch of Webb observations are indicated. Credit: adapted from de Wit et al. 2016; courtesy of James Sikora
“Beyond gas giants, a number of Webb’s exoplanet targets in its first year of observations are small and orbit stars that are smaller and cooler than the Sun, known as M dwarfs. While exoplanet discovery began around 30 years ago, many of these small exoplanets around M dwarfs were just discovered in the last few years by surveys like TESS. Webb observations will start to reveal the diversity of atmospheres that exist on these small planets by searching for evidence of molecules like water, carbon dioxide, and methane in their atmospheres. Because M dwarfs are typically much more active than the Sun and have energetic stellar flares that could potentially strip the atmospheres off of these planets, Webb observations may even reveal that some of these small planets have no atmosphere at all.
This artist’s illustration shows three small planets discovered by TESS around an M dwarf star called L 98-59. Planets c and d are just 1.4 and 1.6 times larger than Earth and will be observed in Webb’s first year of science. Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
“With TESS and other surveys continuing to discover additional planets in our galaxy at a regular pace and Webb preparing to study the atmospheres of many of these newly discovered worlds, our exoplanet adventures are in many ways just beginning.”
– Knicole Colón, Webb’s deputy project scientist for exoplanet science, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Stefanie Milam, Webb deputy project scientist for planetary science, NASA Goddard
Jonathan Gardner, Webb deputy senior project scientist, NASA Goddard
A Harvard professor claims that an alien civilization has “deposited small probes” on our planet
“Umuamua, the mysterious asteroid that passes through our solar system, is very likely to be a spaceship that aliens have launched to receive signals from their sensors located on Earth,” said Professor Avi Loeb of Harvard University. Science.
According to Avi Loeb, an ancient alien civilization has long installed sensors all over planet Earth to study life here, and the Umuamua rock is simply a “receiver” that takes measurements from their sensors.
“Umuamua’s overall behavior indicates that it is an artificial object on a targeted mission to the Sun to collect data from a habitable region near Earth. It can even be assumed that it is extracting data from probes that have already been sprinkled on Earth. in that case, “Umuamua’s thin, flat shape could be that of a receiver,” the professor said.
The asteroid’s predecessor may have been an alien spacecraft that deposited small probes in Earth’s atmosphere without being noticed because it visited Earth before the Pan-STARRS system began operations.
Loeb came to his “thesis” by examining a large number of phenomena of inexplicable things in the sky. These “things,” called unexplained celestial phenomena (NNFs), are either drones from Russia and China, as is commonly believed, or aliens associated with the Umuamua stone.
Since Umuamua entered our solar system in 2017, the rock has been the subject of debate. Whether it is part of an asteroid or a comet is not known, but it is known to rotate and even accelerate as it moves through space. This movement leads Loeb to conclude that its wider flat surfaces may contain equipment that can pick up signals from any hidden sensors or probes.
Initially, Umuamua was considered a comet and was named C / 2017 U1 (PAN-STARRS), and was later re-categorized as an asteroid named A / 2017 U1. It was last identified as a hyperbolic asteroid of interstellar origin. Oumuamua in Hawaiian means “ambassador from afar, first come.” Judging by the trajectory of approach, Umuamua most likely comes from Vega, the constellation Lyra. Umuamua is the first interstellar object discovered by man. The cigar-shaped asteroid is 400 meters long and about 30 meters in diameter.
“Instead of just wondering about possible scenarios, we need to gather more accurate scientific data and clarify the nature of the NNF,” Loeb wrote in SciAm magazine.
He proposes to deploy state-of-the-art cameras on broadband telescopes that observe the sky in different places to solve the NSF mystery once and for all.
“The sky is not classified. It’s just government sensors,” Loeb said, adding that it was time for scientists, not the US government, to explain the phenomenon.
As noted in my recent book, Aliens, I do not rely on science fiction stories, as the plot lines often violate the laws of physics. But we must be open to the possibility that science will one day reveal a reality that was once considered fiction, “he concluded.
Who are you? What do you believe? Can we still work together, despite our differences?
These are questions often asked of faith leaders and clergy, and the last is generally answered with a smiling “of course!”.
But the proof is in the doing. Can the history of conflict and even bloodshed amongst religions be reversed? Can the suspicions and bigotry which, in some cases, have persisted for centuries be set aside in favour of a unified push toward forming a better, more peaceful, more welcoming world?
A constellation of diverse religious leaders, scholars, and activists convened in a virtual roundtable this past weekend sponsored by the Institute for Religious Tolerance, Peace and Justice to attack these thorny questions as well as lay the groundwork for mutual cooperation. Founder of the Institute, scholar, author and lecturer Dr Arik Greenberg, set the tone and the theme of the forum at the outset: “The interfaith movement is at a crossroads,” he said, and it is time to go beyond “just breaking bread and sharing hugs. Now is the time to take the next step.” Dr Greenberg challenged the keynote speakers and panellists to answer the question: how do we remain faithful to our own traditions while being tolerant of others?
“This room isn’t a room of just Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus. It’s a room of inclusivity.”
The first keynote speaker, author and theologian Dr. SimonMary Asese Aihiokhai, used the scriptures and parables of various faiths in his address to answer the question, “How can we reimagine identity issues that can be more inclusive?” Dr Aihiokhai stressed that the instant we begin to use labels of identity for ourselves and God we are practicing exclusion. “This room isn’t a room of just Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus. It’s a room of inclusivity,” Dr. Aihiokhai said, “Some of us want to be the police officers of God, and that is wrong.” He explained that conflict is impossible among faiths when we all acknowledge a common God of diversity: “Our God is a God of differences, not exclusion.”
Responding and commenting on Dr. Aihiokhai’s remarks, was a panel composed of a diverse group in itself: national award-winning LGBTQ+ and social justice activist Mr. Justin Hager, J.D.; Assistant Professor of African American Thought and Practice in the Theological Studies Department of Loyola Marymount University, Dr. Kim R. Harris; Adjunct Professor and doctoral candidate at the University of Denver, Prof. Marji Karish; Born Again Christian from the Ventura County Interfaith Community, Mr. Keith Salvas; and human rights activist and Executive Director of Boat People SOS (BPSOS), Dr. Thang Nguyen Dinh.
Top left to right: Ms Sharon Angel, Mr Keith Salvas, Mr Justin Hager. Bottom left to right: Ms Marji Karish, Dr Kim Harris and Dr Thang Nguyen Dinh
Each panellist expressed his or her unique perspective and experience in their comments. Mr Hager stressed that his presence at the forum was not as a person of faith, though he was raised in a family and community of faith who were shocked by his coming out. He said, “I think it is absolutely wonderful to have events like this… one of the things we don’t see enough of is these things within our faiths,” adding, “I don’t need to be right—just recognize me as a human being.”
Dr Harris, who identifies as a Black Catholic, spoke from her own experience of being outside the “template” of what is thought of as the American Black religious experience. “People can’t imagine that we are Catholic or Jewish or Muslim or Buddhist. And some of that is from other African Americans, who can’t imagine that is what we are. So part of the engagement is being able to see within our own communities that there is an internal diversity that is there… there is a hospitality, an engagement that needs to happen.”
Conversing is inclusive, converting is exclusive.
Professor Karish shared her experience of being part of the largest interfaith event in Denver, the annual “langar-in-the-park.” Langar is a Sikh tradition wherein a free Indian meal is served and shared by a community regardless of who they are, thus unifying diverse race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and class identities. Professor Karish said, “We served 10,000 meals every year across the community until the pandemic put everything on hold, and we will be starting up again in the fall.” She has set up a course at the University of Denver (DU) that will culminate in a “[email protected] DU.” Professor Karish added, “I’m very grateful for being able to bring non-Western traditions focused on unity and community into a space where people may not have been familiar with the tradition in the past, but are now embracing the equity it represents.”
Mr. Salvas, in his turn, said: “When we talk about reimagining identity there is so much to do.” He shared a historic retrospective of diverse faiths coming together and working as a team. In the 1920s, Charles Evans Hughes, a Catholic, Ben Cardozo, a Jew, and social reformer Jane Addams toured, giving town hall talks about interfaith. The three became known as the “Tolerance Trio” and together brought about the formation of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ), which is now known as the American Conference on Diversity. Our multifaith forums and seminars are an outgrowth of those early and effective efforts a century ago to foster cooperation and understanding among faiths.
Dr. Thang Nguyen Dinh, a refugee and escapee of communist Vietnam, brought his own unique story to the table. “Refugees face many barriers,” he said, citing language, housing, and economic hardships, “but they also have strengths.” Dr. Dinh outlined the paradoxical situation of the refugee community, a demographic composed of resilient individuals who are patriotic and appreciate their new freedoms, but who at the same time are often disconnected from their own religious and ethnic communities due to barriers of language, economics and social divides.
Top left to right: Dr. Arik Greenberg, Ms. Sharon Angel, Ms. Bari Berger. Bottom left to right: Dr. Nirinjan Khalsa, Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer, Dr. Mary Shuttleworth
The other thorny question posed by Dr. Greenberg: “How do we engage in conversation that deals with hard and often divisive topics in a manner that is respectful, constructive, and promotes a deep understanding of each other’s worldview?” Tackled by the second keynote speaker, East African Muslim Interfaith teacher and preacher Sheikh Aziz Nathoo, said that his toolkit consists of two words: respectful dialogue. Visiting the same well as the first keynote speaker, Dr. Aihiokhai, Sheikh Nathoo also used scripture and parables to support his points. Taking a cue from the Holy Quran, he said, “We are instructed to compete with each other, but compete in good deeds.” He encouraged all to attend the festivals and ceremonies of other faiths—“breaking bread leads to breaking dread”—to make friends and to “ensure you are conversing rather than converting. Conversing is inclusive, converting is exclusive.” Sheik Nathoo urged us to unite with others and create a tsunami of religious tolerance. He concluded: “Every one of us is an ambassador and all our actions have a resounding effect,” before quoting the 13th-century Persian poet, Rumi: “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean contained in a single drop.”
“How do we see each other? Through the lens of curiosity, of wonder, or of exclusion?”
On the second panel, responding to Sheikh Nathoo’s insights, were President of United for Human Rights International, Dr. Mary Shuttleworth; Senior Instructor of Theological Studies and Clinical Professor of Jain and Sikh Studies at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), Dr. Nirinjan Khalsa-Baker; Professor of Business Law, Ethics, and Sustainability at LMU, Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer; Director of STAND League, Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination, Ms. Bari Berger; and roundtable moderator, author, TV show host, entrepreneur, humanitarian and motivational speaker, Ms. Sharon Angel.
Once again, the panelists drew on their own backgrounds and experiences in responding to Sheik Nathoo. Dr. Shuttleworth cited her upbringing in apartheid South Africa and related how, in searching for respect and common ground, she discovered the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights—specifically Article 18 on freedom of thought and religion. Dr. Shuttleworth also emphasized Article 29, wherein everyone has a responsibility to their community to see that others are aware of these rights as well. “So to me as an educator, it is important to teach our children what are the common grounds. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a good solid stepping stone.” https://www.youtube.com/embed/WZEQIvo8nMQ?start=673wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=1
Dr. Khalsa-Baker touched on the Sikh concept that we are all one, and part of the Divine Light. “How do we see each other?” she asked. “Through the lens of curiosity, of wonder, or of exclusion?” Dr. Khalsa-Baker said that we need to transcend our own emotions so that we can listen with respect and humility to open up a space of grace. “What does it take?” she added. “A lot of courage, support, and resources from others.”
Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer commented, “We are not the chosen—we all are. Who is my enemy? An enemy is someone whose story I have not heard.” Like Sheik Nathoo, he quoted the poet Rumi: “Out beyond ideas of rightdoing or wrongdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there,” to illustrate that despite our differences—or possibly because of them—we of different beliefs must find common ground. Rabbi Gross-Schaefer added that a lot of people don’t hear God speak to them, “A lot of people walk past the burning bush. In the spiritual tradition, you have to search for God and then God will speak to you. But it also comes from listening to others.”
“Time to start doing the hard work.”
Ms. Berger pointed out that much of what brings different faiths together is the similar problems they face. She said, “We should be investing our energies in discovering the things we passionately agree about, and figuring out how we can use that agreement to better the world. And one thing I believe I can safely say we all agree on is that our religious freedom is important to us and we want the right to practice our faith freely and with dignity.”
Roundtable moderator and panelist, Ms. Sharon Angel commented, “When we come from generations of a particular religion it is sometimes hard to understand other faiths.” She spoke of the necessity of a healthy bit of “holy envy” in order to respect the other person, their beliefs, and to live a better life sustaining our own beliefs. Ms. Angel also spoke about the power and importance of story-telling to deconstruct what otherwise may be a difficult and complex subject. When you are drawn closer to God, “you are drawn closer to unity, justice, and peace for yourself and for others,” she said.
If the roundtable participants represent a sample size of the larger tapestry of diversity among religions, the desire to get along, understand, and cooperate is more than present.
What comes next, is, in Dr. Greenberg’s words, “Time to start doing the hard work.”
More than 870,000 people who fled abroad since the Russian invasion on 24 February, have now returned to Ukraine, UN humanitarians said in their latest emergency update, amid concerns about deteriorating food security inside the country.
Citing the State Border Guard Service, UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that 30,000 people are crossing back into Ukraine every day.
The recent returnees reportedly include women with children and older persons, compared to mostly men at the beginning of the escalation.
Relief delivery challenge
“This significant figure suggests that migration back to Ukraine might continue increasing, potentially creating new challenges for the humanitarian response as people will need support to reintegrate into their communities or find suitable host communities if returning to their homes is no longer viable,” OCHA said in a statement.
Of the 12 million people in need in Ukraine, humanitarians have reached 2.1 million of them, and the UN’s $1.1 billion flash appeal for Ukraine is now 64 per cent funded.
War rages in east and south
Fighting is concentrated in the eastern and southern oblasts – or regions – of Ukraine, causing damage and civilian casualties and driving humanitarian needs. OCHA also reported rockets strikes in central and northern Ukraine, before citing Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SESU), which said that 300,000 km2 – or almost half of Ukraine – requires demining.
Relief workers killed
In its latest emergency update, OCHA also reported that two humanitarian workers and five of their relatives have been killed in eastern Dontesk oblast.
They were sheltering at the Caritas Mariupol office when the building was reportedly hit by rounds fired from a tank, probably on 15 March, although the information only became available recently, as the city had been cut off for weeks.
In a statement, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said he was “deeply saddened” by news of the deaths.
“Both aid workers dedicated their lives to the service of others through their work for Caritas. On behalf of the United Nations and the humanitarian community, I send our heartfelt condolences to their families and colleagues, and to those of the other civilians who were killed.
“This deeply tragic and unacceptable event is just one example of this war’s horrific consequences for civilians, including aid workers“, the UN relief chief added.
“Tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol — which has been an epicentre of horror since the conflict began — and in other locations around Ukraine have now endured 50 days of violence and shelling. More than 1,932 civilians have died since 24 February, including more than 150 children. This must stop.”
Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that there are “immediate food insecurity issues” in nearly three in 10 oblasts – with a further 11 per cent of oblasts (that are partially exposed to fighting) expecting shortages within two months.
Farming support
Rural and isolated communities have been worst-hit by food insecurity, FAO said, as it announced support for farmers to plant their fields, save their livestock and produce food.
Urgent cash support is also planned for the most vulnerable families, including those headed by women, the elderly and those with disabilities.
Meanwhile, OCHA also noted that Russia reported that more than 783,000 people – including nearly 150,000 children – have crossed into Russia from Ukraine since 24 February.
Latest data from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, indicates that more than 4.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began. Another seven million are internally displaced.
UNAIDS warns of ‘wave of deaths’
The war in Ukraine has resulted in the destruction and disruption of health services and logistical supply chains that hundreds of thousands of people living with and affected by HIV, depend on for survival, the UN agency committed to ending AIDS said in a press release on Wednesday.
Some 250,000 Ukrainians are living with HIV, and lack of access to antiretroviral therapy and prevention services would mean a wave of deaths and risks a resurgence of Ukraine’s AIDS pandemic, said UNAIDS.
“The community-led networks which are vital to maintaining life-saving services need an urgent upscaling of international support.”
More than 40 health facilities that offered HIV treatment, prevention and care services before the war, are now closed and there are various levels of service disruption at other sites.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has this week verified more than 100 attacks on health facilities in Ukraine, while supply routes within the country have been thrown into disarray.
An initial delivery of more than 18 million doses of life-saving antiretroviral medicine procured by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), that arrived in Lviv last week, is now being distributed in partnership with the Ukrainian health ministry, and 100% Life, the largest organization of people living with HIV in Ukraine.
“If they can be delivered to those in need, the medicines are sufficient to cover a six-month supply for all people living with HIV on first-line treatment”, said UNAIDS.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is also providing emergency funding to ensure the continuity of life-saving HIV and tuberculosis services.
Civil society organizations are mounting “a heroic effort”, said UNAIDS, to deliver vital medical supplies and HIV services to people living with and affected by HIV, including to vulnerable populations.
“They are reaching people in extraordinary challenging locations, despite the huge obstacles. But the civil society organizations on which this delivery and care system depends need further international support to be able to continue their work.”
