New Moon in Cancer – June 25, 2025, 10:32 UT
The Sun entered Cancer on June 21, marking the Summer Solstice. The New Moon in Cancer occurred on June 25. Also in early Cancer there are Jupiter, tno Chaos, centaur Asbolus, and comet 39P/Oterma. Cancer is the home sign of the Moon.
The trans-Neptunian Chaos was discovered in 1998. Its orbital period is almost 310 years and its diameter is about 400 – 500 km. Recent studies suggest that Chaos is a binary, possibly a contact binary. It is named after the primeval state of existence in Greek mythology, from which the first gods appeared, including Gaia, the Earth. Wikipedia says that Chaos was the state the universe was in before it was created. Because early christians did not understand how to use the word “chaos” properly, the word’s meaning changed to the opposite of order.
It is easy to draw connection between the mythological Chaos and the scientific origin of the universe. The Big Bang marks the origin of the universe and the start of spacetime. Spacetime is the bending fabric of the universe, blending space and time. The universe started billions of years ago from a hot point which then rapidly expanded, and this expansion is still happening. First the universe was in a chaotic state, but it slowly cooled and the chaos gave way to the orderly cosmos of today. The Solar System evolved and the planets formed.
Cancer is the sign of home, the place where we need to feel safe. Jupiter is the planet of expansion and the symbol of hope and optimism. Centaur Asbolus orbits between Jupiter and Neptune. The name means carbon dust and in mythology he was a seer who made forecasts from the flight of birds. The New Moon is the seeding moment for future growth.
Although the world around us is in chaos, as the meaning of the word is understood today, at this New Moon we can focus on the good in our lives and wait for the seeds to sprout.
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NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The first images of the powerful new telescope of Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile were released on June 23. There is a stunning conjunction of asteroid Photographica and tno Varda at the Galactic Center in Sagittarius. Martha Lang-Wescott interprets that “while useful for showing the importance of photography and visual images, Photographica also relates to the brain’s ability to retain and interpret visual imagery.” The trans-Neptunian Varda is named after the queen of stars and light in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional mythology. Varda lived with Manwë, a Jupiter-like deity, and together they saw “further than all other eyes, through mist, and through darkness”, and heard more clearly than all other ears.
Astronomers anticipate that the new telescope of Vera C. Rubin Observatory will soon reveal the location of the so far hypothetical Planet Nine in the outer region of our Solar System. I am eagerly waiting the news!