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Rx for Resilience: Star Gazing
Last week’s planetary parade, when Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune aligned across the night sky, offered a dazzling reminder of the extraordinary precision of our solar system. Such alignments are rare, and they opened a window for stargazers around the world to witness a cosmic choreography that stretched from one horizon to the other.
This weekend, the skies offered another celestial event—one far less visible, but equally powerful for star-gazing and end of summer night sky watching. On August 22 and 23, 2025 what astronomers call the Black Moon, signified the second new moon within the same month. These events typically occur every 32 months. Like other new moons, the Black Moon plays a role in regulating ocean tides when gravitational forces from the sun and moon combine to create higher-than-usual tidal ranges. It also creates a “dark sky” atmosphere where the brilliance of the night sky at its best can be seen.
In indigenous traditions around the world, new moons symbolize beginnings, intentions, and quiet resilience. For those who look to science for inspiration, taking the time to see the stars, the constellations in their brilliance and maybe the occasional shooting star, reminds us of our place in a vast and ever-revealing universe and helps us to appreciate the miracles in our every day lives. Enjoy this last stretch of August and the brilliance that the darkness reveals in tonight’s night sky with the magnificence of bright stars, constellations, planets and galaxies.
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