Saturday, November 1, 2014

Mars Meets Pluto



In 2006 in its 17th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted plutoed as the word of the year. To "pluto" is to "demote or devalue someone or something".[165]   From Wikipedia article on Pluto
 
 http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2011/12/03/trajectory_strip.jpg/image_full

They don’t actually meet; noone meets Pluto except the New Horizons Space Probe in 2015.  It will be like visitations between prisoners and spouses, no contact, not even in the same building, just extremely delayed images from a room the visiting spouse will never see.  That’s life on Pluto, the level of gratification in the Kuiper belt is about as low as we can imagine without just giving up and crying uncle.  Unless we are ok with near nonexistence it can be very hard to identify with Pluto.  Invisibility, lack of respect or understanding are all associated with its 248 year highly irregular cycle.   But on Nov 10 Mars will be lined up on the ecliptic with the distant dwarf, as close as they get in Mar’s 23 month cycle.  (Scroll down for PlanetsToday.com image) This means the planet of action is checking in with the planet of the under, way out world.  

Last time Mars got close enough for a techno chat was Nov 27, 2012.  Back then Pluto was at around 8° Capricorn, and in the last two years it has advanced to 11° of the same sign.  3 stinkin degrees while Earth gets all the way around the whole course two times makes Pluto look kind of slow.  Is it a lazy planet or should we consider the mitigating circumstances of life on the edge of the track, the extra distance that objectively speaking must be covered?




Well, since Mars is just a wee bit closer right now it might have some answers.  Did it relay any at the end of Nov 2012?  Mars is usually something like a hammer over the head, or a wrenching in the gut.  We’re not talking about a message written on paper but an action that prompts a response.  If it is spoken it is either shouted or whispered as a threat of what’s to come.  "If you want to survive…..this is the plan….."



The only reason there is a plan is because this meeting is going down in Capricorn.  Mars is not a planner, but Pluto is, especially Pluto in Capricorn.  Pluto in Capricorn has all the time in the mortal world with more to spare.  





Any point in the Northern Hemisphere peaking in their daily spin has a straight shot at the widely separated but perfectly lined up pair to be taken down in two clicks, Mars click! Pluto same direction about 38 AU’s more distant click!  For the next several years, every 24 hours when we are just coming down from 1 degree Capricorn on the midheaven Pluto is in the middle of the sky.  We see it low on the southern horizon, that barely visible ringleader of the mass of rabble circling the outer reaches of the heliosphere.  


Mars is edging into the cross hairs of Pluto's highly magnified image.  It takes gigantic mirrors to gather enough of the little light coming from the mottled dwarf.  Mars by comparison fills the whole field of vision.  It's presence is without question.  It appears to be standing right beside whatever has been demoted or devalued.