Fitting 60 Minutes in One Degree

In Part 1 of Astrological Degrees we saw 1 degree expand from an arc 1/8 inch wide to an arc 2 1/4 inches wide.  Here we show a little circle with a degree; and above it, what the fat end looks like when that 1 degree radiates out 15 yards.  In other words if we took 360 lengths of the big degree (or arc) stretching across this page (9 1/2 inches long on my screen) and placed them end to end, each equidistant from a center, they would make a circle 30 yards wide, or 95 yards all the way around (circumference).

That's a big circle, big enough to mark off each of the 60 minutes in a degree, but still piddling compared to say the Moon's orbit of earth, or even the circumference of the Moon.   The main thing is now we can show what some of those cotton pickin numbers on astrology charts mean.

In this chart for June 22, 2009 we see the Moon lined up exactly with the Sun.  The only way we can tell whether it has passed the Sun or is still catching up to it is to look in the box of figures on the left.  The Sun’s position is 1 degree Cancer 31 minutes 47 seconds.  The Moon is barely ahead of it at 1 degree Cancer 54 minutes 16 seconds.  I have rounded 47 seconds up to 32 minutes in the figure below the Sun; and rounded 16 seconds down to 54 minutes for the Moon.