Moon Events Calendar File

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UPDATE with 2020-2021 file at the bottom of this post

I like to have the dates and times of the phases of the Moon in my calendar. Years ago, I found a site that provided a vCalendar format file that I could import into Outlook. Unfortunately, the data from that site ended on December 31, 2015.

Fortunately for you, I can provide an update. For those who just want the vCalendar file, you can download Moon-Events-2016-2017.vcs. That file contains calendar entries for all the Moon Phases in 2016 and 2017 and can be uploaded into Outlook with the following steps (this is from Outlook 2016 / Office 365):

  1. Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export
  2. Select “Import from an iCalendar (.ics) or vCalendar (.vcs)” and click “Next”
  3. Change the file type in the Open dialog to “vCalendar format (.vcs)”
  4. Navigate to where you saved Moon-Events-2016-2017.vcs, select the file, and click “Open”
  5. Select “Import” to import the calendar entries into your calendar

Now I will describe how I made the vCalendar file. I first went to the United States Naval Observatory website, specifically to the Phases of the Moon page from the Astronomical Applications Department. From the Moon Phase page, you can generate up to 99 Moon events which are displayed in your browser.

I took that text and pasted it into a spreadsheet. Using Excel text functions I parsed the data so I could build up the required vCalendar syntax. That meant changing the text from the USNO:

Last Quarter 2016 Jan 02 05:30

Into the required syntax for a vCalendar entry:

BEGIN:VEVENT
DSTART:20160102T053000Z
DTEND:20160102T053000Z
SUMMARY;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Last Quarter
PRIORITY:3
END:VEVENT

Each of those went into a text file and I added a header:

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Aschlei//MoonEvents//EN
VERSION:1.0

And a footer:

END:VCALENDAR

I then saved the text file with a .vcs extension and I was able to import the events into Outlook. You can import it into other calendars like Google calendar, but they come with Moon events built in so it generally isn’t necessary.

You can download the Excel file I used with the text parsing and concatenation, Moon-Events-2016-2017.xlsx, if you’d like to try it yourself. I’ll probably download it in late 2017 when I need some more Moon events.

I hope you found this useful.

UPDATE December 26, 2017

I have created a new vCalendar file for 2018-2019. You can also use the updated Excel file too.

UPDATE January 29, 2020

I have not been able to get an updated calendar file done for 2020-2021 as the USNOA web site is offline for updates until April 30, 2020.  I am searching for another data source. I found a source for the data and have uploaded a new VCS file.

Kanheri Caves, October 2015

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On my most recent trip to India, the team organized a visit to Kanheri Caves, located in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the northern part of Mumbai. The caves are a large complex of rock cut shrines and living spaces that were made from the first through the eleventh century AD.

Kanheri Caves were created for Buddhist worship. There are 110 caves ranging from small, plain living spaces to large temples. The larger caves are chaityas, the place of worship of the Buddhist community. The small ones are viharas or monasteries, they consist of single and multiple celled where the Buddhist monks resided. Individual cells are 10 foot square living spaces with a bench cut into one side for sleeping.

It was quite hot, so I recommend starting your visit early in the day. I was also told that it was very nice to visit during the Monsoon.

Here are some photographs I took during the visit. This first set is of a Chaitya.

Chaitya Interior

Chaitya Interior

Chaitya Columns

Chaitya Columns

Column Top Carving

Column Top Carving

Chaitya Exterior Carvings

Chaitya Exterior Carvings

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Clouds

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There were some amazing clouds out in the Anza Valley on the evening of October 17th.

A very impressive cloud over Cahuilla Mountain illuminated by a setting Sun.
Clouds over Cahuilla Mountain

The Moon next to some interesting cloud waves.
The Moon

A close up of the cloud waves. Note the small ripples on the left top of the cloud.
Interesting Cloud Waves

A full panorama looking to the east.
Panorama to the East

A pretty view looking toward Mount Palomar.
Clouds over Palomar

Angry Cats

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A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to visit a member’s preview of the Mummies: New Secrets from the Tombs exhibit at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. It is a remarkable exhibit with very good natural science about mummies from both Egypt and South America. It was developed by the Field Museum in Chicago. Did you know people mummified their dead in South America? I didn’t either but now I do.

In the South American part of the exhibit they had some very interesting pottery that was buried with the dead. It is in the motif of angry cats. Cats are a motif in art of the Nazca plains, source of the mummies and the pottery.

This is my favorite pot. I like the handle and the great expression on the cat.

One Angry Cat

One Angry Cat

This cat has some impressive teeth.

What Teeth!

What Teeth!

Here is the collection.

Angry Cat Pots

Angry Cat Pots

There were no toys or trinkets in the shop based on this pottery. I think that is a mistake on the part of the museum.

Lake Riverside at Night

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Earlier this month, I took out the camera (a Sony QX 100) and took some night time images.

Here is the Observatory with Scorpius in the background.

Observatory and Scorpius

Observatory and Scorpius

This is a combination of several frames of differing exposure to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.

HDR of House

HDR of House

A pure astrophoto of Scorpius and Sagittarius

Scorpius and Sagittarius

Scorpius and Sagittarius

Finally, a long shot looking east.

LRE at Night

LRE at Night

Fire!

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This past Friday night delivered a little bit of excitement. I looked out at around 5pm and saw a plume of smoke.

The First Plume of Smoke

The First Plume of Smoke

It was hard to tell where the fire was from my angle. I learned from the Anza / Aguanga Alerts Facebook page that the fire was on the far side of Aguanga, on Mt. Palomar. Within an hour or so, the smoke reached all the way to Toro Peak.

Smoke Over Toro Peak

Smoke Over Toro Peak

The smoke was dramatic as the Sun set.

Evening Falls

Evening Falls

As it became darker, it was easier to see the flames.

Flames Visible in the Dark

Flames Visible in the Dark

There were some dramatic moments later in the evening.

Late Evening Fire Glow

Late Evening Fire Glow

By the next morning, the fire was mostly out. Good work by Cal Fire and associated entities. And good luck it was not too dry.

Remnants

Remnants

Konark Sun Temple, October 2014

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In May, I posted about my visit to the temple in Lepakshi, in southern Andhra Pradesh. The following week, after a brief delay due to a hurricane (or cyclone if you prefer) we made our way to Bhubaneswar. Since we had lost the planned weekend visit due to the cyclone, we had blocked out the late morning through afternoon for some sightseeing.

We left from the airport, heading south on the road to Puri. There was a fair amount of construction on the road as they work to support the Ratha Yatra festival which brings many people to the area.

After passing through Puri, we headed north on the Puri-Konark Marine Drive. This is a very pleasant road that runs through forest and then along the Bay of Bengal before turning north to Konark. Crossing the Dhunua river, I got a nice picture of a man fishing with a net.

Fisherman on Dhana River, taken from Puri-Konark Marine Drive

Fisherman on Dhana River, taken from Puri-Konark Marine Drive

We stopped at the beach, but the real goal was the Konark Sun Temple. This is a 13th century temple built like a chariot and covered in remarkable carvings. It has suffered damage over the years due to its large size and the unstable ground (this area has a very high water table). This is an official Indian Heritage site and has been very well restored. Restoration work is still in process.

Following here and below the fold are pictures of the temple. The entrance to the temple has a simha-gaja sitting on an elephant.

Statue near the entrance to the Konark temple

Statue near the entrance to the Konark temple

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Lepakshi Temple, October 2014

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On a trip to India last fall, I had the opportunity to visit the Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi, a small village in southern Andra Pradesh. It is about a two hour drive north of Bangalore.

The temple is in good condition, with much of the stone artwork in good shape and some ceiling frescoes with good color and detail. One note: If you are to visit, I recommend an early morning arrival. You must go without shoes and I imagine it would get very hot on the feet in the afternoon.

It is hard to get an overall picture, but here is a view of some nice carvings behind the main temple area

Outside the Temple

Outside the Temple

Detail of these carvings:

Lepakshi Temple Detail

Lepakshi Temple Detail

More below the link….

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