Are you planning to learn any invaluable skills this year?
Yesterday, I paused the animation of inner planet orbit to record the dates of interior conjunction of the sun, Venus, and Earth: August 15, 2015; March 26, 2017; October 22, 2018; June 13, 2020; and January 11, 2022. I noticed that Earth travels about a lap and a half in between each conjunction. The screenshot shows what I mean by interior conjunction (the sun, Venus, and Earth on the same line).
If you are a person who finds yourself “yet to know math,” ignore the fraction-decimal talk for now. Perhaps, that is a captain idea we can explore one day.
The pie chart makes me wonder where the point of conjunctions falls in the Earth's orbit, which I decided to label the orbits with the calculated date since my observed dates might be a little off. Using spreadsheets — number one on the list of 24 — becomes invaluable at the point.
How many days are there between each conjunction?
I multiplied 1.6 years by the number of days in a year (365.256) to get 584.41 days. Here is why spreadsheets are great if you dislike tedious calculations as much as I do. I can put the start date (1/11/2014) into a cell of the spreadsheet. In another cell, I can add 584.41 to the date and it tells me the new date. Then, I can copy that formula in the other cell to calculate all five conjunctions. Poof! Just like that! The spoilers page shows you my work.
Spreadsheets let you play with math without having to do the calculations!
P.S.S. 27 days and a wake-up until the winner of the potholder giveaway is announced. So, far, I have three names on the qualifying. What giveaway? Read on for more details.