Ceres will be at opposition on October 2.
Opposition, when a body is straight outward from the Sun and highest in the midnight sky, is the climax of the retrograde loop, when the body appears to swirl backward and near to us, like a car on a lane farther out than yours in a traffic roundabout.
Ceres performs her retrograde loop this time in Cetus, the Whale constellation, as shown in our finder chart on page 126 of Astronomical Calendar 2025.
Goddess Ceres, Agriculture Secretary in the Olympian Administration, feels offended. She has been stripped of her rank of First Asteroid and assigned to the department of Dwarf Planets, along with such deep-state suspects as Death Under-Secretary Pluto. So watch out for her revenge in the form of blighted harvests and high food prices.
Retrograde Motions of Nation
A recent headline was: “We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself.”
It cited for instance Nature‘s annual index of top research institutions: of the top 10, all in China except for one in Germany and one (Harvard) in America. A decade earlier, only one was in China.
Just one other retrogression: America reverses its Paris Agreement pledges, speeds up drilling and clamps down on wind farms, while China takes the lead in investment in those clean industries.
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Despite bright moonlight, our skies were clear and transparent enough to get a good view of Ceres this evening:
http://www.starvergnuegen.com/astropix/2025/10_october/2025_10_01_ceres_b.html
For those wanting to see it with binoculars, a great starting point is the distinctive grouping of stars north of and including eta Ceti. Then look to the west, which will be up and right in the evening hours.
Defaming the archetypal Gods and Goddesses is a perilous choice. History reminds us of such anon.
I find it funny that nuclear power is now classified as a renewable energy source. The liberals used to hate it.
When the options are Bad and Worse, you have to choose Bad.
Nuclear reactors are bad in that they carry risks that will have to be stringently guarded against.
Fossil fuel burning is worse in that climate boiling will go runaway – no guarding, no reversal.
Got it. Bad vs. worse gotta choose bad
On the bright side, solar power is increasing in popularity these days. Some households use it exclusively for their alternating current needs. The newer solar panels collect energy even on cloudy days.
But it too has drawbacks. Solar requires placement of solar panels, an inverter, and a big lithium battery which has to be recycled and replaced every 10 years.