Lilith (pseudoastronomy)

{{pseudoastronomy}}
'''Lilith''' is a possible second moon of [[Earth]] that was at first proposed by the [[German]] [[astronomer]] {{wpl|Georg Waltemath}} back in 1898. He claimed that both he and some friends observed it and that it was affecting the [[Moon]]'s orbit. According to his estimations, this body would be invisible to the naked eye, would have a diameter of 700 kilometers, and would orbit our planet at 1,030,000 kilometers (less than three times the Earth-[[Moon]] distance).<ref name="PO">Public Opinion: A Comprehensive Summary of the Press Throughout the World on All Important Current Topics, published by Public Opinion Co., 1898: "The Alleged Discovery of a Second Moon", p 369. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y94aAAAAYAAJ Book]</ref> Twenty years later, a [[British]] [[Astrology|astrologer]] under the pseudonym Sepharial (an [[angel]] that appears in the [[Books of Enoch|Book of Enoch]]) claimed to have spotted it while said body transited across the [[Sun]], as that moon would be so dark that it could not be observed except when passing in front of the [[Sun|Daystar]],<ref name="sepharial">Sepharial, A. ''The Science of Foreknowledge: Being a Compendium of Astrological Research, Philosophy, and Practice in the East and West.''; Kessinger Publishing (reprint), 1997, pp. 39-50;  ISBN 1-56459-717-2, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hLZBnTAC9uwC&pg=PA50&dq=Lilith+astrology&lr=&sig=ACfU3U2QYJZO-0JQ3TcKOVvH23r00G0vZQ#PPA50,M1 see]</ref> giving it the name 
Nuitari
 "[[Lilith]]", after the first wife of [[Adam]] in [[Jewish]] [[folklore]].<ref name=Schlyter>Schlyter, Paul. [http://nineplanets.org/hypo.html#moon2 Hypothetical Planets], 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-07.</ref><ref name="cambridge1">Bakich, Michael E. ''The Cambridge Planetary Handbook.'' Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 148, ISBN 0-521-63280-3, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5vM8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA148&dq=Lilith+%22Dark+Moon%22&sig=ACfU3U0lbbI8o-P-HvAwakFq4KT9_X5PdQ#PPA148,M1 see]</ref>

As per rather similar bodies claimed to be invisible, such as [[Nibiru]], it goes without saying that there's no [[evidence]] at all of the existence of that moon except for [[crank]]s. Even if it was darker than {{wpl|TrES-2b||,}} the darkest planet known, being both so close and so large, it would already have been spotted. In the as-unlikely-as-extreme case of it reflecting ''very'' little or no sunlight at all, its gravitational effects would have been detected in as tidal motion, the orbit of 
Lunitari
 the [[Moon]], trajectories of space probes departing 
Ansalon
 [[Earth]], etc. and it would have long ago been detected on infrared surveys of the sky, just to name some issues with its existence.<ref group=note>A [[black hole]] with the mass such a moon, while pretty much invisible due to its small size, would have been detected by its gravitational effects.</ref><ref>[http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~cheung/lilith.html "The Earth's Second Moon, 1846-present"], Samson H. Cheung's page, UC Davis: "The original idea was that the gravitational field of the second moon should account for the then inexplicable minor deviations of the motion of our big Moon. That meant an object at least several miles large — but if such a large second moon really existed, it would have been seen by the Babylonians."</ref>

Georg Waltemath also proposed yet another moon, 
Solinari
 the "True weather and magnet moon" (''Wahrhafter Wetter-und Magnet Mond''), with a similar diameter to "Lilith" and that would orbit a little farther away than the ''real'' Moon. The evidence is as scant as for the previous one, and the same problems mentioned above for that dark Moon are present here but cranked up, as it would be much closer, and astronomers scoffed at that claim — maybe Waltemath had read too many Dragonlance novels and confounded Earth with Ansalon.

==In astrology==
Astrologers use the name 'Lilith' to refer to the apogee, or most distant point of the moon's elliptical orbit around the Earth.<ref>Joëlle de Gravelaine, "Lilith und das Loslassen", ''Astrologie Heute'' Nr. 23; translated as "[http://www.astro.com/astrology/in_lilith_e.htm Lilith — the dark moon]" (Astrodienst; accessed Oct. 9. 2011.</ref> This gives Lilith at least some meaning in the astrological chart: for the moon is at its most distant, and smallest, when it is close to the Lilith point; and conversely, at its largest (usually called a '{{wpl|supermoon}}') when it is distant from Lilith. Note that this 'Lilith' is a real thing but not a physical body, not an actual 'dark moon'.  The Lilith point moves through the [[zodiac]] of fixed stars in just under 9 years. Note that Lilith is distinct from the {{wpl|lunar node|lunar nodes}} — the points at which the Moon's apparent orbit intersects the 'ecliptic', or path of the Sun against the fixed stars. These nodes have a practical use in that new moons close to them mean solar [[eclipse]]s, and full moons close to them mean lunar eclipses.  

One gathers that the main reason the name of Lilith was attached to this abstract point was to have the [[Lilith|Hebraic demoness]] of the same name appearing regularly in [[horoscope]]s, which otherwise would be too uncomplicated. But such a figure has fans among [[Goddess movement|certain subcultures]], and as such [[crank magnetism|fired the imaginations]] of a certain kind of astrology fan.

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Moon]]
[[Category:Pseudoastronomy]]

Categories: Moon, Pseudoastronomy