By Len Wallick
Something is up with the Moon. Something mysterious and auspicious. Most obviously, it is on its way to conjoin with the Sun on July 11 in the sign Cancer, precipitating a total eclipse. Along the way, however, there are some other intriguing synchronicities, especially today.
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Before proceeding, propriety dictates that one must acknowledge Tracy at Serennu.com (the ephemeris master) for the source material upon which the next few expository paragraphs are based. [Eric has added some thoughts as well.]
The point around which the Moon orbits does not correspond to the exact center of the Earth. Rather, it is a common center of gravity. Still located within the Earth but about 2,800 miles away from the core, it is called the Earth-Moon barycenter or center of mass.
We last heard the term barycenter at Planet Waves during the “is Pluto really a planet” conversation in 2006. Pluto and its largest companion Charon (not Chiron, rather Charon) orbit a common barycenter that is outside either planet. Therefore, Charon is not Pluto’s Moon but rather its binary co-planet. In the first proposal to create the dwarf planet category, Charon was named as a dwarf planet of its own. That proposal lasted for about a day. [Here is a link to that discussion, though you will need a product key to open it. I will add a bit of text in a comment below.]
The Earth-Moon barycenter is inside the Earth, therefore our Moon is a moon. That is the definition.
In addition the Sun — being very large in comparison to the Moon — actually exerts a greater gravitational influence on Luna than our planet does. Then there are the lesser but measurable influences of other bodies in the solar system (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, etc.), which have an effect. The net result is that the Moon does not trace a smooth, regular elliptical orbit around the Earth. Rather, both engage in some significant wobble and wiggle as they dance. It is not chaos but it is complex.
Let’s interpret for a moment. The Moon in astrology represents the emotions. Here we see the way in which every object in our solar system affects the motion of the Moon and therefore plays on our emotions.