Space and Astronomy Atlas

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The Calendar

Tuesday 4 April 2023

What the atlas records for this date, across the traditions it covers.

Already Underway

Penitential season
From Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday, the week before Easter
Day 3 of 7
Fast / abstinence
The forty days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, Sundays not counted
Day 42 of 46
Forty days, counted excluding Sundays, which is why the span is forty-six.
Fast / abstinence
The whole of Ramadan, the ninth month
Day 14 of 29
Tabular reckoning, and stored as twenty-nine days so the month can never be reported as running into Eid al-Fitr. The month is twenty-nine or thirty days and begins on a sighted crescent in most communities.

The Week Ahead

Thursday 6 AprilPaschal Triduum
Thursday 6 AprilPassover (Pesach)
Friday 7 AprilGood Friday
Sunday 9 AprilEastertide

This Week In Space and Astronomy History

4 AprilSoyuz-T, Launch Date 1978
5 AprilPegasus, First Flight Date 1990
6 AprilPioneer 11, Launch Date 1973
7 April2001 Mars Odyssey, Launch Date 2001
7 April2001 Mars Odyssey, Launch Date 2001
7 AprilProton-M, First Flight Date 2001
7 AprilTim Peake, born 1972
8 AprilGemini Program, Launch Date 1964
8 AprilGemini spacecraft, Launch Date 1964
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Dates for the Hebrew and Islamic calendars are the tabular reckoning, which is what a printed calendar prints. Communities that begin a month on a sighted crescent may differ by a day, and differ from one another by place.