Are We to Trines and Squares, Yet?

In Astrology, we have a number of names for events when forces of planetary bodies come into alignment: trines, squares, conjunctions, and oppositions to name a few. We also see these events in Astronomy. For instance when the Sun and the Moon are in opposition or conjunction (i.e., the Sun, the Moon and the Earth are in a line), the tides are more severe, with higher high tides and lower low tides, and the Moon is full or new.

Modern theories on the solar system state that just after the first 1/2 billion years of the solar system, Saturn and Jupiter were in orbital resonance. So for every one time that Saturn circled the Sun, Jupiter circled twice. This caused a greater number of conjunctions (in the astronomical sense) between the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn. This resonance was so strong that the solar system vibrated like a guitar having it's strings played. This resonance is believed to have cleared the solar system of debris (a time known as the late heavy bombardment), which gives the Earth and other planets clear paths around the sun, minimizing the chance of any further asteroid impacts. It also knocked Uranus over and threw Neptune into the outer solar system.

While the effects of astronomical aspects are not nearly as extreme now, as with the early solar system, the Saturn-Jupiter resonance is an interesting look at how much power astrological aspects can have.