Winter Solstice & Lunar Eclipse

Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year which also means it will be the longest and darkest night. At the time of the Northern hemisphere's Winter Solstice, the sun is at its lowest in our skies because the North Pole is pointed away from it. Tonight, however, will be that much darker as there will be a total lunar eclipse as well. According to NASA, this is the first time these two events have coincided since 1638 (372 years ago). And to top it off, a meteor shower is expected during the peak of the eclipse, which would likely be completely missed because of the moon's light, if it weren't for the eclipse. No need for special glasses or equipment to watch the show, just walk outside and look up.

The thing about a lunar eclipse is that it can be observed, weather permitting, over several hours. On the east coast of North America, the lunar eclipse begins around 12:30 a.m. EST Tuesday (tomorrow) morning and ends officially at 6:04 a.m.; on the west coast, it begins around 9:30 p.m. PST tonight and ends at 3:04 a.m. tomorrow.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth gets between the full moon and the sun, blocking the sun's light from bouncing off the lunar surface. There are a possible 12 stages to a total lunar eclipse (check this out, how cool) and, on the east coast, the total eclipse stages begin at 2:41 a.m. and end at 3:53 a.m., with "totality" occurring at 3:17 a.m. Who knew this could be so interesting?

So what's described as the shortest day, could become your shortest-longest night - that is if you stay up to watch the many phases of this lunar event.

Comments

[Claudia]

Sorry Pam. The weather didn't cooperate. Clouds covered the moon all night. But we were prepared and did check throughtout the night.

[Pam]

I look forward to seeing the pictures you and Peter take :)

[Sarah]

This is very interesting especially since I am due to have my baby any day now and a number of people have told me that it very well might happen tomorrow because of the full moon. Now that I know its a lunar eclipse, my odds might be even better. Stay tuned!!