1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years

Subject: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 456 years
From: open mike
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 05:14 PM

oops meant this to be below the line...
(unless there are any songs about it??)

http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Winter+solstice+coincide+with+lunar+eclipse+first+time+years/3987545/story.html

www.almanac.com
http://www.almanac.com/content/sky-watch-december-2010

An exceptional total eclipse of the Moon is visible throughout North America very early on the 21st ET (and begins on the 20th PT). The partial eclipse begins at 1:32 A.M., with totality starting at 2:40 A.M. Winter arrives the same day, with the solstice at 6:38 P.M.

see also NASA, Space Weather and other sites for more info.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: GUEST,erbert
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 06:07 PM

Oh bugger, is this an omen the world really will end 21 December 2012 ?

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: gnu
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 06:35 PM

No, it ended on the 12th. This is an illusion.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Rapparee
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 06:58 PM

It means the world ended in 1221, but everybody was too busy worrying about having their heads chopped off, famine, and living in mud to know it happened.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 09:42 PM

It won't end. It will change. Whether that happens on Dec 21, 2012, though, remains to be seen. Make sure not to die before it happens (or not) or you'll miss out on knowing the answer (assuming you can't still be informed about it while in Spirit...).

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 09:47 PM

Awesome! We can start a Solstice Party early!

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: open mike
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 12:54 AM

yes this longestnight will be filled with wonder...
i hope skies are clear...thre is a storm on the way here...
the Geminid metero showers are in progress too!
i saw a great one the other night...streaking across the sky...

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: KT
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 01:09 AM

oooh, open mike, sounds like a great song brewing there....song challenge, anyone?

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: skarpi
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 01:34 AM

Sólstöður ....hmmm
já hví ekki ....

ég vona að það verði heiðríki .

kv Skarpi .

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: mousethief
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 01:40 AM

Cool coinkydink.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 10:44 PM

I saw a guy streaking across the campus once....

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: kendall
Date: 18 Dec 10 - 02:39 PM

I wouldn't get up that early to see a total eclipse of the SUN!

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: gnu
Date: 18 Dec 10 - 02:57 PM

Hahahahaa... us old guys get that joke. Good one!

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Melissa
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 12:26 AM

cloudy here, dang it

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Janie
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 12:30 AM

I think it is pretty cool. If the skies are sufficiently clear I will probably try to watch it.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 01:57 AM

LOL, Kendall! I'm going out now to peel, I mean, peek...

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 02:06 AM

Stood in the cold and sang The Magnon, a secular winter carol of mine taken from Peter, Paul & the late, lamented Mary's version of The Magi. Spiritual as all getout, wow, what a trip. I'll be popping out every so often, I carefully didn't take my night-night pill yet...

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Gervase
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 02:26 AM

Total cloud cover here in West Wales. Damn.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Dan Schatz
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 02:51 AM

Absolutely beautiful here in Pennsylvania. And Kendall, who said anything about getting up early. It's going to bed late!

Dan

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 03:02 AM

Almost totality... we have intermittent clouds and haze, so it's not often visible at all, but when it is, wowee.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 03:04 AM

I saw it. In fact it's not quite over yet. Interesting but not nearly as impressive as a solar eclipse I saw in the early '80s. That one made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Dan Schatz
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 03:21 AM

Just saw the peak. WOW.

Dan

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Leadfingers
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 04:54 AM

Mutter Mutter Mutter - Too much Cloud - Mutter Mutter

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 05:10 AM

Saw it at dawn on the south coast of Ireland, just setting in the western sky. Large, clear, and stunning.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 07:50 AM

Tromped around the frozen snowy ground and stared at the clouds for a while. Nothing! But it was cool to know it was happening. And, I love this quote from a NASA site:

"Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway. You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it's not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb."

Dani

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 08:28 AM

Any pics???

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: SINSULL
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 08:55 AM

So first I had a two hour commute on ice. Then I got up in the middle of the night and froze my tootsies to see...clouds.
Bah Humbug!

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: clueless don
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 08:55 AM

Saw it this morning (2:30-3:00 am, EST, USA.) Didn't see any meteors, but that's not surprising given the level of light pollution. Orion was quite prominent.

Happy Solstice!

Don

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: GUEST,jonny sunshine
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 09:31 AM

I was all hopeful last night when the moon came out clear and bright, but saw nothing but clouds this morning. :-(

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 10:13 AM

Because of the juxtaposition of the Cosmic Elements you'll be happy to know that the world ended, torn apart by a tsunami of cosmic rays. But just carry on, nobody notices these things.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: gnu
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 11:16 AM

I slept... except several when I was wakened by the howling wind and driving rain. Guess I'll have to wait until the next one.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 12:50 PM

Hope I remember this a long time... woke the boys up but only Willie was willing to get up and see the totality with me... aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 01:14 PM

The moon was filtering through a curtain of cloud until about 11:30, when the first trace of shadow fell across the edge. At that point, the clouds departed, like opening the stage curtain for the big show. we watched the shadow gradually move over the surface, and when it was in half-eclipse, you could begin to see detail in the dark side. As the light dropped away to a quarter moon shape, the "dark" area began to take on texture and detail, and a sort of banding of light that gave the sphere a Martian look. As the light gleamed on the edge and extinguished, the moon took on a vivid three-dimensionality, looking like a gold-orange balloon that was maybe 600 feet in the air. That was the most striking thing about it...the feeling of proximity, and the almost palpable round mass of it, at times glowing orange at the center and with a golden halo around the edge.

It was silent where we were viewing it, and the stillness and the strange nearness of the moon really gave me a sense of the suspension of time and motion. I wondered how may calls were fielded at the police department from people unaware of the lunar eclipse, who took the moon for a great orange, round, alien craft.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Ed T
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 01:16 PM

Twas too cloudy for us folks to see.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: gnu
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 01:18 PM

Beautiful description LEJ... thanks.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: nutty
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 01:21 PM

Watched for about an hour here in Redcar (North East England) until the moon got too low and disappeared behind the houses opposite.

Even managed to take photos while standing at my front door. A great experience. So glad I woke early today.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: gnu
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 01:45 PM

Just read in The Montréal Gazette that it's only 372 years since the last one... so I won't have to wait so long after all.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 04:38 PM

Suibhne Astray asked if there were any good pictures. I particularly like the first two from the BBC site.

The second one is particulatly good (even if, like me, you are not religious)

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 21 Dec 10 - 10:27 PM

Cloudy here in RI. At 1:30 AM I went outside to locate the moon. It wasn't visible, so I went to bed.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Slag
Date: 22 Dec 10 - 01:44 AM

Rained out! Rats! Will have to wait around for the next solstician eclipse. Another 500 years or so. I did notice the dark got noticably darker. I like that.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: alanabit
Date: 22 Dec 10 - 04:29 PM

Köln was completely clouded over, just as it had been for the solar eclipse eleven years ago - in August! It really is time they got the weather sorted out here.

Typisch Deutschland: Alles wird verwaltet aber nichts is organisiert!

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Janie
Date: 22 Dec 10 - 10:13 PM

I am embarrassed to say that at some point on Monday I got it in my head the eclipse was occurring Tuesday night instead of the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

I didn't get stoned, and I missed it anyway!

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: alanabit
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 12:47 AM

There you have it Janie. There are perils in going straight too!

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: KT
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 01:18 AM

I walked down to the wharf in the cold (13 degrees?) and watched from there- mountains to my left, ocean to my right - the whole city strangely quiet. What left me awestruck was the realization that so many people in this big ol' world of ours were so focused on the same thing at the same time. Imagine!

Subject: Lunar Eclipse
From: mikesamwild
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 11:59 AM

Having been taken by the total eclipse the other morning ( Solstice, full moon, total lunar eclipse and Venus in the east0


Why is it that the Earth and the Moon appear to fit so exactly in size, and if the moon is 'covered' why is the blood red moon still visible?

Subject: RE: Lunar Eclipse
From: Crowhugger
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 12:04 PM

It's lit by only the general glow from the sun, not by direct rays, which are blocked by the earth. Picture a lamp shining on an apple on the table, now put a vase or a book between the apple and the lamp: You still see the apple but the colour has darkened.

Subject: RE: Lunar Eclipse
From: open mike
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 01:02 PM

check this thread
in the B.S. section below...(which is where this thread might be moved or merged as it is not about music) for info about the eclipse and links whcih describe the effect...like the sunset and sunrise bathes our planet in red hues, that is why the moon turned red when being lit only by the reflection of light bouncing off the edge of the earth..the
rising and setting sun's rays...

Subject: RE: Lunar Eclipse
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 05:03 PM

The apple on the table would be lit by reflected light from walls and other objects.
In this case the moon is totally in the shadow of the Earth and there are no nearby objects to reflect light back to the moon. What happens is that the atmosphere of the Earth acts as a prism and it bends the light from the sun. It bends the lower frequency (red) light more, so those rays fall on the moon but the higher frequency light misses it and passes by. The red rays are reflected back to Earth making the moon appear red.

Subject: RE: Lunar Eclipse
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 05:05 PM

Refraction is the term that I neglected to add.

Subject: RE: Lunar Eclipse
From: gnu
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 05:06 PM

Yeah, Sandy... I see it too. Cooool. >;-)

Subject: RE: Lunar Eclipse
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 06:37 PM

Spring tides (the highest monthly tides having nothing to do with the season of the year) occur when when the sun and moon pull together or in opposition. An eclipse can only happen during a full moon and at a time when the sun and moon are directly opposed. Therefore the tides are at their highest point at that time. Canada's Atlantic coastline has just been battered by an intense Nor'easter at the time of the peak rise of the sea. Hurricane force winds pushed this high water into a storm surge that swept much farther inland than normal causing great damage to shoreline and coastal infrastructure. All part of the fun of living on an island stuck out in the ocean. My home and neighbourhood escaped unscathed but other areas were much less fortunate.
Due to stormy skies the eclipse could not be seen here.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 12:45 AM

It was crisp and cold with a sky so clear you could see the Milky way. My 10 year old and I went out a couple times to see the deep orange dark circle on the moon and came in for hot chocolate, which was the highlight.

It does not compare to the full lunar eclipse of May 1975 when I saw an impact take place just beyond the upper left hand horizon of the moon. One big shower of dust followed by a puny little after explosion. I had a piece of jewelry commisioned for that event. The gold ring had a full moon made of bronze with a sliver of white gold.
The bronze would get very dark but would shine right back up with buffing.

Subject: RE: Lunar Eclipse
From: mikesamwild
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 03:59 AM

Thanks all, still not clear about the relative size/distance thing.

Subject: RE: Lunar Eclipse
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 04:11 AM

The sun is about 400 million times bigger than the moon, but also about 400 million times further away.
Thus they appear the same size in the sky, and the moon exactly covers the sun in a solar eclipse.
This is just held to be an amazing cosmic coincidence.

The earth's shadow is much bigger than the moon, and the curvature of the edge of it is visible as it crosses the moon in a lunar eclipse.

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 01:10 PM

Doh!
Delete "million"

Subject: RE: 1st solstice/lunar eclipse in 500 years
From: mikesamwild
Date: 26 Dec 10 - 07:28 AM

Thanks ,Spooky!