When I went to bed last night, it was with reluctance. I knew that I'd be sleeping through the first total lunar eclipse on a winter solstice with a full moon since 1378 (the last total lunar eclipse on a winter solstice which wasn't a full moon was in 1638). So this is a rare event. I thought about staying up for it, I really did, but, in the end, I decided to watch the videos.
Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.
I never look at something like this without imagining how it might have appeared to my distant ancestors - the ones that lived in caves.
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2 comments:
We were clouded over, so would have had to watch it via video in any case.
With regard to the 1638 eclipse, the only way that the Moon can become eclipsed is when the Earth comes between the Moon and Sun, which can only happen when the Moon is full.
DaBris
I heard on the radio that the next time this will happen -- a lunar eclipse (whether full or no) on the winter solstice -- will be 2094. But given the time since the last eclipse, I must have heard wrong.
No, I checked, (Google is Great) and I heard right. Must be something like the moon orbits in an ellipse or something, to explain the nearness of the next eclipse.
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