Sunday, December 19, 2010

Lunar Eclipse 2010 and Winter Solstice Shine in the Sky This December 21

Never miss this chance now! Isn’t that exciting that the first ever total lunar eclipse in two years will just happen during the shortest day of the year? And yes, it will happen, because a total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout the North and Central America from 8:40 pm EST, Monday, December 20, 2010 until 9:53 am Tuesday, December 21, 2010. The said celestial event is very first in almost three years.



For everybody’s information, the Winter solstice is Northern Hemisphere’s shortest day of the year, and the first day of the winter season. This is where sun will be visible in the lowest part of our sky because the North Pole of the earth will be pointing away from it.
Apparently, the Total lunar eclipse means the shadow of the earth (or also called Umbra) will fully cover the surface of the moon, making it partially, to almost invisible. During the “peak” of the eclipse, the earth’s umbra shadow will give the moon a red-brown like effect (moon looks like a cheese).  On Monday, the total lunar eclipse will take place at the same time as the winter solstice.The winter solstice played an important role in the Greco-Roman rituals.
On latest updates, the NASA uses Twitter to announce some of the activities scheduled in related to the total lunar eclipse. The government institution tweets:
“Did you know there is a lunar eclipse on Monday night? NASA has online activities and chats you can join us for,” and links to an article about the eclipse and information about events like live chat and photo sharing via Flickr.
“It’s seen as a time of rebirth or renewal because, astrologically, it’s a time where the light comes back,” Shane Hawkins, a professor of Greek and Roman studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, told the Montreal Gazette.
Moreso, Europe will be able to catch a glimpse of the beginning of the lunar eclipse, but Japan will be catching the ending.
This lunar eclipse is part of the Saros cycle, which is an eclipse cycle with a period of 18 years and a little over 11 days.  This cycle is useful for predicting the times of when nearly identical eclipses will occur.

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