Total Eclipse of the Moon! 21st December 19:00-22:00

Its all going on this month in the heavens.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=171655846196351

For those of you without Facebook,

The first Total Lunar Eclipse in almost THREE years!
The last time this happened was February 20, 2008

A Lunar Eclipse takes place at a Full Moon when the Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth cast by the Sun.

This is also the Winter Solstice - beginning of winter and shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. On this same night there will be a total lunar eclipse, just before the exact time of the Solstice!

IS IT SAFE TO LOOK AT? SHOULD I BE WEARING EYE PROTECTION?
Not only can you view a Lunar Eclipse with the naked eye, it's absolutely amazing when viewed through binoculars. Better yet, you should try watching it through a telescope. Incredible.

More info is at NASA's website:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2010.html#LE2010Dec21T
Check here for local times in your time zone:
http://www.mreclipse.com/LEdata/TLE2010Dec21/TLE2010Dec21.html

I was photographing an eclipse in Wales in about 1991. The second the moon went into totality there was a small earthquake:gnthb:

 

Yes... now the question is how to remind myself to take a look and set up camera on 21st..

 

Well that took a bit of googling, could only find american sites with times on.

Turns out that UT (universal time) is the american way of saying GMT. So that makes totality at 8.15 in the evening. So not too late then.

 

Ziggy, I took the liberty of adding the date and time to the title of this thread. Hope that's okay with you. I will definitely be watching - from the comfort of my settee, as I get the full moon shine all evening.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

:gnthb: Cool, cheers for that Daisees

I wondered where that had come from:D

Settee sounds a good option. Sat on the coal bunker with a camera mounted on a tripod freezing my @## off, when I took the film out, it had jammed, didn't get a single shot.:cry:

 

Wont let you miss this one :thmb:

Took little Willow to Eggardon Hill in Dorset to see the 1999 Solar eclipse. She was only 2 but she still remembers it. Next one is in 2081.

 

Thanks Ziggy!
It's also our 40 somethingth wedding anniversary so I'll either remember to get the camera out or be too far into the celebration to remember to look :lol:

 

Oh No Dave, that is too much alignment ! Surfaces could colapse !!

 

Just checked the weather for tuesday,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/4189?area=TA10

Looking good, clear skies forecast for here. Got to be better than the total cloud we had for the Geminids, only saw 1 :dh:

 

Thanks for that Ziggy. Can't wait for the Solstice and I'll be watching for the eclipse. Might organise a little mini celebration.

 

Right day for it Alice, if you don't keep a fire burning from sunset to sunrise on winter solstice the sun won't come back next year, so i'm told.

Theres some yuley things to do here,

http://brighterblessings.co.uk/articles/yule.htm

 

..thats pretty rare

RARE LUNAR ECLIPSE: The lunar eclipse of Dec. 21st falls on the same date as the northern winter solstice. Is this rare? It is indeed, according to Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory, who inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years. "Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is Dec. 21, 1638," says Chester. "Fortunately we won't have to wait 372 years for the next one...that will be on Dec. 21, 2094."