rare lunar eclipse

[Glenn E.]

Tonight at 1:32 am Eastern, a very rare lunar eclipse will occur. The last time that a full lunar eclipse occurred on the solstice was the year that Kopke was founded - 1638!

How's that for Port trivia?

By the way, the moon won't be fully eclipsed until 2:40-something am, and the full eclipse lasts for a whopping 72 minutes. So if you can stay up late enough and you have good weather, you should get a nice show!

[Stewart T.]

Wow! I'd better go run find that bottle of 1638 Kopke Colheita that's buried in my Transtherm somewhere...!

[Peter W. Meek]

We saw partial coverage at about 2:00 AM, but then it clouded over so we gave up.

As to rarity -- well, yes it is rare for a lunar to occur on the winter solstice, but then a lunar on ANY specific day (say 3rd of April) is pretty rare as well.

However, rarity sells soap, so let the newscasters go for it. Just don't attach too much importance to it.

Being on the solstice just means the sun appears as far south as it gets, so the moon must be about as far north as it ever appears, in order to line up.

[Stewart T.]

Dang, Peter! So I SHOULDN'T have opened that 1638 Kopke last night???

NOW you tell me...!

[Derek T.]

Peter,

Have you thought of applying for a leading role in your local amature dramatic society's production of "A Christmas Carol"?

I'm no expert on such events but am surprised we have heard nothing about it here in the UK. Was it only visible from NA?

[Roy Hersh]

No surprise, although most in the UK think they have the scoop on everything from LBV Port pricing to the earliest information on VP declarations etc ... it should be noted that the imperial forces in Britain don't always get the lead on things ... Colheita for example, or winter solstice lunar eclipse 2010 in particular.


I am currently about 45 mins. to an hour away from Peter and after a long visit to Greenfield Village, outside of Detroit in MI, to hang out in the snow with relatives and bring the kids to go on horse drawn carts, see Santa on the roof of a house, and many historic sites that Henry Ford (yes the man who brought us the Model A) preserved in this village ... after some Port and warming up at home, we tried to view the eclipse as well. Unfortunately, the experience reminded me of a Pink Floyd album entitled: Obscured By Clouds.

[Michael Hann]

Peter,

I'm no expert on such events but am surprised we have heard nothing about it here in the UK. Was it only visible from NA?

Derek:

The umbra (deep shadow) began to take a bite out of the moon at 12:30 AM local time for me located near Dallas, Texas, that would be about 6:30 AM local time in the UK and the moon was very likely below the horizon and hence not visible then.

I'm with Peter . . . largely an unremarkable event other than the irrelevant combination of solstice with eclipse. The plane in which the moon revolves around the earth is inclined to the plane in which the earth revolves around the sun. Lunar eclipses are possible when (1) the moon is in the plane of the earth (where the two planes intersect in a line) and (2) when the line of that intersection passes through the sun, which happens twice per year. Thus there is a good prospect for a lunar eclipse twice per year. At a given location, however, the eclipse may occur when the moon is below the horizon -- as in Derek's case -- and so we don't tend to see each of these lunar eclipses from the given location. I know . . . too much information.

[Peter W. Meek]

Peter,

Have you thought of applying for a leading role in your local amature dramatic society's production of "A Christmas Carol"?

I'm no expert on such events but am surprised we have heard nothing about it here in the UK. Was it only visible from NA?

BAH-HUMBUG? I keep auditioning, but they say I am too curmudgeonly to play Scrooge. I suspect that things like taking the shine off eclipses is just too cruel.

I have heard reports from a few people in UK who saw it early in the morning -- around 6:30, I believe. Apparently it was clear in Scotland at the time. I think only the beginnings of the eclipse were visible before the moon set in the west. Best view was in the Americas this time, but a lot of places were clouded over.

For more information:

http://www.mreclipse.com/LEdata/TLE2010 ... Dec21.html