You are currently browsing the daily archive for December 20, 2010.
Sleep, like being coherent, is for the weak. Prepare people, we get two celestial events instead of one today.
“This year’s winter solstice on Tuesday will fall on the same day as a full lunar eclipse for the first time in 456 years. The rare, 72-minute lunar eclipse — when the sun, the Earth and the moon align — will begin in the early morning hours on Dec. 21 in North America, and should cast an amber glow on snowy landscapes, said NASA.”
Well, it is nice when we finally reach the nadir of the bleak midwinter, AND we get to see a full lunar eclipse to boot.
“Tuesday marks the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere, and the winter solstice begins in the evening at 6:38 p.m. ET, which is 8:08 p.m. NT, 7:38 p.m. AT, 5:38 p.m. CT, 4:38 p.m. MT, and 3:38 p.m. PT.
Scientists said the last time a full lunar eclipse coincided with the winter solstice was in AD 1554. NASA forecasts that at 1:33 a.m. ET on Tuesday, “Earth’s shadow will appear as a dark red bite at the edge of the lunar disk.”
After roughly an hour, that “bite” will eventually grow to cover the whole moon. That stage, known as “totality,” will probably start at 2:41 a.m. ET and last 72 minutes.
As for the best time to witness the cosmic event, NASA suggests being outside at 3:17a.m., “when the moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.”
So, if sleep is not in the cards on Tuesday night, your plans have already been made.
Remember 3:17am is optimal viewing time.
Ever wonder about the processing abilities of your brain and wondered about how accurate it actually is? This neat clip from the BBC about the McGurk Effect illustrates our imperfect grasp of the real word and how much brain interpretation is actually going on.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…