December 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse

So why not start this year remembering the awesomeness of God through His creation. =)

It's the December 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse. It started around 12:30am and lasted for about 6 hours, coinciding with the date of the Winter Solstice. It was visible in its entirety as a total lunar eclipse  in North and South America. 

"We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day." - Edith Lovejoy

Happy New Year Everyone, let's get it right this time. LOL

Blue Moon

It's a blue moon, literally! Taken under 3200 Kelvin settings, 1/125 exposure, F22. The stars, I only put those up as it was a cloudy night at that time. Now, make a wish.. =D

What You Slept Through (Umbra)

As most of the people snugged into bed in the predawn of December 21st, the full moon escapes earth's shadow, as if emerging from a mist-blanketed lake. And unlike any other total lunar eclipse in 372 years, last night's lunar eclipse coincided with the winter solstice.

This is the beginning of the partial eclipse, the earth's umbra touches the outer limb of the moon. The pace quickens and the change is dramatic. The umbra is much darker than the penumbra and fairly sharp-edged.

What You Slept Through (Penumbra)

At 12 midnight last night, my friend and I got crazy and drove 5km north, pulled over to an empty space to watch the Lunar Eclipse. Despite the -16 temperature and the cloudy state, it never stopped us from staying in and out of the car for few hours.

Today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It's all due to Earth's tilt, which ensures that the shortest day of every year falls around December 21. 

During the winter solstice the sun hugs closer to the horizon than at any other time during the year, yielding the least amount of daylight annually. On the bright side, the day after the winter solstice marks the beginning of lengthening days leading up to the summer solstice.

Coinciding with the winter solstice for the first time since 1638, the December 21, 2010, lunar eclipse was anything but ordinary.

Around 0030 (Central Standard Time), the moon began going slightly shady, marking the arrival of Earth's faint outer shadow, or penumbra.

The penumbra (from the Latin paene "almost, nearly" and umbra "shadow") is the region in which only a portion of the light source is obscured by the occluding body. An observer in the penumbra experiences a partial eclipse.