Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Just in time for Yule

The night before the solstice the sky will be a little spectacular as there will be a total eclipse of the moon.


Amazing spectacle: Total lunar eclipse Monday night: You may be able to see it from your backyard, if weather is favorable


For those of us in Eastern time, it will be most noticeable from about 1:30 to 4:30 in the morning. It will be totally covered in Earth's shadow at around 2:40 am on the 21st.

Meanwhile, the actual solstice will be right before midnight (universal time), or about 6:38 pm our time on Tuesday night, making Monday the longest night of the year. After the solstice, the nights will start to get shorter again and the days longer. The solstice, which for Pagans is called Yule (among others), is my winter holiday. If I don't get a tree tomorrow I'll light lots of candles as a way of having my own festival of lights, although that's really an Imbolc (February 2nd) sort of thing, too.

Anyway, the eclipse should be fun. I hope the sky is clear.

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