The last time we had a lunar eclipse on the Winter Solstice was 21 December MDCXXXVIII.
I'll bet that when the Full Moon was in total eclipse from 1:12 to 2:47 UT and the solstice occured later in the day at 16:05 UT, it would have been quite a strange time at Stonehenge.
I'm glad I stayed up to watch. The next one is in 2094 and I don't think I'll be awake for that one.
Winter Solstice sun seen rising
through the trilithon at Stonehenge
And the Earth's axis just hit full tilt. The North Pole angled 23.5 degrees away from the sun at 6:38 p.m. EST.
Sun rise was at 7:16 today for 9 hours and 12 minutes of day (the sun set at 4:28) and then we gradually start adding to the day's length - until the summer solstice in 2011. By New Year's Day, we will have added 3 minutes of daylight. I feel warmer already.
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