Volume 12 , Issue 51

NW Okie's R & R In San Juan Mtns

With eleven days left of 2010 we find ourselves reaching the end of this year's Volume 12 of the OkieLegacy Ezine, beginning Vol. 13 next year for 2011. AND ... Only five days until Christmas! Where has the time gone?

We have had cloud covers for the last few days with a mixture of snow and rain accumulations in the San Juan mountains (approx. 7-inches so far) with 18 inches added on to the Wolf Creeks Ski base in the last few days Making a 52-inch base).

A rare occurrence that does not happen very much is happening tonight! According to NASA, tonight's occurrence may be only the second one in the last two millennia where a full Lunar Eclipse on the Winter Solstice takes place. The first was back around 1638.

Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory, who inspected a list of eclipses going back 2,000 years, said on NASA's Solstice Lunar Eclipse page. The next lunar eclipse on the winter solstice won't be such a long wait, though. It's expected in 2094.

For those who watch the skies, the eclipse should occur over a three and a half hour period, starting at 10:33 p.m. PT and ending 2:01 a.m. PT tomorrow. They say the Earth's shadow will completely cover the moon for about 72 minutes, and is likely to have a reddish hue.

For those who do not watch the skies and universe, they say a lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth and moon align with the Earth in the middle. There is always a full moon during a lunar eclipse. The lunar eclipse is viewable for quite some time and is safe to view, unlike a solar eclipse.

From beginning to end, the eclipse will last about three hours and twenty-eight minutes. For observers on the east coast of the U.S. the eclipse lasts from 1:33 a.m. EST through 5:01 a.m. EST. Viewers on the west coast will be able to tune in a bit earlier. For them the eclipse begins at 10:33 p.m. PST on December 20 and lasts until 2:01am PST on December 21. Totality, the time when Earth's shadow completely covers the moon, will last a lengthy 72 minutes.

Here in Southwest Colorado, we hope the clouds will disperse and open to clear skies for this second Lunar eclipse to correspond with the Winter Soltice.

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