Living History Today: Lunar Eclipse Merges with Winter Solstice

If you are like me, you live in North America, and made sure to get up to celebrate a rare occurances in the wee hours of the morning...the merging of a Full Lunar Eclipse with Winter Solstice.  That's a Cosmic Combination that will make any Druid Drool!

There are not many days like Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010. The last time the solstice coincided with a total lunar eclipse on the same calendar day was long before any of our lifetimes, experts say. The year, according to Geoff Chester, public affairs officer at the U.S. Naval Observatory, was 1638.  

Map of Boston produced on Christmas, 1638

Chester said his research took him back to the first year of the common era and involved consulting with "a number of well-respected sources." His finding, essentially was this: "It's a comparatively rare event."  

If you live long enough to make it to December 21, 2094 you will get the chance to see it again.  Let's see, that will make me 148 years old.  Glad I got up this morning!

Sir Hook the Drooling Druid Who Makes it a Habit to Celebrate Rare Events of Warrick