Solstice of the Eclipse

The future Sun King of France, Louis XIV, was born in 1638. Charles the First was King of England and Delaware became a colony. On June 25th of that same year, a lunar eclipse was the first astronomical event recorded in the U.S.

Shakespeare missed it, having already been dead for 22 years, but Galileo might have seen it from his little house in Italy, had he not gone totally blind the year before.

For the first time in almost four centuries, a total lunar eclipse coincides on the Winter Solstice for a cosmic occurrence: Today the sun, the earth and the moon are all aligned.

While it might be the shortest day of the year, it is a mighty one, filled with all kinds of cosmic and human activity. With less than 100 hours remaining until Christmas, I’ll wish you a Merry One.

While visions of sugar plum fairies dance in our heads, we’re also dreaming of a white Christmas… white beaches in Sunny Mexico, but that’s another story.