Total Lunar Eclipse

Tonight there's a total lunar eclipse and I stayed up to see the entire moon become a giant golden ball. I won't be around for the next one, December 21, 2094. Tomorrow is the first day of winter and a full moon. We've often had our caroling party on the first day of winter.

Moonwatchers treated to total lunar eclipse
Associated Press December 21, 2010 06:47 AM Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle
Time: 11:26:04 PM. The onset of a total lunar eclipse is seen from the San Francisco Bay Area on the night of Monday, December 20, 2010, through the morning of Tuesday, December 21, 2010, the winter solstice for the Northern hemisphere. According to NASA, the eclipse is only one of two total lunar eclipses on the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere in the last 2,000 years. The other was in 1638.
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(12-21) 06:47 PST NEW YORK, (AP) --
Skywatchers got an early holiday present this year: A total eclipse of the moon.
Hanging high in the sky, the moon slowly turned from bright silver into a red disk early Tuesday.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow on the full moon, blocking the sun's rays that otherwise reflect off the moon's surface. Some indirect sunlight still pierces through to give the moon its eerie hue.
The 3 1/2 hour celestial spectacle was visible from North and Central America where skies were clear. Portions of Europe and Asia only caught part of the show.
The totality phase — when the moon was completely immersed in Earth's shadow — lasted 72 minutes.
Since the year's only total lunar eclipse coincided with winter solstice, the moon glowed high in the sky.
The last time this occurred was more than three centuries ago on Dec. 21, 1638. It will happen again on Dec. 21, 2094, according to U.S. Naval Observatory spokesman Geoff Chester.
Lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye, unlike solar eclipses.
The next total lunar eclipse will occur in June 2011 and will not be visible from North America.Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/12/19/national/a080058S38.DTL#ixzz18lZdpnKy