Lunar eclipse, winter solstice make for darkest day of the year
By Nelson Daily Staff
Tomorrow will be the darkest day of the year, and in the early morning the moon may turn blood-red.
Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world. But it is an extremely rare astronomical event.
For the first time in 372 years according to NASA, the year’s winter solstice will fall on the same day as a lunar eclipse.
“Basically it’s a coincidence — nothing will crash and the earth won’t end,” said James Edgar of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
“But I’m sure people in the past would have seen it as a portent of something evil happening, with the moon turning red on them.”
The lunar eclipse viewing — when the sun, the Earth and the moon align — will start at about 10:30 p.m. in B.C., with the most interesting action unfolding at 12:17 a.m., as the moon enters the earth’s “deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red,” NASA says.
