The Second Solstice Lunar Eclipse In 2000 Years Tonight

NASA: Solstice Lunar Eclipse

"...The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am EST (Monday, Dec. 20th, at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth's shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about an hour for the "bite" to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72 minutes."

" ...This lunar eclipse falls on the date of the northern winter solstice. How rare is that? Total lunar eclipses in northern winter are fairly common. There have been three of them in the past ten years alone. A lunar eclipse smack-dab on the date of the solstice, however, is unusual. Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years. "Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21," says Chester. "Fortunately we won't have to wait 372 years for the next one...that will be on 2094 DEC 21."

Editor's note: The risk of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and severe weather increases with the lunar eclipse and may extend through Christmas day...

"...studies of lunar phase triggers in 21 earthquakes show that fourteen occurred at the Quarter Phase, five at Full Moon, and two followed an eclipse. Interestingly, the majority of Quarter-Phase quakes took place in the Southeast, in the region of Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Columbia, South Carolina, which surrounds the North Atlantic Field's stem. In contrast, California earthquakes, which are triggered by the dynamics of the descending limb of the Field, show a peak with a three- to four-day delay." - The Living Cosmos