Midsummer Night's Eve – and a partial eclipse
Tuesday December 21, 2010
Tonight was a lunar eclipse, which in Sydney began just before moon rise, and continued for an hour, so it rose invisibly before a tiny crescent of moon could be seen, which very slowly grew until the moon was full again. We saw 57 minutes, which was the second half of the eclipse, although those in Brisbane saw 13 minutes of totality, when the moon was completely obscured by the earth's shadow, followed by more than an hour of the partial eclipse, as it slowly grew back to full. A truly magical night!
From the Sydney Observatory website (to read the whole story, click here):
Tonight (Tuesday 21 December 2010) people in eastern Australia will be able to view an eclipsed Moon rise in the east as the Sun sets in the west. This is a most unusual eclipse in that the Moon will be partially or wholly eclipsed as it rises.
Seen from Brisbane the Moon will be totally in the Earth’s shadow at moonrise and will only appear in the sky as a crescent 15 to 30 minutes later. From Sydney the Moon will also appear to rise later than the calculated moonrise time of 8:04 AEDT as only a lower crescent-shaped section of the disc will be outside the Earth’s shadow.
After moonrise people will see the Moon quickly creep back into sunlight, until 9:02 pm AEDT when it is completely clear of the Earth’s shadow.
Eclipses of the Moon take place when it moves into the Earth’s shadow. Normally when the Moon is fully, or almost fully, eclipsed it turns a dark reddish colour. However, as this eclipse takes place just as the Sun is setting, the sky is unlikely to be dark enough for the red colour to be noticeable. The Moon illusion which makes our brains see the Moon on the horizon larger than otherwise, should makes this eclipse a spectacular sight.
From A Magical Journey:
Eclipses of the Moon and Sun
Lunar and solar eclipses, while fairly rare, also affect the energies of the universe, and our emotions. An eclipse occurs when one celestial body obscures another, either partially or fully. Because of the angle of their orbits, the sun, moon and earth rarely align precisely, which is the condition required for an eclipse. But when the moon is directly between the other two, which can only happen at the dark moon,
it blocks the sun’s light from reaching the earth, creating a solar eclipse that makes the sun seem either totally or partially invisible. And when the earth is directly between the sun and the moon, which can only happen at the full moon, the earth blocks the sun’s light from reaching the moon, producing a lunar eclipse that dims or even totally obscures the moon for a brief time.
Energetically, eclipses create opportunities for change. They can sometimes push you a bit further than you wanted to go, forcing you to move forward and continue along your path. To some they are a wake-up call, nudging you on and making sure you don’t lose sight of your dream. A solar eclipse, when the moon blocks the sun, is considered a peak of feminine power, and gets you in touch with your intuition. It is the perfect time to take stock of where you’re at and examine your inner self. The energy of a lunar eclipse, when the earth blocks the sun and plunges the moon into darkness, gives you the strength to be honest, to yourself and others, about who you are, and to move forward without fear of judgement.
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