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Solstice Eclipse 2010 and 1638

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Margaret
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Solstice Eclipse 2010 and 1638

Post by Margaret » Sun December 19th, 2010, 11:14 pm

It seems the lunar eclipse that will occur on the winter solstice this year (in the wee hours of December 21), is an extremely rare event. The last time there was a lunar eclipse on the winter solstice was in 1638, according to Wikipedia. Because eclipses have astrological significance (solar eclipses more than lunar, though), I'm wondering if anyone knows what was going on in late December 1638 and/or early January 1639.
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Post by Leo62 » Mon December 20th, 2010, 8:50 pm

well...a couple of years later England was plunged into a long and bloody civil war and the king got the chop :D
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Post by Libby » Mon December 20th, 2010, 9:50 pm

It should be visible here (UK) from around 7.40 am until 8.53 am which means that it is also a 'once in a lifetime' chance to see a selenelion - an event when both the sun and the eclipsed moon can be seen in the sky at the same time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-12039683
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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Tue December 21st, 2010, 4:57 am

well...a couple of years later England was plunged into a long and bloody civil war and the king got the chop
Tempting ... but the moon is a fairly short-term astrological influence, so I don't think I'd want to spread the net as wide as a couple of years.

Halley's Comet appeared in April 1066, as the first planning for the Norman Conquest was already getting underway. The Conquest itself took place over the summer and autumn months of that same year. That's a better time frame for linking astrological events with worldly events.

I notice the BBC says "The last time a selenelion occurred, the Tudors were in power in England." I wonder what date that was.
Last edited by Margaret on Tue December 21st, 2010, 4:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Tue December 21st, 2010, 5:51 am

Well, the sky has just cleared up here, so it looks like we'll get a look after all! :D

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Tue December 21st, 2010, 6:43 am

Raining here, and no moon in sight an hour an a half before eclipse time. Darn!
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Ken
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Post by Ken » Tue December 21st, 2010, 7:57 am

[quote=""Margaret""]Raining here, and no moon in sight an hour an a half before eclipse time. Darn![/quote]

Just had a beautiful view of the whole eclipse here in Cornwall. Full eclipse occurred just before the moon slipped below the skyline.

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Post by parthianbow » Tue December 21st, 2010, 9:40 am

[quote=""Libby""]It should be visible here (UK) from around 7.40 am until 8.53 am.[/quote]

Not if you have a complete blanket of white cloud about 200 feet from the ground. :( : mad:
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Post by Libby » Tue December 21st, 2010, 10:01 am

It was too cloudy/foggy here as well which is annoying because the sky is clear now. Ah well, at least I looked.

Margaret - I've been searching for the exact date of the last one but can't find it. Almost 500 years ago is as near as I can get. It is very annoying not to know the exact date. I could well devote the rest of the day to trying to find out.
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Post by LoveHistory » Tue December 21st, 2010, 3:43 pm

Don't feel too bad Ben. At least you were looking. I got the date confused and slept through the whole thing. Oh wait, it was storming so I couldn't have seen it anyway. Oh well. I'm sure some enterprising photographer/videographer will be putting pics/video online soon.

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