Today is the winter solstice. The day the tilt of the earth and the point in its rotation around the sun are such that the rays of sunlight strike us at the lowest level they will achieve during the year. Beginning tomorrow, the sun light will start to reach us at a slightly steeper angle each day.
More simply put, today is the shortest day - daylight hours - of the year. Interestingly, today is also a full moon. And, there was a total lunar eclipse shortly after midnight our time... at the very beginning of this shortest day!
At sunset on the first day of winter, the point on the horizon where the sun disappears is at its farthest point south. Beginning tomorrow, the sun will set a tiny bit farther to the north. I wanted to mark that point on the horizon, and took this picture:
Unfortunately for my original purpose, all those pretty clouds obscured the sun just before it disappeared below the horizon, so I'll try again today. But, Monday it was so colorful, I decided to zoom in a little and narrow the shot:
Big deal? You bet!
Later, the full moon lit up our yard and cast distinct shadows. I went to bed before the eclipse happened, so I missed that. But I'll bet it looked exactly like this earlier eclipse!
That's cheating, I know... but I was sleepy!
Shortly before 7:00 a.m. (MST) I sat in my kitchen watching that big moon chase the earth's penumbra toward the horizon. Some of those same sunset clouds remained in the west, and it was fun watching the moon peek in and out as though playing hide and seek with the sun which was about to rise behind the higher mountains to our east. The sun responded by turning the clouds pink, just above the setting moon.
No pictures this time. No matter how much you love photography, sometimes you just have to leave the camera and enjoy the show! Especially, when you know the performance will not be repeated in your lifetime.
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