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Winter Solstice with Lunar Eclipse

Winter Solstice with Lunar Eclipse - After a wait of 372 years, sky gazers are in for a special celestial treat as winter solstice coincides with total lunar eclipse on Tuesday.

The last time the two astronomical events coincided was on December 21, 1638, Geoff Chester of U.S. Naval Observatory said.

The eclipse cannot be seen in India as it will occur during day time but astro-lovers can see the full moon turning into a delightful shade of coppery-red from Europe, west Africa, the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, eastern Australia, the Philippines and eastern and northern Asia.

Winter Solstice with Lunar Eclipse

Also, Tuesday (December 21) is the shortest day of the year as people living on the northern side of the equator will celebrate winter solstice.

“It is a day when the Earth’s axis tilts the farthest from the sun and is called winter solstice, a term derived from Latin words ‘sol’ (sun) and ‘sistere’ (to stand still),” Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) president C.B. Devgun said.

A solstice is an astronomical event which happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is most inclined toward or away from the sun, causing the sun’s apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme, he said.

Winter Solstice with Lunar Eclipse

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