Lunar eclipse kicks off winter seaso

December 21, 2010

Pictured is the view of Tuesday morning's lunar eclipse just after 2:30 a.m. as it neared totality. Photo by Becky Polaski.

For the first time in 372 years, the winter season got underway in unique fashion with a total lunar eclipse.
The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year and this year, winter officially got underway at 6:38 p.m.
The last time a lunar eclipse corresponded with the winter solstice was Dec. 21, 1638. At that time, what is now the United States was only a series of young colonies under British control and William Penn had not even crossed the Atlantic to begin the settlement of what is now Pennsylvania.
While Tuesday morning's eclipse had the potential to be viewed by people throughout North America, mostly cloudy skies made it challenging for area residents to fully observe the event. However, local sky-watchers were able to catch brief glimpses during breaks in the cloud cover.
For more on this story, see the Dec. 22 edition of The Daily Press.