esrosedotblog

EQUALITY

Tomorrow is the winter solstice.

Thank heavens! It is dark and cold enough now. I am ready for a return of the sun.

I usually show Stonehenge or another British henge but here is something different.

This is the Astronomy Picture of the Day or APOD which I follow religiously.

Here is what they say about it.

Tomorrow's solstice marks the southernmost point of the Sun's annual motion through planet Earth's sky and the astronomical beginning of winter in the north. In celebration of the northern winter solstice and the International Year of Astronomy 2009, you can watch a live webcast of the the solstice sunrise from the megalithic tomb of Newgrange, in County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange dates to 5,000 years ago, much older than Stonehenge, but also with accurate alignments to the solstice Sun. In this view from within the burial mound's inner chamber, the first rays of the solstice sunrise are passing through a box constructed above the entrance and shine down an 18 meter long tunnel to illuminate the floor at the foot of a decorated stone. The actual stone itself would have been directly illuminated by the solstice Sun 5,000 years ago. The long time exposure also captures the ghostly figure of a more modern astronomer in motion. To watch the live webcast follow the indicated link below. The webcast is planned to go live at 0830 coordinated Universal Time (for example, at 3:30am Eastern Time in the US) tomorrow, Sunday, the 21st.

Webcast of the solstice sunrise from Newgrange.

That means midnight my time. I don't think that I will see it. But maybe someone out there would like to.

Labels: APOD