NewsFeed tries its best to keep you up to date on the celestial events of the universe — as well as the mortal ones — and for those of you who missed the lunar eclipse or couldn’t see it because of the overcast, we’ve got you covered.
The eclipse of the Moon lasted for exactly three hours and twenty-eight minutes over Monday night and the wee hours of Tuesday morning for the Winter Solstice. The totality phase of the lunar eclipse lasted for 72 minutes and cast a ghostly red/brown glow over the moon. The glow is said to have been caused by a large volume of volcanic ash and dust in the atmosphere from the many recent volcanic eruptions around the Earth. Unlike solar eclipses, a lunar eclipse is safe to view with the naked eye and lasts for several hours.
(See photos of the Moon by Armstrong and Aldrin.)
As we understand, many star-gazers on the West Coast missed out on the spectacle due to the rain or general overcast weather conditions. Not to worry — according to NASA there will be two lunar eclipse events in June and December of 2011, so mark those dates in your new calendars now.
(See the Moon in TIME’s Top 10 of Everything 2010.)
In the meantime, enjoy this footage of what we’re calling an amazing Christmas present, given to us by the universe. (Via ABC)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADMZDoWU7vg&w=450]