Winter Solstice

“

S&T's Skywatcher's Bulletin


WINTER SOLSTICE (Sunday PM / Monday AM)

The Sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky for 2003 at 2:04 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time on the 22nd. This moment marks the December
solstice, the official beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. To
read more about what's happening in the night sky this week, visit "This
Week's Sky at a Glance:"

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/



A CHRISTMAS TREAT

Christmas Day 2003 brings a special astronomical treat. Two of the
most beautiful sights in the sky will be visible side by side low in the
southwest at dusk: Venus and a two-day old Moon. Catch them early
before they set. As the sky grows darker, don't forget to look for the
"old Moon in the new Moon's arms," where the Moon's entire face is
visible -- part of it as a brilliant thin crescent lit directly by the Sun,
and the rest lit faintly by light reflected from the Earth. If you were
standing on the Moon at this time, you would see a nearly-full Earth
overhead, 50 times brighter than the full Moon as seen from Earth!


Copyright 2003 Sky Publishing Corp.”

“WOW! That sounds really COOL!

I'll be sure to try to keep an eye out in that direction. I'm really into the moon's energy's and such. Is this the "longest night of the year" thing? Or is this something different?”

“Yep, that's the deal.

I always like to get a good view of the horizon when there's a conjunction of Venus and the crescent Moon... rising or setting.”

“Thanks for keeping us informed Tilt. I like to see these things, but it's usually hit or miss that I find out about them in time to look.”

“My problem lately has been the weather.... two meteor showers and a lunar eclipse screwed up by clouds and rain.”

“Me? I'm just looking forward to longer days. Yeeeeee haw! I just looked at the calendar yesterday and saw that it will be heading the other way soon. Which is GREAT!!!!”

“Noooooooooooooooo..... DARK SKIES is what we want!!! Nasty frickin' sunlight!! Unprintable moonlight!!

<GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR>





http://www.darksky.org
”

“Go eat your sushi.”

“the crescent moon last night looked awesome here in virginny.”

“the 21st is my birthday sniff sniff”

“Well --- Happy Almost Birthday! <G>


That crescent was perty slick here in Georgia just before sunrise this morning. It ought to be 'even slicker' tomorrow.”

“Saw a great meteor tonight. Big, bright, burned out low on the horizon.”

“That reminds me of one I saw years ago... pretty big, low on the horizon, slow-moving (or so it appeared), getting brighter... then I realised it must be coming toward me at 50+ miles-per-second! LOL”

“happy winter everyone!”

“Florida does not observe "Winter."”

“they did last night.”

“I was warm last night in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Florida is now warm, after sleeping in the snow in Iowa two nights ago.

Say, is that extra tent of yours a 4-season tent?”

“no.”

“Yaz... Happy Winter, Dudes and Dudettes.

Try not to freeze your butts off; you'll need something to sit on.”

“Winter? Where is it?! Lol, it's not here at the moment. We still have autumn.”

“I CAN FEEL IT, MAN!!!”

“At least it's not 18 friggin' degrees like it was yesterday!






It's 21 friggin' degrees.”

“I guess I need to move farther south!!!.......I never dreamed I would be cold in Alabama!!!

Tilt thank so much for your info....I wish I lived in the country so I could see the stars more.....one night a friend took me to the country just to star gaze....It was awesome....I felt soooo small.....and insignificant...compared to the sky....”

“18, 21!!!! Ha! It hit -3°F twice, while I was in Minnesota. But that was considered a heat wave, when I used to live there.”

“December 22 marks the winter solstice, "the darkest evening of the year" as the poet Robert Frost put it. It was known on Old English calendars as Geol, from which we get the English word "Yule". In Roman times, it was the sixth day of the holiday festival of Saturnalia and was known as the Divalia.

Higgledy-Piggledy
Roman Divalia,
True winter solstice in
Terms of the sun,
Falls in the festival
Saturnalicius
Day number six in a
Surfeit of fun.”

“Yeah Tilt, WTF? I thought I had moved south where it's warm!?”

“i believe i was the first person to post on this board in the winter of 2003-2004. what do i win?”

“You win a brown Christmas!”

“come on', that's the same prize as last year!”

“mmm, sounds magical.”

“The enduring envy of your peer group?”

“i'll take that one bitpusher.”

“WTF - It's now winter and the temps go up to the 40's, and they say it's going to rain today and tomorrow.”

“I didn't have no-thing to do with it!”

“At least they are saying snow showers on Christmas.”

“Can I sleep in and skip my shower on christmas?”