Lunar eclipse over West Seattle (etc.); solstice ahead

We’re midway through – more or less – the first lunar eclipse/winter solstice combo in 362 years (and the last one till 2094). Many around West Seattle got at least a glimpse of the disappearing moon, thanks to shifting clouds. Christopher Boffoli got the image above from The Junction within the past hour. As you might imagine, America’s space agency had its pick of angles …

NASA’s Bill Ingalls took that from Arlington, Virginia. Anything else comes in later, we’ll add – we’ve seen a lot go by on Twitter (like this one), and various galleries like this one. Coming up, there’s the winter solstice itself: West Seattle’s NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen plans a sunset-viewing event tonight (Tuesday) at Solstice Park (map); 4:20 pm’s the sunset, she’s planning to be there around 3:30, unless it’s rainy (but clouds do NOT cancel – just like tonight, you never know when you’ll get a peek).

ADDED MIDDAY TUESDAY: This eclipse photo is by DLC (thanks!):

pondering... December 21, 2010 (8:32 am)

Things like this remind me of how small of a blip our life is on the radar of the world and beyond. I feel lucky to have actually been able to witness it in person rather than on the internet …although, the photos online were better ;)

WSB December 21, 2010 (8:44 am)

“Better” of course being subjective. Even without binoculars or a massive camera lens, just standing out in the cold, neck craned till it hurt, saying “wow, I’m really seeing this” does seem best of all. Most memorable one for us since the one in late August 2007, which coincided with the first-and-only WSB “pledge day,” which raised money that helped us turn this into a business. It was also late at night/very early morning and I remember running outside to look, running back in to check the e-mail (this was before The Advent of Smartphones), running outside to look, etc. … TR
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PS – Mark your calendar for 2017’s solar eclipse, first total solar eclipse visible from US since July 11, 1991 (I remember that one well, my only sibling’s only child was born that day; it was partly visible from here).
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_21,_2017