It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

It came upon the midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth,

To touch their harps of gold:

"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men

From heavens all gracious King!"

The world in solemn stillness lay

To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,

With peaceful wings unfurled;

And still their heavenly music floats

O'er all the weary world:

Above its sad and lowly plains

They bend on hovering wing,

And ever o'er its Babel sounds

The blessed angels sing.

O ye beneath life's crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow;

Look now, for glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing;

Oh rest beside the weary road

And hear the angels sing.

For lo! the days are hastening on,

By prophets seen of old,

When with the ever-circling years

Shall come the time foretold,

When the new heaven and earth shall own

The Prince of Peace, their King,

And the whole world send back the song

Which now the angels sing.

I was up this morning at about 12:40 am to view the total lunar eclipse.  While I didn't take the photo above, I did see the moon and it did look like this.  A total lunar eclipse takes place when a full moon passes through the shadow of the earth, which blocks the light from the sun and casts a shadow across the entire moon.

The next total lunar eclipse that falls on a winter solstice, which marks
 the start of winter and is the longest night of the year, will be on
December 21, 2094

The last total lunar eclipse that took place on a winter solstice was on
 December 21, 1638

 I was very glad I was able to see this once in a lifetime event.  I guess some of the grandkids might be around in 2094, but I don't plan to be.  I even got Mom to come outside and see it for a few minutes.  She was up anyway so it was cool.  The total lunar eclipse only lasted for 72 minutes and I wish I could have seen it all, but it was cold and I was tired.  I went back to bed and a few hours later when I got up, the moon was shining brightly again.

Here is my attempt at a photo of the lunar eclipse:

I promise, the moon is there - you just can't see it because during the 72 minutes, while the moon is completely immersed in the Earth's shadow, the moon will appear anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times dimmer than normal.  This also allows many of the fainter stars and even the Milky Way to temporarily appear - I just had to look around at all the stars and wonder.  There was the Ursid meteor shower during this time, also, but I didn't see any shooting stars while I was out under the cold night sky.

I went in and slept until a little before 4am and then went out and took this shot of the full moon.

It's truly amazing how this whole solar system works.  I wish I knew more about the stars and the moon but I really enjoy looking at them - even if it is in the middle of the night and it's freezing cold outside.

What a great way to start my last work day before the Christmas break!

It's like getting an early Christmas gift!  Thanks Heavenly Father!

December 21, 2010 is AWESOME!