A rare solstice lunar eclipse coincided this morning with the Winter solstice of the sun for the first time since 1683, or so someone from NASA reportedly said (according to thereandbackagainalaska.wordpress.com). The eclipse could potentially be seen in Spain, according to NASA. When I took the photo (top) of the full moon last night, the eclipse had not occurred yet, but, there were hardly any clouds. Earlier this morning when the eclipse had started to form at around 06h30, there were considerable cloud formations and the eclipse could not be seen, here in Mallorca, nor during the next two hours. No decent photograph could have been taken. There ought to have been better visibility in the Canary Islands. Even though the eclipse was a total one, the moon would have been seen in a reddish colour refracted on our satellite by the Sun.

From the chart (below), one can see that the unusual phenomenon could best be watched in the USA and there, on the West Coast. Weather permitting, the eclipse could also be seen in the British Isles, especially in the western parts and in Ireland.

P. S.: A day after the lunar eclipse I found a beautiful video of the event on YouTube which I am happy to share with you. The duration of the special occurrance of 4.5 hours is shortened here to a minute and thirty seconds. Credits and thanks go to YouTube, KxbTV and Kareem Brown. Thank you very much.

The photo (top) was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: December 20th, 2010. The time was 22:59:04. The photo (centre) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of El Pais.com and NASA. The photo (centre) was credited to NASA|MR. ECLIPSE|FRED ESPENAK. The chart (bottom) was also borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of skyandtelescope.com.

Muchas gracias

and thank you very much.