Day: December 20, 2010

Over the moon

/ SallyJBrz / Leave a comment

Attention y’all:

Lunar eclipse tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow night is the shortest day/longest night of the year, which means the eclipse will be longer than usual and more easily visible.  Look for it to start around 1:33 AM and last 3.5 hours, with the peak (the totality phase, when the moon is entirely in the earth’s shadow)  occurring at 2:41 AM 12/21.

Bonus: due to recent volcanoes and dust storms, the moon could appear an amber color.

Extra super bonus: This is the first time in 456 years that a lunar eclipse has fallen on the winter solstice.  Oooooo!  Set an alarm, and don’t miss it!

[Photo taken by yours truly using the telescope at Williston Observatory at Mount Holyoke College in 2005.]

Dorky Doppelganger

/ SallyJBrz / Leave a comment

I finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last night for the first time since it came out (and the first time since I saw HP7: Part 1).  It definitely held up to a second reading, especially because it helped me fill in the blanks of what they left out in the movie (the mode of discovery at Luna’s house, among other things).

It also helped me put to rest the nagging feeling of familiarity I had whenever I walked by a certain statue near my office on Milk Street in Boston.  I realized the similarity as soon as I flipped the page to chapter 16:

http://www.fanpop.com/spots/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/images/200254/title/official-dh-chapter-art-photo

 

<– Tribute to Irish Immigrants
versus
Tribute to the Potters in Godric’s Hallow –>

 

 

I know that it’s not exactly the same, but I feel like it could have been if they had about seven more years.  And you know, if all their potatoes had gone bad in a way that couldn’t be fixed with magic and then they had to immigrate to the USA in search of the American Dream.  But then they wouldn’t have those cute accents…

I wonder if anyone will ever make a real statue like from HP7.  I mean, there is already a Peter Pan in Hyde Park (London) and an Alice in Wonderland in Central Park (New York).  Where should this one be, if so?