The Sun rising on Dec. 13, almost centered over the winter solstice sunrise stone a full week before solstice.
View of sunrise from center of Sunwheel (center marked by wooden peg in frozen water in foreground) 1 week before winter solstice. Solstice alignment is very close, as it will be for the next 2 weeks.
Sunrise over winter solstice sunrise stone, Dec. 13, 2008.
Moon on morning of Dec. 13, 2008 getting ready to set. This northernmost Moon of this month, declination +27, is at perigee (closest to Earth) making the Moon appear larger and brighter than usual. Notice pinkish color close to hill -- the Earth's shadow setting.
Beautiful Moon! The instant of Full was 20 hours ago.
Moon setting over hills, with pinkish color above hill the Earth's shadow setting. This color fades as the Sun rises and Moon sets.
Moon setting in the NW as seen from the center of the Sunwheel -- more northerly than the summer Sun ever gets. Not quite as northerly as the Moon was 2 years ago, at the peak of it's 18.6-year cycle. Today the Moon set between these 2 stones.
Moon above Sunwheel stones. Sun, Moon, planets and stars all descend at about a 45 degree angle to the horizon, so the spot of moonset on the horizon today was about midway between the 2 stones pictured, to the right of the white goal post.
Sunlight on winter grasses.
Frozen wetlands next to Sunwheel.
Moon descending in sky.
Moon setting and getting closer to horizon, now seen faintly between 2 goal posts at height of taller stone. In 2006, the peak year of the Moon's 18.6 year cycle, the Full Moon in December had declination +28.5 (now +27), and did set over 'Northern Moonset' stone.
Setting Moon between goal posts as seen from center of Sunwheel.
Setting Moon getting much more difficult to see as sky gets light, still centered between 2 goal posts at height of taller stone.
Summer solstice sunset stone (tallest in photo) just about reaches horizon, and center of Sunwheel marked by wooden peg in ground in middle of photo lines up with the peak of the solstice sunset stone. Setting Moon is still faintly visible, bisected by right goal post.
Setting Moon, center, faintly visible about 1 diameter above the horizon.
Setting Moon, very faint, still visible at center just above horizon.
The Moon is still there -- I know it because I saw it -- partly below the horizon to the right of the goal post by about 1 diameter. I have never before seen the northernmost Moon be so close to Full, and I was surprised how difficult it was to see at the end.
