Lunar Eclipse Coincides with Winter Solstice

The full moon was bathed in a ruddy, reddish glow as the Earth's shadow moved across its face in a full lunar eclipse as seen at 2:30 a.m. from New City Dec. 21, 2010.

The eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind the Earth, preventing the sun's light from reflecting off it. Tonight is also the winter solstice, or the longest night of the year.

There hasn't been a lunar eclipse on winter solstice in approximately 400 years, and the two events won't coincide again until Dec. 21, 2094. Despite the freezing temperature - it was 29 degrees  at the time this photo was taken at 2:35 a.m. - conditions were ideal in the Greater New York area with nearly zero cloud cover during prime viewing time.

The eclipse began at around 1:33 a.m. and was expected to end about 3:53 a.m.