While Americans Are Celebrating Christmas, A Solar Eclipse Will Be Visible In Bethlehem

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While Americans Are Celebrating Christmas, A Solar Eclipse Will Be Visible In Bethlehem by Michael Snyder for The Economic Collapse Blog

A lot of really strange things have been happening late in 2019, and now we have another one to add to the list.  While it is still Christmas night here in the United States, the other side of the world will be viewing a very unusual solar eclipse.  For those fortunate enough to be directly in the path of this eclipse, the moon will almost entirely cover the sun’s disk for a few minutes.  At the most dramatic moment, the moon will be covering 97 percent of the sun, and a “ring of fire” will appear to be surrounding the perimeter of the moon.  In other words, at the peak of this eclipse the entire middle portion of the sun will look like it is “missing”, and all that will be visible will be an eerie “ring of fire” that will be casting light around the edges of the moon.

This eclipse will not be visible anywhere in the United States, and so that probably explains why the U.S. media is not really talking a lot about it.

But NASA will be live streaming this event on their YouTube channel, and astronomers all over the globe are gearing up for one of the most significant astronomical events that we have seen in a long time.

The eclipse will be visible “in eastern Europe, Asia, northwest Australia, eastern Africa and the Pacific and Indian Ocean”.  Israel is in the viewing zone, but it will only be a partial solar eclipse in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and other cities in the region.  A lot of people are actually flocking to Saudi Arabia for a really good view of the full eclipse, and what they will see promises to be quite spectacular…

Called everything from a “ring of fire” to a “ring of light,” an annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is relatively small in the sky. The moon has a slightly elliptical orbit around Earth, so it can appear larger or smaller in the sky depending on its position. When it’s close, it causes a supermoon. When it’s far away, and it crosses the ecliptic (the path of the sun through our sky) as a new moon, it fits precisely within the sun’s disk. This Christmas, the moon will cover 97% of the center of the sun.

For those viewing this “sign in the sky” in the Middle East, it will be very early on December 26th, but during the eclipse it will still be Christmas night here in the United States…

What begins at 03:43 a.m. Universal Time on December 26— that’s 22:43 p.m. EST and 19:43 p.m. PST on Christmas Day—is an annular solar eclipse. Since a New Moon is slightly further away than usual, it will appear smaller in the sky so will only block the center of the Sun’s disk. Observers will therefore see a ring around the Sun, and for a maximum of 3 minutes and 40 seconds.

So as millions of Americans are eating their Christmas dinners and enjoying their Christmas presents, millions upon millions of people in the Middle East will be gazing up into the sky at a truly bizarre celestial event.

Since the eclipse will not be visible in North America, there is no danger for us, but authorities are warning those in the viewing zone not to look directly at this eclipse without special glasses because it could potentially result in “total blindness”…

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Michael Snyder

I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep.  My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters.  (#CommissionsEarned)  By purchasing those books you help to support my work.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I can only allow this to happen if this “About the Author” section is included with each article.  In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished.  This article may contain opinions on political matters, but it is not intended to promote the candidacy of any particular political candidate.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.