Winter Solstice And Lunar Eclipse Tuesday

North Americans will have the best seats in the house on Tuesday as the winter solstice and a total lunar eclipse colide for the first time in 456 years, the last time being in AD 1554.

The arrival of the winter solstice cannot be seen, but is described as the instant when the Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun, resulting in the shortest day of the year as well as the longest night of the year. The summer solstice happens in June when the reverse is true.

This year the winter solstice begins on Tuesday evening at 6:38 p.m. ET, which is 8:08 p.m. NT, 7:38 p.m. AT, 5:38 p.m. CT, 4:38 p.m. MT, and 3:38 p.m. PT.

NASA predicts that at 1:33 a.m. ET on Tuesday, "Earth's shadow will appear as a dark red bite at the edge of the lunar disk." After aboun an hour, the "bite" will  grow to cover the entire moon. This stage, known as "totality," will probably start at 2:41 a.m. ET and last 72 minutes.

NASA suggests the best time to view the event, will be at 3:17a.m. ET, "when the moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red."

I might be a little groggy at work on Wednesday!

The Year That Was - YouTube Style

The YouTube team has counted the clicks and tallied the views an as of the end of November 2010 this is what the world was tuned into:

Globally, as of November 2010, the most-watched YouTube videos (excluding major label music videos) were:

1. BED INTRUDER SONG!!! (now on iTunes)
2. TIK TOK KESHA Parody: Glitter Puke - Key of Awe$ome #13
3. Greyson Chance Singing Paparazzi
4. Annoying Orange Wazzup
5. Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
6. Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10
7. OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version
8. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE - Trailer
9. Jimmy Surprises Bieber Fan
10. Ken Block's Gymkhana THREE, Part 2; Ultimate Playground; l'Autodrome

Justin Bieber took 4 of the top ten major music label video views while Eminem, Shakira, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga comprised the rest of the list. I refuse to link to Justiin Beiber, just sayin! 

The most-searched for queries on YouTube during the year:

January - haiti

February - luge

March - eclipse trailer

April - ipad

May - eminem not afraid

June - shakira waka waka

July - double rainbow

August - bed intruder

Can't wait to see the top 10 sporting clips!

September - halo reach

October - whip my hair

November - firework