When a total lunar eclipse occurs the sun, the Earth and the moon are in perfect alignment so that the Earth’s shadow completely covers the surface of the moon.
Early this coming Tuesday morning Canadians from coast to coast will get a chance to view a total lunar eclipse — the first of four that will occur nearly every six months.
By coincidence, Mars' closest approach to Earth occurs on the same night as that total lunar eclipse. The planet should be easy to spot in the constellation Virgo, while the moon, just a few degrees south, is in total eclipse as seen from North America. Spectacular !
Just what is it about 'alignment' anyway ? There is such a great 'rightness' about things that 'line up'.
I've been a professional mason restoring stone and brickwork, and building walls for over 35 years now, and I'm still fascinated with it. I'm curious too about the pleasure we get from seeing structures arranged in a line, with the surfaces of things like bricks and stones being flush along a wall. Whenever I go somewhere my eye is always squinting to align corners, planes and angles to see if they are parallel or plumb, and perfectly - 'in line'. When they don't, it's annoying. When they do, there is an inexplicable satisfaction.
And do you not think too, that a perfectly straight dry stone wall somehow creates the best kind of heavenly alignment between us humans and the basic elementary material of this world - rocks ?
