Happy Solstice to Everyone from FFS.

Posted by Rezwan on Dec 21, 2010 at 02:21 AM
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There’s a fire in the fireplace, a cat on the DVR (toasty!), we’ve had some pomegranate wine.  Now we’re waiting for the lunar eclipse.  Objects in space will glide silently by each other, playing tag with their shadows.

The moon will now be “it”.

Tonight’s eclipse provides a dramatic flourish to this year’s solstice.  The last time a lunar eclipse and a solstice performed on stage together at the SkyDome was in 1638.  FYI, the moment of the solstice is the 21st of December at 23:38 GMT.  For those of us in New Jersey that means tomorrow (today! 21^st) at 4:38 pm - er, make that 6:38 pm.  I’m supposed to subtract 5.  Pesky spherical planet time zones!

We’re wishing all our fusion friends and supporters a happy solstice because the solstice makes for a handy fusion holiday.  By definition:

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun’s apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun’s path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction.

From a heliocentric perspective, this is all due to Earth’s axis, the sun isn’t doing anything.  From a geo-centric perspective, of course, it appears as if the sun had been withholding itself from us, growing increasingly distant, but after tonight will start making a comeback.  This makes the event ripe for metaphor and meditation, and we happily embrace the opportunity.

In addition, the sun is a beacon, an icon for fusion folk. 

Fusion advocates often speak of “bringing a star to earth” or “putting the sun in a bottle” or “harnessing the energy of stars”.  This is because the sun is giant fusion reactor in the sky, burning like there’s no tomorrow.  (Luckily, our planet rotates, so we get many tomorrows).  We’ve been basking in its radiance for as long as we’ve been here, but we’ve only known for a century that the sun runs on fusion power.  Yet it’s always been there for us, shining, tantalizing, setting an example of how much power there is in fusion.

Many cultures celebrate the winter solstice by keeping a vigil through the long dark night and celebrating the return of light the next day.  For most people, these celebrations are simple social occasions.  For many, there is deeper spiritual significance.  Deities have been said to be born at this time of year, bringing light to the lonely world.

For fusion supporters, the long dark night (of the soul) might symbolize the distance we feel from the goal of fusion, our yearning for and disconnect from what the sun does (although we could never do it that way – we have to find a substitute for mass).  In the morning we awaken to the possibility of a new dawn, to the end of waiting and to the steady, lumpy advances being made in fusion.

Our ancestors kept a vigil for the sun and worked to keep their spirits up through the ups and downs of the seasons.  Likewise, as we face the fluctuations in funding and enthusiasm for fusion, the ups and downs of the research process, the strange political machinations around energy in our world – it’s great to take the time to drink pomegranate wine and meditate on the magnificent emblem of fusion power, hanging there in the sky, like a powerful, incomprehensible entity, encouraging us to continue seeking.

Elsewhere, I said pejoratively that all stars do is use enormous power just to “twinkle.” Here’s a toast to mankind’s ability to twinkle that way soon.  And for all, warm wishes to keep on shining.