If you’ve dropped by this blog more than a time or two in the past, you likely know I’m a bit of an archaeology buff. Here’s a shot through my 60mm crystal ball of Chimney Rock, in southern Colorado:

The Chimney Rock Archaeological Area is home to some ancestral puebloan ruins, nearly 1000 years old. They were built at this site due to the two rock pinnacles in this image — every 18.6 years, the moon rises between the columns (the geometry is called a Major Lunar Standstill). If you’d like to see this event in person, there’s good news and bad news. Good news: the site has public viewing events for lunar standstill. Bad news: the next one won’t occur until 2022.

So patience is the key…