The winter solstice is Thursday, Dec. 21. It's the shortest day of the year and also when something special happens at the Angel Mounds State Historic Site.
About 15 minutes before it sets, the sun will align perfectly with the top of the cone on the largest Mound.
There are two large mounds that are about 1,000 years old, and part of a city of what archaeologists believe were of the native Mississippian culture.
It’s fittingly called the “conical alignment,” and it happens a few times a year for different astronomical events.
“We have a summer solstice alignment, we have a Milky Way alignment,” said Mike Linderman, western regional director for State Historic Sites. “We have lunar alignments also. So the mounds are not randomly placed, they were here for a reason to mark astronomical activity.”
Wednesday afternoon between 3:45 and 4:15 was the inaugural planned viewing of the alignment. The alignment can be viewed for several days, though Thursday is peak conical alignment.
Wednesday was set for clearer viewing conditions with clouds forecast for Thursday.
About 50 guests were chagrined when Wednesday was cloudy also.
“It was perfect yesterday afternoon, I swear,” Linderman said to some friends. “It was brilliant out here.”
Attendees like Kam Hines found it to still be worthwhile.
“For whatever reason I was drawn out here, so that's why I came,” she said. “So I'm just taking it all in and just revering the land.”
The attendees took photos and watched the sun set behind purple and gold clouds with no clear view of the alignment.
Apparently the clearest viewing day was Tuesday though the best alignment is Thursday — another pretty, yet cloudy day.
Follow Angel Mounds for other events.
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