Photo courtesy Pirate Gypsy Production

Earth, Sun, and Moon By Juston Purcell

      On March 3rd, 1988 a penumbral eclipse which lasted 4 hours 54 minutes occurred with the imperfect alignment of the earth, moon, and sun. This resulted in the sunlight being blocked by earth and covering the moon by its shadow producing a full eclipse ordained with penumbra outline. Stanley “Bear” Owsley knew it was coming and he was ready. It was on that day that he forged two of his most crucial jewelry art pieces that have since become historical cultural artifacts: a gold moon and a gold sun embellished with black enamel to commemorate the occasion of such an eclipse. The first recorded eclipse was a solar eclipse over 3966 years ago in 1948 BCE where the sun was in total darkness for 2 minutes 7 seconds. The sun and moon must both work together in order to bring light to the world day and night and are held symbolic as such. Stanley “Bear” Owsley knew the importance of planetary alignment and the power of our solar system as a measure of distance and time and thus the two artifacts were created. The moon passes through earth’s penumbra two to three times for the year and each gives an opportunity for a penumbral eclipse in the night hemisphere. Keep your eyes to the skies!