Solstice to be Webcast at Newgrange

This year, in honor of the fortieth anniversary of the rediscovery of the ancient observatory aspects at Newgrange, Heritage Ireland is sponsoring a live webcast of the solstice sunrise.

Newgrange is a megalithic tomb site, one of several in the Boyne Valley (called Brugh na Boine in Gaelic) built during the Neolithic period. The largest tomb at Newgrange was built about 3200 BC, and the morning sunrise on solstice still lights the long passageway and chamber 5,200 years later. Being at Newgrange at the solstice is so popular, last year the Irish government established a lottery system so that everyone has an equal chance of getting in to see it.

The webcast will be broadcast between 8:30 and 10:00 am Greenwich Mean Time on the mornings of December 21st (Friday) and 22nd (Saturday), 2007. As long as there is not a heavy cloud cover, the rising sun will light up the 63 foot long passageway and chamber between 8:58 and 9:15 am (GMT).

• Live Webcast at Newgrange (Knowth.com)
• Heritage Ireland
• The Lottery System at Newgrange
• Newgrange (Ireland), more on the site
• Astronomical Observatories; Newgrange isn't the only ancient structure built to keep time, here you'll find a few others.
• Prehistoric Passage: Newgrange, from our own N.S. Gill, guide to Ancient History.

PS: For people weak on converting GMT to their local time (like me), this Time Zone Converter will help you figure out when the live broadcast will occur in your time zone.