Fortunately for us skeptics, just like last year, the Irish Office of Public Works (OPW) will be webcasting again from the megalithic tomb of Newgrange in Ireland, Sunday morning, December 21, 2008, from 8:30 to 9:30 am GMT. Sunrise is at 8.58 am, but the sun creeping slowly into the passageway into the depths of the 5,200-year-old Newgrange tomb is a sight to be seen.
If you can't get up that early (or late, as the case may be), archaeoastronomer Victor Reijs made an compressed video of last year's OPW webcast. The six minute video combines two images from the passageway inside of the tomb, one of the sunrise from the top of the tomb, and one from the chamber ceiling. Music by Clannad.
Michael at Knowth.com reports that over 300,000 people watched the sunrise via the Internet last year, and we swamped the server, so this year they've increased the capacity. 
Newgrange Megalithic Tomb at a Distance. Photo by Jimmy Harris
Mark your calendars—next weekend is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. After that, the days will be getting longer, although this year it certainly doesn't always seem possible that things really could change.
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I attended winter solstice at newgrange in 2007. Unlike previous years where peace reigned and the experience was uplifting and refreshing, the experience in 2007 was shattered by the presence of megaphones with annoyingly loud and unecessary commentation. This year I hope that the peace of the moment is respected.
I wondered about that. The chatter from the moderators was a bit intrusive, and I wondered if they weren’t too loud to the people standing at the site. I was grateful at 2:00 am (my time) that I could turn off the sound on my computer!
It’s a really old dilemma, opening up sacred places to the public. How do you share special places with the multitudes without disrupting that which make them special?