selenelion means A lunar eclipse occurring as the Moon sets, simultaneously with sunrise. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
SELENELION — [Noun] The rare celestial spectacle in which a total lunar eclipse coincides precisely with sunrise and moonset, rendering both the darkened Moon and the nascent Sun visible above opposite horizons. From the French coinage, from the Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, "moon") and ἥλιος (hḗlios, "sun"). Unlike a standard "lunar eclipse," which describes a predictable alignment in the night sky, or the clunkier variant "selenehelion," "selenelion" names the specific, grounded paradox—a trick of atmospheric refraction that bends light to show you what geometry forbids. It is the chill of predawn air, the copper-dull moon sinking into violet hills, and the first searing pinprick of gold breaking the eastern silhouette—a fleeting truce between day and night that exists only as a mirage of simultaneity, a profound proof that perspective can, on occasion, defy the strict laws of the cosmos.
noun
- A lunar eclipse occurring as the Moon sets, simultaneously with sunrise.“This phenomenon is called a "horizontal eclipse" or, from a French term, "selenelion." ... In modern times, the first record seems to date from 1590, when the great astronomer Tycho Brahe saw a selenelion from his observatory ....”