The new ball was unveiled in November at a press conference in Yonkers. The celebratory orb's predecessor made it's debut at the end of the 20th century and went on to enjoy 7 fabulous New Year's Eves (from 2000 to 2007) at the top of the One Times Square building. This year's ball is a 12 foot geodesic sphere, 2 times the size of any of it's predecessor! Weighing in at 11,875 pounds, this masterpiece is covered in 2,668 Waterford Crystals. Hard to visualize, right? Well to put it all in perspective, last year's ball weighed just 1,070 pounds and was covered in a mere 504 Waterford Crystals! The ball is powered by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs and unlike previous balls, features a more varied color palette showcasing over 16 million colors and billions of different kaleidoscopic patterns.
According to TimesSquareNYC.org, this year's Time Square ball is 10 to 20 percent more energy efficient than last year's, "consuming only the same amount of energy per hour as it would to operate two traditional home ovens." That's awesome, considering how much bigger this year's ball is and it's still more energy efficient! Even if you can't make it down to Times Square tonight, don't worry! The ball is to become a year round attraction in Times Square from January through December. Have a happy and safe New Year and lights out until 2009! - Via Times Square Alliance
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2 comments:
Happy New Year to you, too, Jamie! Thank you for all your enlightening posts and your comments! See you around in 2009.
xo,
Trudi =)
great info on the most important light today...happy, happy! xo t
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