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Photos: Here's The 2013 New Year's Eve Ball And Its 288 Waterford Crystals
By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 27, 2012
Modified Dec 27, 2012
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 27, 2012
Modified Dec 27, 2012
Share
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The "lucky 13" arrived in Times Square last week, and now the New Year's Eve Ball is getting prepped for the big night. Today the 288 new Waterford crystals were installed at One Times Square, where Dick Clark's widow, Kari Clark, was on hand.
Aside from the crystals, the ball contains 32,256 LED lights, and this year the light source in the Ball is 88% more energy efficient than in previous years, requiring only 22 watts of power. Some more fun facts:
- The Ball consumes the same amount of energy per hour as it takes to operate just two traditional home ovens.
- The numerals will consume the same amount of energy per hour as it takes to operate just one 40 gallon home water heater.
- Red, green, blue and white LEDs in the Ball create a palette of more than 16 million vivid, vibrant, and highly-saturated colors as well as billions of possible lighting effects.
- The Ball is a geodesic sphere, 12 feet in diameter, and weighs 11,875 pounds.
- Since 2009, the Ball has been on display atop One Times Square year round.
If you won't be there for the big night, you can always check out The Centennial Ball Light Show—"a spectacular five-minute light show at :05, :25 and :45 minutes" at the Times Square Museum & Visitor Center.
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2012
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new year's eve
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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