(CNN) Friday will be the time to watch the skies for a day of spectacular celestial events, with bright meteors lighting up the sky from the Aquarites meteor shower and a chance to see a lunar eclipse.
Anyone trying to spot meteors during this year’s Aquariids show can see up to 20 meteors per hour, but you’ll need to get up early — Friday, Saturday or dawn are the best times to spot a meteor. Sunday. The Peak time for the event will be 11 a.m. ET Saturday.
With rain comes the flowery moon of May, “The first full moon of the flower month,” and its nearly perfect alignment with the Sun and Earth. That alignment creates what is called a penumbral lunar eclipse, when the Moon enters Earth’s outer shadow. This event ET Friday between 11:13 a.m. and 3:31 p.m But it cannot be seen in America because the moon does not rise then. But it can cause dimming of the lunar surface for people in Africa, Asia and Australia.
A collision of celestial events can be exciting for space enthusiasts, but together they can block your view. As the Moon is fully full, Aquarites must compete with some bright light interference to be seen in the night sky.
“I recommend going out at 3 a.m. Grab a lawn chair and put the moon behind you,” said Robert Lunsford, Fireball report coordinator for the American Meteorological Society. “Look for these fast meteors heading up from the eastern horizon. Not all of the meteors you see will be Eta Aquarids, but Eta Aquarids are so fast they’re easy to tell.”
More about lunar eclipse
Earth’s shadow falls during an eclipse Divided into two sections: Umbra, which is the dark center and penumbra, the faint outer shadow. During a penumbral eclipse, the Moon stays in this outer ring and appears dim, but not completely dark like a total lunar eclipse.
“The Moon passes through part of Earth’s shadow, and because it grazes the shadow it’s not very far when it passes through Earth’s entire shadow,” said Noah Petro, NASA’s director of planetary geography, geophysics and geochemistry. The laboratory noted that it would be difficult for anyone to see. “The dimming of the moon is very low, but if someone is in a dark place, they may notice that the full moon is not as bright as usual.”
However, Pedro encouraged people in Asia and Australia to get out and watch the lunar eclipse.
“People get outside and look at the moon as a great opportunity to connect with our moon. Eclipses (penumbral or total) are a great excuse to look at the moon and start looking at it regularly!”
More about Eta Aquarits
Each annual meteor shower contains a halo, the constellation from which the meteors originate. The constellation Aquarius, hence the name Rain, is located on the ecliptic, the Sun’s path across the sky.
Aquarites are Only known before dawn Since the rays rise a few hours before the sun, it limits the evening time you can see them.
People in northern areas like Canada will have a smaller window to see the activity, said Lunsford of the American Meteorological Society, while people in the Southern Hemisphere will have radiation and the sun will be there a little longer. Stay down.
Aquariids typically produce faster meteors than others, including the last event of the Lyrids in April, which tend to form more continuous trains, resulting in smoke trails. Decay of burning fast meteorites. Because a meteor’s speed is determined by the angle at which it faces Earth, aquarites often collide with the atmosphere, Lunsford said.
Lunsford noted that this year’s peak will see a little more than one hour of meteors, and next year’s will be even more, due to perturbations that cause the debris trail to move closer to Earth. By 2024, Lunsford estimates that people in the southern tropics could see a range of 75 to 100 meteors per hour.
“You don’t need expensive equipment; it’s a way you can participate in astronomy without spending a lot of money, and it’s fun,” Lunsford said. “You can actually make useful scientific contributions by counting the number of meteors you see and trying to classify them as lyrids or non-lyrids.
“Besides, the early Fourth of July celebration…is like seeing a shooting star. And, who knows, if you see a bunch, you might make a lot of choices.”
And there will be meteor showers
The Eta Aquariids will be around until May 27, but if you miss their peak, there’s still plenty of opportunity to spot a meteor.
Here are the remaining meteor showers of 2023 and their peak dates:
• South Delta Aquarits: July 30-31
• Alpha Capricornids: July 30-31
• Perseids: August 12-13
• Orionides: October 20-21
• Southern Tarits: November 4-5
• Northern Tarits: November 11-12
• Leonids: November 17-18
• Gemini: December 13-14
• Ursits: December 21-22
Solar and lunar eclipses
A penumbral lunar eclipse can only be seen by people in certain parts of the world, but there are other opportunities to see the eclipse in your area:
If you live in North, Central, or South America, An annular solar eclipse On October 14, the moon will make a crisp, fiery circle in the sky as it moves in front of Earth’s line of sight to the sun.
On October 28, A Partial lunar eclipse It can be seen in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, parts of North America and most of South America.
Also full moons
There will be 13 full moons this year, including two in August. Here is the list of remaining full moons in 2023: According to Farmers Almanac:
• June 3: Strawberry Moon
• July 3: Buck Moon
• August 1: Sturgeon Moon
• August 30: Blue Moon
• September 29: Harvest Moon
• October 28: Hunter’s Moon
• November 27: Beaver Moon
• December 26: Cold Moon
