NEW DELHI: Sky gazers are in for a treat, with bright meteors blazing across the sky from the Aquariids meteor shower and a chance to see a lunar eclipse in the skies over India on Friday- Saturday night.
This will be the time to watch the sky for spectacular celestial events. The Eta Aquariids are very fast and will be easier to distinguish in the night sky.
Those venturing out to spot a meteor with this year’s Aquariids show could see up to 20 meteors per hour. The best times to try to see a meteor in India will be on Friday- Saturday night. The event’s estimated peak time is within four hours after 9 PM in India.
In addition to the meteor shower will come the May flower moon, the first full moon of the “month of flower,” and it’s almost perfect alignment with the sun and Earth. This alignment will create what is called a penumbral lunar eclipse, when the moon enters Earth’s outer shadow. This event will cause a dimming of the lunar surface for those in Africa, Asia and Australia, making it better to witness the meteor shower.
People in eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, the South Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean will see a deep penumbral lunar eclipse during the night of May 5-6, 2023. The event will start after 8.45 PM IST.
During a penumbral eclipse, the moon stays on the outer ring of the Earth’s shadow and appears as if it is dimming, but not completely darkening like a total lunar eclipse.
Noah Petro, chief of NASA’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Lab said, “The moon passes through the portion of the Earth’s shadow, and because it grazes the shadow it’s not quite as much distance as when it passes through the entire shadow of the Earth,” noting that it will be hard for someone to see.
“The dimming of the moon is very slight, but if someone is in a dark place, they may notice the full moon is not quite as bright as normal,” he added.
However, Petro encouraged people in Asia and Australia to get out and see the lunar eclipse.
The Aquariids constellation is Aquarius, the constellation from which the meteors appear to be originating, hence the shower’s name, and lies on the ecliptic, the sun’s path in the sky.
The Aquariids comprise of meteors that are faster than others, including the last event of the Lyrids in April, which means that they tend to produce more persistent trains or smoke trails caused by disintegration of the blazing fast meteors. A meteor’s speed is determined by the angle in which it encounters Earth and the Aquariids mostly collide with the atmosphere head-on, increasing the speed.
At its peak, this year’s meteor shower is expected to see slightly more meteors per hour, and next year even more so due to perturbation that has caused the debris trail to move closer to Earth. In 2024, it is estimated that those within the Southern Tropics could see a range of 75 to 100 meteors per hour.
Also watch: