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This month is an thrilling one for skywatchers, with a complete lunar eclipse, an infinite star, and a meteor bathe three highlights to take pleasure in.
Total lunar eclipse
The whole lunar eclipse — when Earth blocks all the solar’s direct mild from reaching the moon — takes place early on the morning of Tuesday, November 8, and will probably be seen to individuals in North America, the Pacific area, Australia, and East Asia.
Folks situated within the Eastern time zone of the U.S. and Canada should crawl away from bed early to witness the celestial occasion, because it’ll start simply after 4 a.m ET.
The full eclipse will happen at about 5:15 a.m. ET, and after that the moon will set with the eclipse persevering with.
With the West Coast of North America three hours behind, the timings imply a late night time on Monday because the eclipse will start simply after 1 a.m PT earlier than reaching the total eclipse by round 2:15 a.m. PT.
Anyone with binoculars can take pleasure in a bonus occasion within the type of a view of the large ice planet Uranus, which will probably be seen a mere finger’s width away from the eclipsed moon.
Spica
Spica is a huge star that has 10 occasions the mass of our solar whereas additionally being 12,000 occasions extra luminous. “Fortunately for us, it’s located 260 light-years away,” NASA says.
Despite its huge distance from Earth, you will get a view of its mild by gazing skyward within the hour earlier than dawn on Sunday, November 20. To spot it, look towards the southeast, find what will probably be a slim crescent moon, after which look slightly below for the brilliant bluish star Spica.
Leonid meteor bathe
The annual Leonid meteor bathe contains dusty bits of particles left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle because it orbits the solar.
It’s viewable all through November, however one of the best time to have a look will probably be because it peaks after midnight on Friday, November 18.
NASA says you might be able to see as many as 20 meteors per hour streaking throughout the sky, however notes that the moon will probably be round 35% full that night time so its mild may intrude together with your capability to see the fainter meteors.
However, it additionally says that Leonid meteors are sometimes brilliant with the streaks lasting a number of seconds, so there ought to nonetheless be loads of viewable motion.
To give your self one of the best probability of recognizing the Leonids, discover a darkish spot effectively away from any mild air pollution.
NASA advises: “While the moon will be rising in the east with Leo around midnight local time, it’s actually better to view the sky away from the meteors’ apparent point of origin, by lying back and looking straight upward, as any meteor trails you see will appear longer and more spectacular.”
If you need assist figuring out every thing you see within the night time sky, you possibly can strive considered one of these glorious astronomy apps for iPhone and Android.
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