A total lunar eclipse will occur to coincide with the Lantern Festival on March 3 and will be the most notable astronomical event in Taiwan this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging sky watchers not to miss it.
According to the museum’s website, there will be four solar eclipses, two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses around the world this year.
Taiwan will be able to fully observe one of the lunar eclipses on March 3rd.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Astronomical Museum
According to the museum, the lunar eclipse will be visible when the moon rises at 5:50 p.m., already partially obscured by Earth’s shadow.
The report added that it will peak around 7:30 p.m., when the moon will be fully in Earth’s shadow, giving it a reddish hue often referred to as a “blood moon.”
The complete solar eclipse is expected to last just under an hour, according to the museum.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow and temporarily darkening the moon. The moon is never completely obscured because sunlight scattered by Earth’s atmosphere falls on the moon’s surface, giving it a reddish glow.
Tomorrow there will be an annular solar eclipse, which will only be visible in remote parts of Antarctica, and on August 12, a total solar eclipse will be visible in the North Pole, Greenland, Iceland, and parts of Spain.
There will be a partial lunar eclipse on August 28th, but it won’t be as noticeable as next month’s total lunar eclipse.
The museum also highlighted some of the major meteor showers that will provide good viewing opportunities this year.
These include the Perseid meteor shower, which is expected to peak on Aug. 13 and produce up to 100 meteors per hour under dark skies, and the Geminid meteor shower, which is expected to peak in activity on Dec. 14 and produce up to 150 meteors per hour, the museum said.
It added that showery conditions are expected to be suitable for observation.
Other notable showers include the Lyrids meteor shower on April 23, the Eta Aquarius meteor shower on May 6, the South Delta Aquarids meteor shower on July 31, and the Orionids meteor shower on October 21, according to the museum.
The museum advised skywatchers to look for locations with minimal light pollution and wide, unobstructed views of the sky to get the best view of these celestial phenomena.