The autumn darkness has long since descended. Then many take the opportunity to look up at the starry sky. Several spectacular weather phenomena can be expected in the coming months. First up is the lunar eclipse this coming Saturday. It is the only eclipse we can observe from Norway in 2023. – If the sky is clear, the eclipse can be seen in the whole of Norway, says astronomer Jan-Erik Ovaldsen, who runs the astronomical handbook “The Sky Calendar”. It is the part at the bottom of the lunar disk that enters the total shadow of the Earth. Photo: Jan-Erik Ovaldsen Aligned in space Every four years, a minimum of two and a maximum of five lunar eclipses occur on Earth. But it is not at all certain that you will be lucky enough to see them. A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, earth and moon are aligned in space. Then the moon will lie in the shadow of the earth. When the moon lies in the full shadow of the earth, we get a total lunar eclipse. When the moon only lies in parts of the shadow, it is called a partial lunar eclipse. – There is only a small bit at the bottom of the lunar disk that is eaten up by the shadow from the earth. Nevertheless, it can be fun to take a look if the weather is good, says Ovaldsen. Jan-Erik Ovaldsen is an astronomer and publishes the astronomical handbook Himmelkalenderen. Photo: Privat On Saturday there will be a partial lunar eclipse. – You can also see that the shadow that the earth forms on the lunar disk is curved, which is due to the fact that the earth is round, for those who are still unsure about that. The eclipse is greatest at 22:14. The partial phase starts at 21:35 and ends at 22:54. 28–29 October: The figure shows the time you can expect to see the lunar eclipse. Photo: Jan-Erik Ovaldsen Lunar eclipse and rockets on the same evening – Total lunar eclipses are of course the most interesting variant, says Ovaldsen. And the next total in this country will come on 7 September 2025. But it will not be optimal because the total phase starts before the moon rises. We in Norway actually have to wait until 31 December 2028 before we can observe the entire course of a total lunar eclipse. – Then there will be a lunar eclipse and rockets on the same evening, says Ovaldsen. The next partial eclipses will be in 2024. On April 8, a small, partial solar eclipse can be seen low in the sky on Svalbard, but is not visible from mainland Norway. On 18 September 2024, a small, partial lunar eclipse will occur. But don’t despair. There are several exciting weather phenomena on the calendar for the next few months, according to the astronomer. Swarm: A meteor shower is an event in space where a large number of meteors are visible within a very short time. Here a fireball from the Leonid meteor shower in 2009. Photo: Navicore/Wikipedia Meteor shower in November At certain times of the year we can experience meteors or shooting stars in large numbers. The sudden streaks of light are caused by small cosmic particles, usually dust from comets, which enter the Earth’s atmosphere at enormous speed. Both the particles and the air heat up due to the friction that occurs, and this is what we see on the ground as meteors. Two permanent pre-Christmas swarms are the Leonids and the Geminids. The Geminids and the Leonids The Geminids Geminid meteors are bright, medium speed and come in all sorts of colours. The origin of the Geminids is the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. This is in contrast to other cometary swarms. The Geminids appeared for the first time in 1862. The name comes from the fact that the meteor shower seems to radiate from the constellation of the Twins (Gemini in Latin). The Leonids Leonid meteors are known to give rise to exceptional meteor storms every 33 years. Even though it has been over 20 years since the parent comet passed the inner parts of the solar system, the earth will still encounter comet dust along its path. The name comes from the fact that the meteor shower seems to radiate from the constellation of the Lion (Leo in Latin). Source: The Sky Calendar. First up are the Leonids: – The maximum activity for the 2023 edition is expected to come at 6 o’clock in the morning on Saturday 18 November. The recommendation is therefore to keep an eye on the sky from late at night until dawn on Saturday, says Ovaldsen. The moon is fine and stays away all night. The activity will probably be average, i.e. with about 10–15 meteors per hour at most under a dark and clear night sky. So to what Ovaldsen calls the most beautiful and most reliable of all annual swarms, if one is lucky with the weather and moon phase: the Geminids. – In any case, the moon will not cause problems this time, he says. He recommends keeping a lookout for meteors from 02:00 at night until dawn on Thursday 14 December, and from 19:00 onwards on the night of Friday.
ttn-69
On Saturday you can see the year’s only lunar eclipse – news Nordland
