A blood moon lunar eclipse in September would top this year’s celestial events, although the Geminid meteor shower would also be a sight to behold, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said.
The total lunar eclipse would be visible across Taiwan from 11:28pm on Sept. 7 to 4:55am the next day, the museum said in a news release.
At the eclipse’s peak, from 1:31am to 2:53am, the full moon would take on a striking blood-like hue as it becomes fully shrouded by Earth’s shadow.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Astronomical Museum
The total lunar eclipse — which occurs when Earth is positioned directly between the sun and the moon, preventing sunlight from reaching the moon’s surface — will be the first such blood moon in seven years, the museum said.
Because the moon would not vanish entirely during the eclipse, sunlight refracted through the Earth’s atmosphere would scatter into the shadow, giving the planet’s only natural satellite a characteristic reddish glow.
Another eagerly anticipated astronomical event would be the Geminid meteor shower, which is set to peak on Dec. 14, it said.
Viewing conditions for the Geminids are expected to be excellent this year due to minimal moonlight, and about 150 meteors per hour might be visible under optimal viewing conditions, it added.
The museum recommends that stargazers head to areas with minimal light pollution to maximize their chances of seeing this celestial show.
Unlike most meteor showers, which are typically caused by comets, the Geminids originate from asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The meteor display is visible from Earth as the planet passes through the debris trail left by the asteroid.
The Geminid meteor shower in December, as well as the Quadrantids, which occur annually in January, and the Perseids in August, can be observed with the naked eye.
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