Taking place on August 12th & 13th, the summer weather allows for much clearer viewing than some of the other showers throughout the year. This is one of the bigger meteor showers of all, among sky-watching fans. Both Venus and Jupiter are extremely bright planets, which is ideal, because they will be setting just before sunset in the West, meaning that if they were darker, they would probably be outshone. On May 28th, Venus and Jupiter will appear within 1 degree of one another in the sky, with Mercury also visible nearby. This year, it will be visible on May 10th, in Australia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, and the Central Pacific. The result, though, is no less impressive than a total eclipse. This will be an Annular Solar Eclipse, meaning that the Sun will not be totally blocked out, but a ring of it will still be visible. There are two types of solar eclipses: total and annular. Annular Solar EclipseĪs we all know, a Solar Eclipse is the opposite of a Lunar Eclipse, in that it is when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on the surface of the Earth. The best time to view the meteors is an hour or two before dawn on any of these days, with the most meteors expected to fall on the morning of May 5th. In Mexico, and the southern US, it is predicted that there will be about 10-20 meteors visible per hour. Visible from May 4th through the 7th, but peaking on the 5th & 6th, the visibility of the Eta Aquarids increases drastically the further south you go, with up to 60 meteors an hour in the Southern Hemisphere. about 90% of people) should be able to see Saturn all summer, and anyone with a telescope will be able to see its rings. Those of you in the Northern Hemisphere (i.e. While Saturn will be closer to us than usual for all of 2013, this is when it will be clearest in the sky. During the night, it will be the brightest object in our sky. It will rush in the East at sunset, and set in the west at sunrise. This is called Opposition, because Saturn will be directly opposite the Sun in our sky. On April 28th, the Earth will come directly between Saturn and the Sun. The final lunar eclipse of the year will take place on October 18th, which will also be Penumbral. The second of three Lunar eclipses due to take place in 2013, a Penumbral lunar eclipse, will occur on May 25th. This eclipse will last 27 minutes, and be visible in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. April 25th will only be a partial eclipse, which means that part of the Moon will be in the Penumbra, where some sunlight will reach it (though less than usual,) and part of it will be in the Umbra, where no sunlight will reach it. Partial Lunar EclipseĪ lunar eclipse is when the Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, meaning that the moon enters the shadow cast by the Earth. The meteors also cause minuscule flakes of comet dust to collide with the atmosphere at 49 kilometers per second, resulting in further streaks of light. The trails these meteors leave behind can last for several minutes. There are usually between 10 & 20 meteors per hour, but there can be up to 100. Visible between April 16th and the 25th, but peaking between the 21st and 22nd, the Lyrids Meteor Shower takes place at the same time every year.
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