Astronomical Phenomenon May 2022: Full Flower Moon to Black Moon All

KOMPAS.com – Every month it happens astronomical phenomenon various kinds, ranging from meteor showers, conjunctions, eclipses, and so on.

In early May there was the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower. This took place on Friday (6/5/2022) early in the morning.

Then what’s next?

Researcher from the BRIN Space Research Center, Andi Pangerang, explained that the closest astronomical phenomenon after that was Conjunction Moon-Pollux.

“This evening, the Moon will be in conjunction with Pollux, the main star in the constellation Gemini with an angle of separation between 6.75 to 5.5 degrees,” Andi said in a statement. Kompas.com, Friday (6/5/2022).

He explained that the phenomenon can be witnessed 25 minutes after sunset until 22.00 on May 6, 2022 local time from the Northwest.

Read also: 4 Eclipses Will Happen in 2022, One of them Greet Indonesia

2. The early neem phase moon

He further explained that after that the Moon would enter the initial neem phase, namely when the Sun-Moon-Earth formed an angle of 90 degrees before full moon.

This will happen on May 9 at 07.21 WIB/08.21 WITA/09.21 WIT.

“The moon can be seen from the northeast after noon, culminates in the north 45 minutes after sunset, and sets in the northwest after midnight,” said Andi.

Read also: There are 4 eclipses this year, save the date!

3. The last appearance of Mercury

Andi revealed that May 11 was Mercury’s last appearance in the evening. Mercury can be seen from the northwest since 25 minutes after sunset for 30 minutes.

Mercury’s brilliance/magnitude is +3.6 with a height of 6.7 degrees. Mercury will be visible again on June 2 in the morning.

4. Venus is at its farthest point

Then on May 15 at 22.00 WIB, Venus was at the farthest point of the Sun (aphelion) with a distance of 108,939,000 km.

However, it does not affect the brightness/magnitude of Venus from Earth because it is also influenced by the phase angle, namely the angle formed between the Sun-Venus-Earth.

“Venus’s current brightness is -4, which means it can look very bright without any optical aids (as long as the weather is clear and free of light pollution),” said Andi.

Venus can be seen the next morning from the east from 03.30 local time to 25 minutes before sunset.

Read also: Many Parallel Planet Phenomena Occur Once Every 100 Years, Really?

5. Total Lunar Eclipse

Andi said May 16 at 11.11.13 WIB / 12.11.13 WITA / 13.11.13 WIT was the peak of the first total lunar eclipse in 2022.

The eclipse was the 34th of 72 eclipses in the Saros 131 cycle. The width of the eclipse was 1.4137 times the diameter of the Moon for the umbra and 2.3725 times the diameter of the Moon for the penumbra.

He said the center of the Moon is 0.2532 times the diameter of the Earth’s Umbra south of the center of the Earth’s Umbra.

“This eclipse will take place in a penumbral phase for 5 hours 18 minutes 40 seconds (from 08.32.11 WIB to 13.50.52 WIB), a partial phase for 3 hours 27 minutes 14 seconds (from 09.27.57 WIB to 12.55.11 WIB) and a total phase of 84 minutes 53 seconds (from 10.29.07 WIB to 11.54.00 WIB),” said Andi.

The eclipse can only be seen in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, New Zealand and most of Oceania. Indonesia did not experience the eclipse because the Moon was already below the horizon.

The eclipse coincided with the seconds of Vesak 2566 BE which occurred at 11.14.10 WIB / 12.14.10 WITA / 13.14.10 WIB.

Read also: Today in History: March 13, 1781 Planet Uranus Discovered

Because the peak of the full moon occurs at noon, the full moon phase this time can be seen for two nights in a row, namely on May 15 in the evening from the east before sunset until May 16 in the morning from the west before sunrise (illumination 99.3 -99.8 percent) and on May 16 in the evening from the southeast after sunset to May 17 in the morning from the southwest after sunrise (99.8-99.3 percent illumination).

“The full moon of May in the United States Farmer’s Almanac is referred to as the Full Moon of Flowers (Full Flower Moon) because this month the flowers are blooming beautifully,” said Andi.

He continued, the full moon was close to the constellation Skorpius and in conjunction with Antares, the main star in the constellation Skorpius.

The Full Moon-Antares conjunction can be seen on May 16 in the evening from the southeast from 25 minutes after sunset until May 17 in the morning from the southwest at 25 minutes before sunrise. The Purnama-Antares split angle varies between 10.3-5.5 degrees.

Read also: Ahead of Eid 2022 there is an astronomical phenomenon of the conjunction of Venus-Jupiter, what impact will it have on Earth?

7. Perigee

Andi revealed that the Moon will reach its closest point to Earth (perigee) on May 17 at 22.23 WITA/23.23 WITA/May 18 at 00.23 WIT with a distance of 360,298 km and an angle of 33.0 arc minutes.

The moon will appear 12.7 percent brighter than the average or 25.2 percent brighter than its apogee.

“The moon can be seen from the southeast from 19.00 local time until the next day at 08.00 local time from the southwest,” said Andi.

8. Mercury’s Inferior Conjunction

May 22 at 02.51 WIB/03.51 WITA/04.51 WIT is the Inferior Conjunction of Mercury, which is the configuration when the Sun, Mercury and Earth are in a straight line when observed from the plane perpendicular to the ecliptic.

“Inferior conjunctions are only experienced by two planets, namely Mercury and Venus because they are located between the Earth and the Sun,” said Andi.

The Inferior conjunction marks the shift of Mercury’s appearance from the original afternoon to morning.

When in inferior conjunction, Mercury will appear larger than Earth at an angle of 12.21 arcseconds.

However, because Mercury is in front of the Sun when viewed from Earth, the side of Mercury that faces the Earth does not reflect the Sun’s light so it looks dark like the New Moon phase (Moon Solar Conjunction).

Read also: Solar Storms, What Are They and How Do They Affect Earth?

9. Peak of the Moon-Saturn conjunction

Andi said the peak of the Moon-Saturn conjunction occurred on May 22 at 11.43 WIB/12.43 WITA/1:43 WIT.

“Because it occurs at noon, the Moon-Saturn conjunction can be seen on two consecutive nights, namely May 22 from east to south from midnight to 25 minutes before sunrise and May 23 from east to south after midnight until midnight. 25 minutes before sunrise,” said Andi.

The split angle on the first night varies between 9-7 degrees while the split angle on the second night varies between 7.7-9.5 degrees.

10. Moon-Jupiter-Mars . triple conjunction

The Triple Moon-Jupiter-Mars conjunction occurs on May 25 and can be seen from the east from 02:15 local time until 25 minutes before sunrise.

“The moon is luminous with an illumination of 28.5 percent of the late crescent phase, while the magnitude/brightness of Mars and Jupiter are +0.6 and -2.2, respectively,” Andi said.

This phenomenon can be witnessed again on 21-24 June 2022 and 20-21 July 2022.

Read also: 5 Surprising Facts about the Planets in the Solar System

11. Occult Venus

Venus will be occulted by the Moon on May 27. An occultation is the obstruction of a celestial body that “appears” to be smaller (such as planets and stars) by another celestial body that appears larger when viewed from Earth (such as the Sun and Moon).

“This is because the configuration of the three celestial bodies forms a straight line when observed from the plane perpendicular to the ecliptic,” said Andi.

In addition, celestial bodies that appear smaller are actually far behind other celestial bodies that are closer to Earth.

He said that the global Venus occultation took place from 00.36 UT/07.36 WIB to 05.30 UT/12.30 WIB.

“In Indonesia, the Moon has a final crescent phase with illumination between 10.6-10.3 percent when occulting Venus,” said Andi.

He continued that some parts of Indonesia such as Sumatra, Java, Bali, NTB, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, North Maluku and parts of West Papua province experienced Venus occultation in the morning after sunrise until noon.

So to observe this phenomenon must use optical aids such as telescopes.

Meanwhile, the Venus occultation can be seen before sunrise for Madagascar, Kep. Comoros and Seychelles.

This phenomenon has passed through Indonesia on June 30, 2011 and September 18, 2017. This phenomenon will occur again on September 14, 2026 and May 27, 2039.

Prior to the Venus occultation, the Moon was first in conjunction with the Moon and could be seen from the east since 03.30 local time for two hours with a separation angle of 2.5-1.5 degrees.

The moon is luminous with an illumination of 12.0-11.3 percent while the brightness of Venus is -3.97.

Read also: Facts about 5 Dwarf Planets in the Solar System Including Pluto

12. Mars-Jupiter conjunction

May 29 at 18:03 WIB is the peak of the Mars-Jupiter conjunction with a separation angle of 35 arc minutes.

Thus, the Mars-Jupiter Conjunction can be witnessed for two nights, namely on May 29 from 02.00 local time until 25 minutes before sunrise with a separation angle of 42-39 arc minutes and the next morning (30/5) from 02.00 local time to 25 minutes before sunrise at an angle of 37-39 arc minutes.

The Astronomical phenomenon for May 2022 closes with the Black Moon phenomenon, which is the second New Moon phase in a month in the Gregorian calendar.

Black Moon this time occurs at 18.30 WIB / 19.30 WITA / 20.30 WIT. This phenomenon has previously occurred in Indonesia on October 31, 2015 and August 30, 2019.

This phenomenon will occur again on December 31, 2024 and September 30, 2027.

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