Specialists and amateur astronomers are preparing to monitor and follow 3 distinct astronomical phenomena the day after tomorrow (Friday), provided that the weather is clear and the sky is free of clouds, dust and water vapor. floor.
Dr. Ashraf Tadros, professor of astronomy at the National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research, said, in a statement to the Middle East News Agency today (Wednesday), that (Badr Shawwal) will be completed the day after tomorrow (Friday) and the moon disk will be fully round, rising immediately after sunset on this day and reaching a brightness of 100. % and remains in the sky all night until it sets with sunrise the next morning.
He explained that the moon appears to us as if it was full also in the period from 3 to 6 May, and this is because the naked eye cannot perceive the slight decrease in the roundness of the moon disk during this period.
He noted that this full moon is known to the American tribes as the (moon of flowers), because spring flowers grow abundantly at this time of the year, and it is also known as the corn moon and the milk moon.
He stressed that the time of the full moon is the best time to see the terrain, volcanic craters and meteorite craters on the surface of the moon using binoculars and small telescopes.
And about the semi-shadow eclipse of the moon, he explained that the globe will witness the day after tomorrow / Friday / the first lunar eclipse in the year 2023, and its type is semi-shadow, and it is difficult to see it in Egypt.
He added that the semi-shadow eclipse of the moon occurs when the moon passes through the earth’s semi-shadow, and in this case the moon’s luster is slightly less than usual, almost imperceptible, and its color also darkens slightly until it emerges from the earth’s semi-shadow.
He pointed out that this eclipse will be visible in East Africa, parts of eastern Europe, all parts of Asia and Australia, and the climax of the eclipse will be in Cairo at approximately 10:22 pm.
With regard to meteor showers, Dr. Ashraf Tadros said that the “Eta Aquarius” meteor showers will illuminate the sky the day after tomorrow and for two days with 30 meteors per hour, but the full moon will be a problem this year, as it obscures most of the meteors except for the bright ones, stressing that the best time for viewing is after Midnight from a completely dark place away from the city lights, provided the sky is clear and free of clouds.
He explained that it was called the Eta Aquarius shower because the meteors fall as if they were coming from the constellation Aquarius near the star Eta (the brightest star of this constellation), which is the reason for its name, but meteors can appear anywhere else in the sky.
Regarding the reasons for the appearance of meteors, Tadros stated that the annual meteor showers arise when the Earth passes during its rotation around the sun through dense gatherings of dust and gravel scattered along the orbits of comets and asteroids, as it collides with the top of the Earth’s atmosphere and burns at a height ranging between 70 and 100 kilometers and appears to us as a strip. of light and this leads to the occurrence of meteor showers that are repeated on an annual basis.
The professor of astronomy stressed that the night astronomical phenomena do not have any harm to human health or his daily activity on Earth, except that the daytime phenomena related to the sun may be dangerous because looking at the sun with the naked eye generally harms the eye a lot.
