A snow moon, a penumbral eclipse and a fly-by emerald-green comet come together for an astronomical triple-header this weekend.
“We will be able to see the lunar eclipse. We fall right in the penumbra so we’ll face the moon when it is eclipsed by the Earth,” says Chris Ni, president of the University of Toronto’s Amateur Astronomy Society.
A penumbral eclipse is when the earth casts a cone-shaped, partial shadow on the moon but doesn’t cover it completely, Ni explains.
The moon rises at 5:36 p.m. on Friday already eclipsed, he says.
The more diffuse outer shadow of the earth falls on the moon’s face during a penumbral eclipse, according to the website, EarthSky. This kind of lunar eclipse is subtle with a dark shading on the moon rather than a dark bite that comes with a regular eclipse.
Most people won’t notice anything different about the moon during its maximum penumbral eclipse at 7:43 p.m. on Friday evening, says Paul Mortfield of the York Regional Astronomical Association.
Snow moon was the name given by Aboriginals to February’s full moon because some of the heaviest snowfall of the year happens in February, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. It is also called Hunger Moon by some tribes because hunting was difficult on a snow-enveloped ground.
The “Snow Moon” is the name given to the February full moon, just like the September full moon is called the “Harvest Moon”, Mortfield says.
If you haven’t got a fill of stars and moons, in the early hours of Saturday, around midnight, Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková marks its closest fly-by earth in 30 years as it passes through the constellation Hercules.
While it is a pretty, green comet Ni warns against too much excitement.
“It’s a very dim comet,” he says, “Dim objects appear green because our eyes are sensitive to green light.”
For us in Toronto, the comet and eclipse will not be visible at the same time in the sky, Morfield says. Also making it difficult to see will be the full moon.
“The bright full moon will wash it out making it difficult to see,” Mortfield says.
The comet, which was last seen in 2011 can be seen from a dark spot in Toronto, by facing south — perhaps — in High Park or Lakeshore, with a telescope. Mortfield says it’ll appear as a tiny fuzzy snowball.
But the light pollution is unforgiving, Ni adds.
Unfortunately it’s going to be cloudy in the GTA and likely snowing too, says Mark Schuster, Environment Canada meteorologist.
“It’s hard to say when such a coincidence last occurred,” he says. “Comets appear almost every year and lunar eclipses around once a year, but for them to fall on the same day is kinda rare.”
The next total lunar eclipse that will be completely visible in Toronto will happen on Jan. 21, 2019.
If the skies are clear, U of T Amateur Astronomer’s Society will bring out their telescopes to observe the eclipse and comet. Further details can be found at on their facebook page.
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