Eclipse season: After yesterday’s sun, now comes the moon in May

Yesterday there was one of the most captivating astronomical sightings: Partial solar eclipse. Thousands of Argentines and people in 6 other countries in South America were able to monitor it in full.

But this is not the only relevant astronomical event of the year. Another celestial scene will be the protagonist in May, When a lunar eclipse occurs, it can also be observed from this region.

This lunar eclipse will begin on the night of May 15 and climax at dawn on May 16. will be completely Visible in most of North and South America, it will rise over northwestern North America, the Pacific Ocean, and become visible in Africa and Europe. This eclipse will be the third of four lunar eclipses on the same date, 19 years apart.

In this way NASA Mapthese lands on the American continent will be able to admire the crossing Earth’s shadow on the visible side of the moon. It will not be the case with Europe, where only some countries will be able to partially monitor it.

In contrast, in Asia it will not be visible at all. At its peak, it is expected to be The moon is covered in a reddish glow, the product of how sunlight is reflected. Moreover, this astronomical phenomenon It will coincide with the full moonwhich was scheduled on the same date as the eclipse.

As astronomers and hobbyists point out, this series It constitutes an exceptional event because although solar and lunar eclipses occur with some frequency in the skies of Argentina, it is not uncommon for two consecutive eclipses to occur with such a short period. at 2019, 2020 and 2021 There was a rarity of seeing three total solar eclipses in Argentina. one in San Juan, San Luis and Buenos Aires; Another is in Rio Negro and Neuquén, and the last is in Antarctica.

Historically, the May full moon has been referred to as the “corn-farming moon” or “milk moon” after The white color that distinguishes it. This year, it is expected to be located on the far side of the Earth from the Sun, so it is The face will be fully lit.

Previously, this astronomical phenomenon in May was recognized by the native countries of the United States as “flower moon”, since then This coincided with the first heavy outbreak of the season. In honor of these ancestral cultures, modern astronomers have respected this way of referring to The last full moon in spring.

More solar eclipses

The next solar eclipse, after the partial solar eclipse on April 30, is a partial eclipse on October 25according to Container. It will be visible in Europe, Northeast Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Then, in 2023, there will be two solar eclipses. On April 20, we can expect a hybrid eclipse to occur. This particular type of eclipse occurs when the moon’s distance is close to its tangent relative to the umbra, the part of the moon’s shadow where the moon blocks all of the sun from reaching the Earth. Only some regions will experience totality with this eclipse. The hybrid eclipse will be visible in Indonesia, parts of Australia and Papua New Guinea, and the eclipse will be visible in other ways in Southeast Asia, the East Indies and other parts of Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand.

The second eclipse of 2023 will be on October 14 and will be visible from North, Central and South America. It will be an annular eclipse, which means that the sun forms a “ring of fire” around the sun, and the annular phase will be best visible in the western United States, Central America, Colombia and Brazil.

We will finally see a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 in North and Central America. The overall stage will be visible from Mexico, the central United States, and eastern Canada. Another eclipse in 2024, an annular, will occur on October 2. It will be visible in the Pacific Ocean and southern South America, with the annular phase best seen in southern Chile and southern Argentina.

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