[시사뉴스 김도영 기자] This year is expected to see beautiful space spectacles in the night sky, such as partial lunar eclipses, meteor showers, and Venus-Jupiter alignment phenomena, according to the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. Representatively, on October 29, you can see a partial lunar eclipse in which the moon is partially covered by the Earth’s main shadow, and in December, the Gemini meteor shower appears with good observation conditions.
◆ Comet in early February, highlights of the first half space show… “The Brightest”
In January, you can see the Quadrantid meteor shower on the night of the 3rd and sunrise on the 4th, and you can see Venus and Saturn, Jupiter and Mars side by side in the southwestern sky on the evening of the 23rd during the Lunar New Year holiday. The Quadrantid meteor shower is called one of the three major meteor showers along with the Perseid meteor shower and the Gemini meteor shower.
The maximum time for this year’s quadrant meteor shower is at 5:40 on the 4th and the maximum number of meteors observable per hour is expected to reach 120. The Astronomical Research Institute said: “The maximum time is the dawn and there is no moon all night, so the general viewing conditions are good”.
In February, you can see the brightest comet of the year. Comet ‘C/2022 E3 (ZTF)’, which has an expected brightness of 4-5 degrees, passes its closest point to Earth (perigee) on February 2, and the comet is near the celestial pole at this time, therefore the observation conditions are also very good. However, since there is a moon before and after perigee, observing time is suitable after moonset or before moonrise.
On March 2, it is expected that the “Venus occultation” phenomenon will only be seen in Jeju. Venus, which entered the night region to the right of the Moon at 21:14 this day, exited at 21:23. The altitude at which the occultation begins is about 4 degrees and ends at only 2.5 degrees, so it appears that observing will only be possible when the horizon is completely open.
On May 6, you can witness a penumbral lunar eclipse, when the moon passes through the Earth’s penumbra. It starts at 0:12 this day and you can see the moon at its darkest at 2:22:54 and the lunar eclipse ends at 4:33.
◆ “Don’t miss the Gemini meteor shower in December”… You can also see a partial lunar eclipse in the second half of the year.
On August 13 and 14, you can see the Perseid meteor shower, one of the three major meteor showers. Dust particles scattered into space by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle collide with Earth’s atmosphere. The peak time for this year’s Perseid meteor shower is at 4:29 p.m. on the 13th, but from the night of the 13th to the early morning of the 14th, you’ll be able to see quite a few meteors, according to the Astronomy Institute.
The 31st of the same month is the day you can see the largest moon in Korea. This is because the distance between the earth and the moon on this day is about 357,300 km, which is about 27,100 km less than the average distance of 384,400 km.
If a semilunar eclipse occurred in the first half of the year, a partial lunar eclipse occurs in the second half in which the moon is partially covered by the Earth’s shadow. The partial lunar eclipse, which begins at 4:34:30 on October 29, will see the full moon eclipse at 5:14:06.
The last of the three meteor showers, the Gemini meteor shower, is expected to be seen at dawn on December 15th. The Gemini meteor shower appears when the Earth passes through the area where the asteroid “3200 Peton” is broken by the sun’s gravity and its remnants remain. The maximum time is 4 am and the maximum number of meteors observable per hour (ZHR) is about 120. It is early in the morning and there is no moon all night, so it is a good environment for observation.
