Keep your eyes to the skies. There's a lot to be on the lookout for over the next week or so.
Next Wednesday, August 12th, the Northland will be experiencing a partial solar eclipse. "The moon will pass through Duluth and the sun, but only just slightly," says Bob King. About 3% of the sun will be blocked by the passing moon. To see this event, you'll want to procure some eye protection. Bob suggests Rainbow Symphony as a good place to procure eclipse glasses. The eclipse will begin at 11:41am, peak at 12:14pm, and end at 12:46pm.
Later that night, you can experience the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower. "It's really a splendid, interesting display," says Bob King. With no moon on the calendar, lunar light pollution will be nil. Beginning at 10pm on the 12th, look to the radiant point low in the Northeast. As the night gets later, the radiant point will rise, and up to 80 meteors per hour are expected.
But before looking for either the eclipse or meteors, in the early hours of August 5th, a rocket will be crashing into the moon. The remains of a SpaceX rocket are expected to crash into the lunar surface at 1:35am. A telescope will be a necessary tool to possibly see the impact. "The simulations suggest that the rock and the dust from the impact will be significant enough to blast a plume of this material up, over, and beyond the edge of the moon into the darkness of the sky," says King. Seeing an impact like this would be a very rare sight for humans here on Earth.
You can hear Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy every other Tuesday at 8:20am on Northland Morning.
