The planets Venus and Jupiter, considered the brightest, will meet in the sky this weekend. According to the National Observatory, to see the encounter just look at the sky before dawn and in the direction of sunrise.
The conjunction will occur both in the early hours of Saturday (30)as in the morning of Sunday (May 1st).
According to the senior technologist at the National Observatory, Josina Nascimento, the conjunction itself will be at 4 pm (GMT) on the 30th.
“What will differ is only the height of the stars according to the location. In the river of January, at 4:30 in the morning, they will already be at a height of 18 degrees and they are getting higher and higher in relation to the horizon, until the light of day will make it so that we can no longer see them. It is impossible not to recognize them. They are the brightest stars in the sky”, said Josina.
According to the observatory, in February 11 From 2021 there was a conjunction of Venus with Jupiter, but the planets were very close to the Sun and it was not possible to see. In 2 of seaIn the beginning of 2023 there will be another conjunction between the two planets, just after sunset, but the distance will be much greater between the planets.
Anyone who can use a telescope will be able to see, this weekend, the alignment of three planets: Neptune, Venus and Jupiter. The observatory will make two live broadcasts of the event through the YouTube of the National Observatory.
Eclipse
In 2022, there will be two eclipses of the Sun, both partial and not visible in Brazil. The first will be in April 30th and will start at 3:45 pm (Brasilia time). The only lunar eclipse this year will be from 15 to May 16th and it will be a total eclipse and fully visible throughout Brazil.
According to the observatory, only in October 2023 will there be an annular eclipse of the Sun visible in Brazil.
The partial eclipse of the Sun of today will be visible in the southern tip of South America, parts of Antarctica and the southern part of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. On average, a total eclipse occurs every 18 months.
Understand
An eclipse of the Sun occurs when the Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth casting a shadow on the Earth. The darkest shadow, where all sunlight is blocked, is called the umbra. Around the umbra is defined the lightest shadow, the penumbra, where sunlight is partially blocked. If the observer is in the narrow band of Earth reached by the umbra, he will see the eclipse as total. If you are in the area affected by the penumbra, you will see it as partial.
The observation of eclipses can only be done with special instruments used by astronomers or with projection technique. According to the observatory, one should not look directly at the Sun with the use of x-ray film, sunglasses or other homemade material because of the risk of irreversibly damaging the eye.
* With information from the National Observatory
