| Azlan Othman |
ONCE in a blue moon, a spectacular lunar event takes shape, leaving a stargazer with an astro-event of a lifetime.
Come tomorrow, Bruneians will get a rare opportunity to see the occurrence of a lunar trilogy, or the celestial triplet – a supermoon, a total lunar eclipse and a Blue Moon – a phenomenon which has not happened in over 150 years.
A Blue Moon is when it is the second full moon in a month. A lunar eclipse is when the moon comes in the Earth’s shadow. At this time, the sun, moon and the Earth are in one line, with the Earth in the middle. A supermoon is when the moon is the closest to the earth in a single orbit and coincides with a full moon.
In Brunei Darussalam, preparations are ongoing to observe the phenomenon which has become a buzz word among the people.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs said a Sunnat Al-Khusuf prayer will be held at mosques, suraus and religious halls nationwide, tomorrow after mass Isyak prayer, with special focus at the Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Mosque in the capital.
All Muslims in the country are welcome to join the prayer which is ‘Sunnat Muakkadah’, or a highly recommended prayer when such rare phenomena occurs.
Meanwhile, Radio Television Brunei (RTB) reported that the Survey Department will place their equipment starting at 6.30pm at Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien in the capital, Menara Cendera Kenangan in Belait and Tutong River area for the public to witness the celestial triplet.
Hazzary bin Haji Ali Ahmad, a member of Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam, told the Bulletin that the eclipse will begin at 8.51pm while the total eclipse is expected at 9.29pm. It is expected to last for one hour and 16 minutes.
“I will individually broadcast the event live from my residence in Kampong Keriam in Tutong District for the public through the social media,” he said, adding that Brunei will also experience a partial lunar eclipse in July next year.
This total lunar eclipse is also known as a blood moon, as the moon turns red. When the eclipse of January 31 is almost over, the moon would have just crossed the perigee position (nearest to Earth) a day earlier with a distance of 358,993km from the Earth, making this eclipse a “supermoon eclipse”.
Supermoons occur when the moon is less than 360,000km away from the earth and no specific equipment is required to see this phenomenon.
The moon orbits earth once in about 29 days, and there are about 12 full moons each year. So about every two-and-a-half years, a second full moon, or Blue Moon, occurs in a calendar month.
The last time a Blue Moon total lunar eclipse occurred was on December 30, 1982. However, it was not a supermoon.
The next Blue Moon total lunar eclipse will happen on December 31, 2028.
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