MNS to set up telescope at Canada Hill for lunar eclipse
MIRI: The Malaysian Nature Society here will set up a telescope near the Petroleum Museum at Canada Hill to watch the lunar eclipse that is happening today (Jan 31).
According to its vice chairman Musa Musbah, those interested to witness nature’s gift are welcome to join them from around 9pm.
“Previously, many MNS members including myself have been going to the site (Canada Hill) to see the (moon) phenomenon, its location and trajectory. There’s plenty of space to park your vehicles there,” he said when contacted yesterday.
The best time to see the eclipse (also known as the blue moon) is between 6pm and 9pm.
“If we miss this one, we’ll have to wait another 200 years for the next one,” Musa said.
The eclipse will begin when the moon enters the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, and from that point, it will spread across the moon’s disk from left to right.
The totality will begin at 4.52am Pacific Standard Time ( PST) or 12.52 Universal Time ( UT), when the moon will be fully engulfed in the umbral shadow. It will turn a deep shade of orange-red.
The eclipse will last for an hour and 12 minutes, depending on one’s location, with the rest of the visible eclipse ending at 7.11am PST or 15.11 UT.
If we miss this one, we’ll have to wait another 200 years for the next one. Musa Musbah, Malaysian Nature Society vice chairman