Rare moon phenomenon to be observed today

After the recent rare solar eclipse, a rare moon phenomenon will be seen today where moon will block out three planets and a star of our solar system.

Known as lunar occultation, Earth’s moon will temporarily block Venus, then Mars, and then Mercury in the sky moments before dawn on September 18. The process occurs when the moon passes in front of a distant celestial object. Apart from that, after passing Venus, the moon will also block out the light from the brightest star Regulus.

The occurrence was last observed back in 2008 with Mercury, Venus and Neptune being blocked out, and it won’t be observed until 2036 as informed by EarthSky. Though, this is the first time the moon will block three planets along with a star that too on a same day in less than 24 hours.

Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist expressed, “It’s almost like it’s a dance in the sky. It’s going to pass its partners.”

However, not everyone in the world can witness this rare happening. It would be most prominent in the Eastern part of the world and because this occultation is likely to happen at day time, a telescope or maybe binoculars would be required to view it, writes NY Times.

Countries like Australia, New Zealand, India, Middle East, parts of Southeast Asia, Mexico and parts of Pacific Ocean are the main locations to observe the special event. As predicted, the ideal time for witnessing this event is around 60-90 minutes before sunrise in the US, wrote India.com.