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National New Year heralds 2014’s first eclipses and a highly visible Mars fly by
View(s):The National New Year festival begins with the planet Mars’s closest approach to Earth on April 14th night and two eclipses- a total lunar eclipse due on April 15, and a partial solar eclipse due on April 29, said Prof Chandana Jayaratne- Professor in Physics, University of Colombo.
He said that, on April 14, Earth and Mars will be at their minimum distance- 92 million km, with Mars in a direction opposite to that of the Sun.
“It is easy to see Mars on this night. The full moon will be gliding by the red planet in the constellation Virgo, providing a can’t-miss ‘landmark’ in the midnight sky,” he said.
He said that, on April 14, just after sunset, near the horizon of the eastern sky, the glittering planet Mars could be observed as close as 3 degrees north to the full moon.
Meanwhile, the total lunar eclipsedue on April 15, begins at 10.24 am Sri Lanka Standard Time, and will end at 4.08 pm.
Fourteen days later, on April 29, new moon day, the first solar eclipse of 2014 will occur.