Reminder: A real sky marathon awaits today. This was written by Levon Azizyan, director of the “Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center” SNOC.

On August 12-13, three remarkable astronomical phenomena await us at once.

Parade of the Six Planets

Before dawn, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune will appear in the sky at the same time. It is best to start the observations a few hours before sunrise.

A total solar eclipse

On August 12, the Moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun and will completely cover the Sun’s disk in some regions. The maximum phase of the eclipse will be at 21:47 Yerevan time. The total eclipse zone will pass over Greenland, Iceland, Spain, the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and some northern regions of Russia. It will be seen as a partial eclipse in several European countries. The width of the total eclipse zone will reach about 294 km, and the maximum duration of the total eclipse will be about 2 minutes and 18 seconds. Armenia will not be in the zone of total or partial eclipse.

The maximum phase of the Perseid flux

The night of August 12-13 will also be the period of maximum activity of one of the most beautiful eclipse streams of the year, the Perseids. Under the conditions of a dark and clear sky, it will be possible to see several dozen “shooting stars” in an hour.

The new moon will create particularly favorable conditions for observations, as the bright light of the Moon will not interfere with this celestial scene.

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