Saturday eclipse, meteor shower double treat for stargazers

Stargazers will have a double treat of sorts Saturday night as they are likely to see a meteor shower and a partial lunar eclipse. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the eclipse will start at 4:55 p.m. and end at 10:21 p.m. "Lunar eclipses are safe to watch and observers need not use any kind of protective filters in the eyes. A pair of binocular will help magnify the view and will make the red coloration of the Moon brighter," it said. [See: PAGASA astrodiary] PAGASA said the eclipse’s magnitude will be 54.2 percent and will also be visible primarily in some parts of America, Pacific Ocean, Antarctica, eastern Asia, and Australasia. In Manila, the moon will rise at 6:28 p.m. and will set at 5:04 a.m. on June 27. Penumbral eclipse begins at 4:55 p.m., while the partial eclipse begins at 6:16 p.m. The greatest eclipse will be at 7:38 p.m. Partial eclipse ends 9:00 PM The penumbral eclipse ends at 10:21 p.m. On the other hand, PAGASA said recent unseen activity makes the annual June Bootid meteor shower worth observing. But it said that while the shower is normally active from June 26 to July 2 and peaks June 27, “little or no" activity is expected this year with the full Moon on June 26. “The radiant is usefully accessible virtually all night, and all observing techniques can be employed," it said. PAGASA said the shower is derived from the debris ejected by Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke. The radiant of the shower will originate from the constellation of Bootes, the Herdsman, which lies nearly overhead when darkness falls. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV