Snow moon, lunar eclipse and comet - all coming together this weekend

It's not often that so many astronomical events "meet" at the same time, so make sure you don't miss them.

This week, astronomy fans around the world will be treated to a series of very interesting phenomena.

The Snow Moon – also known as the February Full Moon – will appear in the early morning of February 11 (Vietnam time). The origin of the name “Snow Moon” is very simple, because February was previously considered the snowiest month in the US.

At the same time, a penumbral lunar eclipse occurs, casting a shadow over a portion of the Moon. If the sky is clear, the Moon will appear dark silver during the eclipse.

This amazing phenomenon will last for about 4 hours and 19 minutes, and luckily we can observe it in Vietnam. The penumbral lunar eclipse will begin at 5:34 am on February 11 and peak about an hour later before ending at 9:53 am.

For astronomy enthusiasts in Europe and America, the penumbral lunar eclipse will appear a little earlier on the evening of February 10.

So what happens after you’ve seen the eclipse? Get ready, because just a few hours later, Comet 45P – or New Year’s Comet – will pass by Earth at a super close distance.

We can observe this comet phenomenon on the morning of February 11 (Vietnam time) towards the constellation Hercules. It will move through many other constellations in the remaining days of February, but at that time the comet will be much farther away from Earth.

Comet 45P moves quite rapidly, at 9 degrees per day. Every 5 years, it will "find its way" back to the inner Solar System. So if we miss this event, we can only wait for it to return in 2022.

The comet is easy to spot with its bright green head, but you'll probably need binoculars if you want to see it, as it's relatively difficult to see with the naked eye.

According to Young Knowledge