Tutong – The 3 bright planets – Jupiter, Mars and Saturn – gather with the crescent Moon in astronomical twilight this morning (March 21, 2020) from Tutong, Brunei Darussalam.
2020 Mar 21 Spectacular Close Pairing of Jupiter and Mars
Planets Gatherings Join the Moon from March 18 until 21, 2020
Bandar Seri Begawan – These are some of exciting and not to be missed cosmic events visible in Brunei to look up next week.
March 18 until March 20, 2020: Three bright planets β Mars, Jupiter and Saturn- will join the crescent moon to form a cosmic cluster in the Eastern sky at dawn from Brunei Darussalam.
Continue reading “Planets Gatherings Join the Moon from March 18 until 21, 2020”Supermoons of 2020
The lunar orbit around Earth is elliptical. On average, the distance from Earth to the moon is about 384,400 km. At closest approach (perigee), the moon comes as close as 363,104 km. The farthest away (apogee) it gets is 405,696 km from Earth.
A βsupermoonβ takes place when a full moon or new moon comes within 90 percent of its closest distance with Earth.
In 2020, three full moon supermoons will occur on March 10 (351198.3 km), April 8 (350564.2 km) and May 7 (353753.9 km). At these instances, the moon will look brighter than ordinary full moons; and about 7% larger than the average-size full moon.
Additionally, three new moon supermoons in 2020 are on September 17 (368459.5 km), October 17 (363392.8 km) and November 15 (364146.4 km).
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on January 11, 2020
Bandar Seri Begawan – A penumbral eclipse of the moon will take place on Saturday, January 11, 2020, at pre-dawn hours, from 1.09 a.m. until 5.11 a.m in Brunei Darussalam.Β The first eclipse of 2020 is also visible from the geographic regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
There are three categories of lunar eclipse: total, partial and penumbral. In a penumbral lunar eclipse, only the faint or diffuse outer shadow of Earth (known as penumbra) falls on the moonβs face. This kind of lunar eclipse is much more subtle, and much more difficult to observe, than either a total or partial eclipse of the moon. There is never a dramatic darkening of the moon, as in when the Earth’s darkest shadow (umbra) moves over the Moon during a partial lunar eclipse.
19-Hour Old New Moon Crescent of Rabiulakhir 1441H Sighted
Bandar Seri Begawan – The new 19-hour old crescent moon of Rabiulakhir was sighted today, on Wednesday evening (November 27th) by moon-sighters of Brunei Darussalam Astronomical Society at 6.31 pm, when the curved light was less than 2 degrees above the horizon.
The western sky was cloudy near the horizon at sunset, scopes were aligned using the 3 planet – Venus, Saturn and Jupiter – and unable to align using the Sun as it was most of the time behind the clouds.
2019 Sep 19 Brunei Spots Spectacular ISS Transit across the Moon
A rare ISS transit the Moon, a composite of 5 images by Hj Md Azri
Kuala Belait – The International Space Station (ISS) flew exactly in front of the Moon on Thursday morning, Sep 19, 2019 at precisely 05:29:46.49 am for 0.61 seconds.
Despite of the hazy sky, the space station passing in front of the moon which takes less than a second was observable by a group of astrophotgraphers from the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam over Panaga, Brunei Darussalam.
At zoomed in, the array of solar panels and outlines of the station are fairly visible.
Picture by Hj Md Azri
Muharram 1441H New Moon Observation
Bandar Seri Begawan – The Western sky was clear on the evening of August 31, 2019. The celestial objects, Venus and Sun, were used for scopes alignment during the new moon sighting.
The new moon observation of Muharram 1441H was held at Agok Hill by members of Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam. The 24 hour-old hilal (crescent moon) was sighted immediately after sunset, 6.28 pm (after pointing the scopes at sunset and slewing to the Moon).
PABD wishes all Muslims in Brunei Darussalam and around the world Salam Maal Hijrah 1441H.
Half-Blood Moon across Brunei on 17 July 2019
Bandar Seri Begawan – Curiosity and awe have greeted a partial lunar eclipse at pre-dawn hours of July 17, 2019. Here are some of the eclipse moment photographed around Brunei Darussalam.
Photo by Ridzuan HM (Using Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF Telephoto lens) 
Photo by Ridzuan HM (Using Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF Telephoto lens) 
Photo by Ridzuan HM (Using Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF Telephoto lens) 
Photo by Ridzuan HM (Using Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF Telephoto lens)
The following pictures were taken at Panaga Beach , during lunar eclipse on Wednesday 17th between 3.15 and 5:30 am by Rolando Fidel Pinto. Gear used DSLR Pentax K1 with Pentax 1.4x HD PENTAX-DA AF Rear Converter AW and Pentax HD DA 560mm ED AW F5.6 ED AW Lens, which delivers a total focal length of 784mm. Tripod used is a Velbo Pro Geo V630 with a Jobu Design Gimbal Head DMG-HD4
Photo by Rolando Pinto from Panaga Beach 
Photo by Rolando Pinto from Panaga Beach
See lunar eclipse in Brunei skies at Dawn on July 17, 2019
by Hazarry bin Haji Ali Ahmad
The Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam
- A partial lunar eclipse will occur just before dawn on Wednesday, July 17, in Brunei Darussalam. The next total lunar eclipse is on 26 May 2021
- For Brunei, 65 per cent of the Moon is in the Earth’s shadow or Umbra when it is close to setting in the western sky
Supermoon, Full Moon & Equinox on March 20 and 21 2019
Supermoon, Full Moon, Equinox? Check out this space infographic below for explanation. Catch the ‘Super Equinox Full Moon’ visible the whole night from Brunei Darussalam on 20th (Wednesday) and 21st (Thursday) March 2019.
Supermoon occurs on Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 2:37 am at its closest distance (Perigee) of 359 345 km to Earth. The moon will be slightly bigger than a normal moon, but only by a few percents.
Spring Equinox occurs on Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 5:59 am. The sun rises exactly due East and sets due West. Day and night have the same length.
Full Moon occurs on Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 9:43 am. On this day, Earth is between the moon and the sun, and the moon is visible during the whole night.