Bandar Seri Begawan – People in this country will have a rare opportunity to watch an astronomical phenomenon, a total lunar eclipse, on the evening of Wednesday, May 26, 2021.

It will be the first total lunar eclipse since the July 2018 total eclipse in Brunei.

A Lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth and being in the Earth’s dark shadow known as Umbra. Such occurrence is rare when the Sun, Earth and Moon are exactly aligned with the Earth being precisely in the middle.

The eclipse also coincides when the Moon gets closer (perigee) to the Earth during its orbit, a phenomenon nicknamed as Supermoon. At closest distance of 357,500 km, this spectacular event will cause the perigean eclipsed moon to appear larger-than-usual Moon in the night sky.

Eclipse Phases from Brunei Darussalam

This is a very shallow total eclipse. It has an umbral eclipse magnitude of only 1.0095 and a duration of totality lasting 14.5 minutes.

Lunar Eclipse Observation

The Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam (PABD) in collaboration with Temburong District Office, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Astronomy Club of IGS College will organise a Total Lunar Eclipse and Supermoon observation for the public:

Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Time: 5 pm until 9.30 pm,
Venue: Pekan Bangar (in front of Kompleks Perniagaan Bumiputra), Temburong.

Telescope viewing is available for members of the public to gaze at the phenomena, and admission is free of charge.

The Kolej Universiti Perguruan Ugama Seri Begawan (KUPU SB) in Bandar will also be in partner with PABD for the eclipse observation:

Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Time: 5.30 pm onwards,
Venue: Futsal Court, KUPU SB

Press Release

Download here

PABD Astronomy Outreach Committee for May 26, 2021, Lunar Eclipse Observation

Chairman:  Hj Mahadi bin Hj Mohd Tahir, Yang Dipertua PABD

Vice Chairman: Ustaz Hj Abd Aziz bin Hj Akop, Naib Yang Dipertua PABD

Secretary:  Hazarry bin Haji Ali Ahmad, Setiausaha Agong PABD;    Dr Haji Mohammed Hussain bin Pehin Penyurat Haji Ahmad, Timbalan Setiausaha II PABD

Treasurer: Ustaz Saifulbahri bin Haji Ahmad, Bendahari Agong PABD

Project Coordinators: Awg Husaini bin Ali Hassan, Exco PABD; Awg Hj Jamri bin Jaafar; Awg Md Aminul Izzat Md Asri; Dyg Goh Shiau Wei

Astronomy Observation Directors:  Nur Bazilah binti Zainal Abidin, Exco PABD (Telescope 1 / MASA); Haji Mohamad Azri bin Haji Awang Ibrahim (Telescope 2);  Hazarry bin Haji Ali Ahmad (Telescope 3); Hj Jamri bin Jaafar (Telescope 4); Abd Waliyuddin bin Yahya (Telescope 5);  Md Aminul Izzat Md Asri (Telescope 6); Husaini bin Ali Hassan (Telescope 7); Dayang Siti Nor Izuana Binti Ayob (Telescope 8)

COVID-19 Response Managers: Loo Kuan Look, Exco PABD;  MB Mazalan bin Zaini; Temburong District Office, Ministry of Home Affairs

Public Safety & Security Coordinators: Pg Shahdani bin Pengiran Anom, Timbalan Setiausaha I PABD; Sahrulazmi bin Tengah; Hamzah bin Awang Haji; Kerjasama Pasukan Polis Diraja Brunei

Astronomy Volunteers:  Sonny Anak Jumpo; Nurul Mum’tazahtul Ain binti Haji Idris; Astronomy Club IGS College

Promotion & Publicity, PR Officers:  Md Qawiem bin Haji Jamil, Exco PABD; Norjinah bte Mahmud; Nur Bazilah binti Zainal Abidin, Exco PABD

Astronomy Quiz Masters:  Dayang Siti Nor Izuana Binti Ayob; Mohammad Nazhif bin Haji Abdul Khalid; Mohd Nur Raziqqien bin Abu Bakar; Siti Redha Wahayu Binti Mohamad

Tonight’s full moon was the final Supermoon in 2020, and the next occurrence is on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 11:31 am. (Find out when is the next Supermoon from 2020 until 2030 here)

Here are some of tonight’s best supermoon snapshots from around Brunei Darussalam.

A “supermoon” 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).

Criteria of Supermoon

There are no official definition for a supermoon, as the term was mainly a related interest to astrology. Few criteria as follow:

• Richard Nolle (2011) defines Supermoon as any lunation closer than 368,630 km.
• Fred Espenak (2012) defines the Moon’s mean apogee and perigee distances results in a mean limiting distance of 367,607 km for a super moon.
• Fergus Wood (1976) used the definition of a full or new moon occurring within 24 hours of perigee and also used the label perigee-syzygy.
• Sky and Telescope magazine chose a definition of 223,000 miles (358,884 km)
• TimeandDate.com prefers a definition of 360,000 km (223,694 mi).

You can find the full list of Supermoon / Perigee syzygy / Full Moon around perigee for year 2020 until 2030 below compiled and computed by Hazarry Hj Ali Ahmad, the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam, based on the above definitions. A logical check is also generated for the top 3 closest moon distance in that year. A personal opinion is to categories the Supermoon when at least 3 of the criterial searches were met.

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.

The super moon was the biggest and brightest in 2019 because its orbit is at its closest to earth or at perigee at around 356,800km.

At such shortest distance, the Earth’s only natural satellite appeared nearly 30% brighter and almost 14% bigger than a typical full moon. Some effects of the moon’s gravitational pull at our oceans was more pronounced than other times of the month, generating higher than normal high tides or Spring Tides.

Below, some of the best shots of it from around the Sultanate.