Qatar to experience waxing gibbous moon tonight

Doha, The Gulf Observer: Tonight, November 24, Qatar will experience the waxing gibbous, also referred to as the nearly full moon — a phase signalling the moon’s progression from half to full.

Ajith Everester, an astrophotographer from Everester Observatory, shared insights with The Peninsula, noting that even before the full darkening of the sky, the luminous almost-full moon will captivate observers in the eastern sky, accompanied by the brilliant presence of Jupiter to its east.

Everester elaborated that as the night unfolds, the moon and Jupiter will traverse the sky together, with the moon’s easterly orbital motion bringing it closer to Jupiter.

The moon has eight phases, including new, waxing crescent, first quarter, full, waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent.

Looking ahead, Everester disclosed that the upcoming meteor shower is slated for December.

NASA predicts that the annual Geminids meteor shower will reach its peak on December 13 to 14.

“A good time to look will likely be after 8:30pm EST the evening of Wednesday, December 13, until about 6am the morning of Thursday, December 14, when the first hints of dawn will begin to interfere. 2am to 3am will be when the radiant will reach its highest in the sky.”

“Under ideal conditions, this meteor shower is predicted to peak at about 150 visible meteors per hour. This meteor stream gets its name because the meteors appear to radiate out from near the constellation Gemini.”

Moreover, NASA explained that on Thursday evening of December 14, will be the last evening that the planet Mercury will be above the west-southwestern horizon as evening twilight ends (at 5:50pm EST).

Those interested to witness the waxing gibbous on Friday and participate in celestial observations can contact Everester Observatory.