The astronomer told about a beautiful phenomenon with the Moon on the evening of March 29

On the evening of March 29, the Moon can be seen in the sky blocking the brightest star of the zodiac constellation Leo — Regulus. This was announced by astronomer Alexander Yakushechkin.

"Next Sunday night, March 29, 2026, residents of many regions of the Earth will be able to observe a beautiful astronomical phenomenon — the Moon covering the bright star Regula," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Yakushechkin clarified that it will be possible to observe the phenomenon on the territory of Russia in the south-western regions, including Crimea. For the Simferopol region, it will start at 22:00 Moscow time. According to him, the star will first be obscured by the unlit part of the lunar disk, so for observers from Earth it will begin to disappear even before the visible part of the Moon appears. The complete closure will occur at 22:04 Moscow time. Then the star will become visible again around 23:00 Moscow time — it will appear near the north pole of the Moon, over the lunar Humboldt Sea.

At the same time, the Moon overlaps the Regulus every nine years. Yakushechkin noted that this is not a rare phenomenon, since the constellation Leo belongs to the zodiac, and the Moon passes through it every month. This is also due to the fact that Regulus is located almost on the ecliptic line. Such events are observed in series, which is caused by the displacement of the apparent orbit of the Earth's satellite relative to the fixed stars.

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In February, the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported that the Moon passed through the solar disk during an eclipse. Scientists have managed to visualize in detail the surface of the Moon at the moment when it was facing the Earth with its unlit side.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.