A total solar eclipse and more celestial events on tap for 2024
If you were lucky enough to get a telescope during the holidays, you’ll be able to put it to good use this year.
With nine big celestial events happening this year, you can enjoy a light show nearly every month.
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
The year’s biggest celestial event, a total solar eclipse, will darken the skies on Monday, April 8, when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun.
The eclipse will pass over Mexico, the United States and Canada, but not over Georgia. To experience totality, you’ll want to travel to Texas or Mexico, according to Dave Clark, who runs the website NationalEclipse.com.
QUADRANTID METEOR
SHOWER
The first event of the year is already happening. In fact, the Quadrantid meteor shower peaked on Jan. 4, though it will continue through Tuesday.
NASA calls the show “one of the best annual meteor showers.” Be sure to be in place and let your eyes rest (no screen time) for at least half an hour beforehand, because the peak lasts only a few hours. During those few hours, however, you might see 60-200 shooting stars.
LYRIDS METEOR
SHOWER
This annual event might be disappointing this year. The April 22 peak of 10-15 meteors will likely be obscured by the full moon on the 23rd.
The Lyrids are the dust trail of Comet Thatcher, which orbits the sun every 415 years (it won’t be back until 2276). Although the comet won’t be seen in our lifetime, the debris left in its wake — the Lyrid shower— appears every year as the Earth crosses the comet’s path. That’s why they are seen at about the same time every year.
The point from where the meteors appear to come — its radiant — is the constellation Lyra, or the harp.
ETA AQUARID METEOR
SHOWER
Active this year April 15— May 27, the meteor shower occurs as the Earth passes through the dust of Halley’s comet.
The stars will align this year — so to speak — to provide optimal viewing conditions. The shower’s peak on the morning of May 6 will coincide with a new moon, providing a dark sky.
According to NASA, the meteors travel about 148,000 mph and sometimes leave a glowing train behind them.
PERSEID METEOR
SHOWER
Peaking the night of Aug. 12 and morning of Aug. 13, the Perseid meteor shower will see 50-100 shooting stars cross the sky each hour. The moon will make nighttime viewing difficult, so your best option is early morning until dawn.
The Perseids are caused by debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle.
“With a nucleus of 16 miles in diameter, Swift-Tuttle is the largest near-Earth object to cross our planet’s orbit— and it’s about two and a half times the size of the comet that led to the mass dinosaur extinction,” Smithsonian magazine wrote.
PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
Although not as spectacular as a total solar eclipse, at least the Sept. 17 partial lunar eclipse won’t require special glasses to protect your eyes.
The eclipse will occur when a portion of the moon travels through the Earth’s shadow. This shadow is usually above or below the moon’s orbit, but because the moon orbits at a 5 degree angle, there are a couple of times a year when conditions are right for an eclipse.
“This one will be visible across almost all of the U.S. after the moon rises,” Smithsonian wrote. “It will peak at 10:44 p.m. Eastern Time and end at 11:17 p.m.”
COMET TSUCHINSHAN-ATLAS
Also called A3, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was discovered only a year ago by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China.
On Oct. 12, the comet will be “just” 44 million miles from Earth. Although some astronomers say A3 could be bright enough to see with the naked eye, others told Smithsonian magazine it’s difficult to make any predictions.
“Comets are like cats: They have tails; they do what they
want,” Quanzhi Ye, a planetary astronomer at the University of Maryland, told Scientific American. “Almost for every case, it’s not going to end the way that you predicted … We won’t know until we get there.”
ORIONID METEOR
SHOWER
One meteor shower from Halley’s comet is apparently not enough, because we’ll get a second one the night of Oct. 20 and morning of the 21st.
Although the shower produces 10-20 meteors an hour, they will be competing with a waning gibbous moon and might be difficult to see.
GEMINID METEOR
SHOWER
The year in celestial events will wrap up as the Geminids peak Dec. 14. You should be able to spot about a 120 meteors an hour. The moon will be 96% illuminated on this date, however, and might make it hard to see the show.
The Geminids originate from the Gemini constellation and come from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon. According to NASA, Phaethon’s tail is made of sodium gas, and not of dust.