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The night sky will hold many delights for stargazers in 2024.
Full moons and meteor showers will light up the sky. An increase in solar activity is expected to cause auroras that will create colorful displays. And eclipse chasers have been counting down to 2024 since the “Great American Eclipse” of 2017, because a total solar eclipse will cross the United States in April.
Many nights there will be opportunities to observe different planets or search for the International Space Station as it orbits the Earth.
Keep your telescopes and binoculars handy, and don’t forget to bring a pair of eclipse glasses so you can safely observe the total solar eclipse.
Full moons and supermoons
According to EarthSky, twelve full moons will occur during 2024, and the lunar events of September and October will also be considered supermoons.
Definitions of a supermoon can vary, but the term generally denotes a full moon that is closer to Earth than normal and therefore appears larger and brighter in the night sky. Some astronomers say the phenomenon occurs when the Moon is within 90% of perigee, its closest approach to Earth in orbit.
Each month’s full moon is associated with a specific name, according to the Farmers’ Almanac. But full moons have a variety of names and meanings according to different indigenous tribes.
Here are the full moons of 2024:
January 25: Wolf Moon
February 24: Snow Moon
March 25: Worm Moon
April 23: Pink Moon
May 23: Flower Moon
June 21: Strawberry Moon
July 21: Moon Buck
August 19: Sturgeon Moon
September 17: Harvest Moon
October 17: Hunter’s Moon
November 15: Beaver Moon
December 15: Cold Moon
Solar and lunar eclipses
Multiple eclipses will occur in 2024, including two types of lunar eclipses and two types of solar eclipses, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The most anticipated of these events is the total solar eclipse that will take place on April 8 and will be visible to those in Mexico, the United States and Canada. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, completely blocking the face of the sun.
Those within the path of totality, or places where the moon’s shadow will completely cover the sun, will see a total solar eclipse. People outside the path of totality will still be able to see a partial solar eclipse, in which the moon only obscures part of the face of the sun.
A total solar eclipse will not be visible again in the contiguous United States until August 2044.
An annular solar eclipse will occur in the sky on October 2 over parts of South America. This type of eclipse is similar to a total solar eclipse, except that the moon is at the farthest point in its orbit from Earth, so it cannot completely block the sun. Instead, annular solar eclipses create a “ring of fire” in the sky when the sun’s fiery light surrounds the moon’s shadow.
Meanwhile, a penumbral lunar eclipse will be visible to many people in Europe, North and East Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America between March 24 and 25.
A lunar eclipse, which causes the Moon to appear dark or dim, occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon align so that the Moon passes into the Earth’s shadow. A penumbral lunar eclipse is more subtle and occurs when the moon passes through the outer shadow, or penumbra, of the Earth.
A partial lunar eclipse, when the Earth moves between the Sun and the full Moon without being perfectly aligned, will appear over Europe and much of Asia, Africa, North America and South America between September 17 and 18.
Check the Time and Date website to see when each of these eclipses will appear.
Solar activity and auroras
The sun is expected to reach its solar maximum, or the peak of its 11-year activity cycle, in mid-to-late 2024.
When the sun is active, it releases strong solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or large clouds of ionized gas called plasma, and magnetic fields that erupt from the sun’s outer atmosphere. Solar storms generated by the sun can affect power grids, GPS and aviation, and satellites in low Earth orbit. These events also cause radio blackouts and even pose risks to manned space missions.
The Space Weather Prediction Center, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, will closely monitor the sun and issue warnings and predictions about solar activity that could impact Earth.
Scientists are eagerly anticipating what they could learn about the sun’s activity by observing it during April’s total solar eclipse.
However, a more positive side effect of increased solar activity is the auroras that dance around the Earth’s poles, known as the aurora borealis or aurora borealis and aurora australis or aurora australis.
When energized particles from coronal mass ejections reach Earth’s magnetic field, they interact with gases in the atmosphere to create different colored lights in the sky.
Sun-driven geomagnetic storms in 2023 made auroras visible in places where they are rarely seen, including as far south as New Mexico, Missouri, North Carolina and California in the United States, and southeastern England and other parts of the world. United Kingdom.
Depending on the location, the auroras may not always be visible overhead, but they create a colorful display on the horizon.
meteor showers
The new year begins almost immediately with a meteor shower. The Quadrantid meteor shower is expected to peak between January 3 and 4, according to EarthSky.
After the Quadrantids, there is a slight lull in meteor shower activity, and the next one won’t occur until April. Fortunately, there are many celestial events to anticipate during the long wait.
Here is the complete list of meteor showers that will occur in 2024, according to the American Meteor Society.
Quadrantids: January 3 and 4
Lyrids: April 21 and 22
Eta Aquarids: May 4 and 5
Southern Delta Aquarids: July 30 and 31
Alpha Capricornids: July 30 and 31
Perseids: August 12 and 13
Draconids: October 7 and 8
Orionids: October 21 and 22
Southern Taurids: November 5 and 6
Northern Taurids: November 11 and 12
Leonids: November 17 and 18
Geminids: December 13-14
Ursids: December 21 and 22
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