The night sky will have a host of delights in store for stargazers in 2024.
Full moons and meteor showers will light up the sky. An increase in solar activity is expected to produce auroras that will create colorful displays. And eclipse chasers have been counting down to 2024 since the 'Great American Eclipse' of 2017 - as a total solar eclipse will sweep across the United States in April.
Many nights there are opportunities to spot different planets or search for the International Space Station as it orbits Earth.
Have your telescopes and binoculars ready and don't forget to bring eclipse glasses so you can safely view the total solar eclipse.
Full moons and supermoons
Twelve full moons will occur in 2024, and according to EarthSky, the September and October lunar events 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 thus 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.
According to the Farmers' Almanac, each month's full moon is associated with a specific name. But the full moons have different 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: Buck moon
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
According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, there will be multiple eclipses in 2024, including two types of lunar eclipses and two types of solar eclipses.
The most anticipated of these events is the total solar eclipse that will take place on April 8 and will be visible to people 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.
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Those within the path of totality, or locations 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 obscures only part of the sun's face.
A total solar eclipse won't be visible again in the contiguous US until August 2044.
An annular solar eclipse will occur in the sky over parts of South America on October 2. This type of solar eclipse is similar to a total solar eclipse, except that the moon is at the furthest point in its orbit from the Earth, so it cannot completely block the sun. Instead, annular solar eclipses create a "ring of fire" in the sky as the sun's fiery light surrounds the moon's shadow.
Meanwhile, a penumbral lunar eclipse will be visible to many in Europe, North and East Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America between March 24 and 25.
A lunar eclipse, which makes the moon appear dark or dim, occurs when the sun, Earth, and moon align, causing the moon to fall into the Earth's shadow. A penumbral lunar eclipse is more subtle and occurs when the moon passes through the Earth's outer shadow, or penumbra.
A partial lunar eclipse, in which 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 occur.
Solar activity and auroras
The sun is expected to reach solar maximum, or the peak of its eleven-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. The solar storms generated by the sun can affect power grids, GPS and aviation, as well as satellites in low Earth orbit. These events also cause radio blackouts and even pose risks to human space missions.
The Space Weather Prediction Center, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, will closely monitor the sun and release warnings and forecasts about solar activity that could affect Earth.
Scientists are eagerly awaiting what they can learn about the sun's activity by observing it during April's total solar eclipse.
A more positive side effect of increased solar activity, however, are the auroras dancing around Earth's poles, known as the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, and the Southern Lights, or aurora australis.
When the activated 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.
Geomagnetic storms caused by the sun in 2023 caused auroras to become 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 United States. 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 starts almost immediately with a meteor shower. According to EarthSky, the Quadrantid meteor shower is expected to peak between January 3 and 4.
After the Quadrantids, meteor shower activity decreases a bit, and the next one won't occur until April. Fortunately, there are plenty of celestial events to anticipate during the long wait.
Here's the full list of meteor showers happening in 2024, according to the American Meteor Society.
Quadrantids: January 3-4
Lyrids: April 21-22
Eta Aquariids: May 4-5
Southern Delta Aquariids: July 30-31
Alpha Capricorns: July 30-31
Perseids: August 12-13
Draconids: October 7-8
Orionids: October 21-22
Southern Taurids: November 5-6
Northern Taurids: November 11-12
Leonids: November 17-18
Geminids: December 13-14
Ursids: December 21-22
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