January kicks off with the Quadrantids, one of the quickest yet strongest meteor showers of the year. <\/p>\n
The shower is expected to peak overnight between January 3 and 4, according to the American Meteor Society. Sky-gazers in the Northern Hemisphere can best view the shower between the late-night hours of Wednesday and dawn on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Meteors are leftover pieces from broken asteroids and comet particles that spread out in dusty trails orbiting the sun. Each year, Earth passes through the debris trails, and pieces of dust and rock create colorful, fiery displays called meteor showers as they disintegrate in Earth\u2019s atmosphere. <\/p>\n
The Quadrantid shower is notoriously hard to observe due to its brief peak of six hours. The peak has a limited duration compared with most meteor showers, which peak over two days, because the shower only has a thin stream of particles and Earth passes through the densest concentration of those particles quickly at a perpendicular angle, according to NASA. <\/p>\n
Predictions for the shower\u2019s peak range from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET (9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time), but meteors will be visible for hours beforehand. The American Meteor Society recommends keeping an eye out for meteors from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. local time for those across North America. <\/p>\n
The earlier time favors those along North America\u2019s East Coast and the later time is more favorable for observers in Hawaii and Alaska. The Quadrantids usually aren\u2019t visible in the Southern Hemisphere because the shower\u2019s radiant point doesn\u2019t rise that high in its sky before dawn. <\/p>\n
Check Time and Date\u2019s site to see what your chances are like to view the event. <\/p>\n
The peak can include more than 100 visible meteors per hour. You may even glimpse some fireballs during the meteor shower, which are bright blasts of light and color associated with larger particles that linger longer than typical meteor streaks, according to NASA. <\/p>\n
Keep an eye on the north-to-northeastern sky. Stand or sit with the moon at your back from 2 a.m. local time onward and view the skies for at least an hour, the American Meteor Society advises. <\/p>\n
Visibility will depend on any wintry inclement weather in the Northern Hemisphere. And the moon will be about 51% full, which may impact the visibility of the shower, but the society recommends trying to block the moon with a tree or building. <\/p>\n
If you live in an urban area, you may want to drive to a place that isn\u2019t full of bright city lights. If you\u2019re able to find an area unaffected by light pollution, meteors could be visible every couple of minutes from late evening until dawn. <\/p>\n
Find an open area with a wide view of the sky. Make sure you have a chair or blanket so you can look straight up. And give your eyes about 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness \u2014 without looking at your phone \u2014 so the meteors will be easier to spot. <\/p>\n
If the meteor shower\u2019s name sounds odd, it\u2019s probably because it doesn\u2019t sound as if it\u2019s related to a constellation. That\u2019s because the Quadrantids\u2019 namesake constellation no longer exists \u2014 at least, not as a recognized constellation. <\/p>\n
The constellation Quadrans Muralis, first observed and noted in 1795 between Bo\u00f6tes and Draco, is no longer included in the International Astronomical Union\u2019s list of modern constellations because it\u2019s considered obsolete and isn\u2019t used as a landmark for celestial navigation anymore, according to EarthSky. <\/p>\n
Like the Geminid meteor shower, the Quadrantids come from a mysterious asteroid or \u201crock comet,\u201d rather than an icy comet, which is unusual. This particular asteroid is 2003 EH1, which takes 5.52 years to complete one orbit around the sun and measures 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) across. <\/p>\n
But astronomers believe a second object, Comet 96P\/Machholz, may contribute to the shower, according to EarthSky. The comet orbits the sun every 5.3 years. <\/p>\n
Scientists think a larger comet was gravitationally bound into a short orbit by the sun around 2000 BC. The comet left behind meteors for years before breaking apart sometime between the years 100 and 950. As a result, the comet left behind many celestial offspring known collectively as the Machholz Complex, which includes the Quadrantid meteor shower\u2019s parent bodies Comet 96P\/Machholz and asteroid 2003 EH1 as well as two different comet groups and eight meteor showers, according to EarthSky. <\/p>\n
After the Quadrantids, there is a bit of a lull in meteor shower activity, and the next one won\u2019t occur until April. <\/p>\n
Lyrids: April 21-22 <\/p>\n
Eta Aquariids: May 4-5 <\/p>\n
Southern delta Aquariids: July 29-30 <\/p>\n
Alpha Capricornids: July 30-31 <\/p>\n
Perseids: August 11-12 <\/p>\n
Draconids: October 7-8 <\/p>\n
Orionids: October 20-21 <\/p>\n
Southern Taurids: November 4-5 <\/p>\n
Northern Taurids: November 11-12 <\/p>\n
Leonids: November 17-18 <\/p>\n
Geminids: December 13-14 <\/p>\n
Ursids: December 21-22 <\/p>\n
Twelve full moons will occur during 2024, and September and October\u2019s lunar events will also be considered supermoons, according to EarthSky. <\/p>\n
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 \u2014 its closest approach to Earth in orbit. <\/p>\n
Each month\u2019s full moon is associated with a specific name, according to the Farmers\u2019 Almanac. But the full moons have a variety of names and meanings, according to different indigenous tribes. <\/p>\n
Here are the full moons of 2024: <\/p>\n
January 25: Wolf moon <\/p>\n
February 24: Snow moon <\/p>\n
March 25: Worm moon <\/p>\n
April 23: Pink moon <\/p>\n
May 23: Flower moon <\/p>\n
June 21: Strawberry moon <\/p>\n
July 21: Buck moon <\/p>\n
August 19: Sturgeon moon <\/p>\n
September 17: Harvest moon <\/p>\n
October 17: Hunter\u2019s moon <\/p>\n
November 15: Beaver moon <\/p>\n
December 15: Cold moon <\/p>\n
Multiple eclipses will occur in 2024, including two types of lunar eclipses and two types of solar eclipses, according to the\u00a0Old Farmer\u2019s Almanac. <\/p>\n
The most highly anticipated of these events is the\u00a0total solar eclipse occurring on April 8, which will be visible to those in Mexico, the United States and Canada. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, completely blocking the sun\u2019s face. <\/p>\n
Those within the path of totality, or locations where the moon\u2019s 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 sun\u2019s face. <\/p>\n
A total solar eclipse won\u2019t be visible across the contiguous US again until August 2044. <\/p>\n
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 the moon is at the farthest point in its orbit from Earth, so it can\u2019t completely block the sun. Instead, annular solar eclipses create a \u201cring of fire\u201d in the sky as the sun\u2019s fiery light surrounds the moon\u2019s shadow. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a penumbral lunar eclipse will be visible to many across Europe, North and East Asia, Australia, Africa, North America, and South America between March 24-25. <\/p>\n
A lunar eclipse, which causes the moon to look dark or dimmed, occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align so that the moon passes into Earth\u2019s shadow. A penumbral lunar eclipse is more subtle and happens when the moon moves through the outer shadow, or penumbra, of the Earth. <\/p>\n
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 17-18. <\/p>\n
Check\u00a0Time and Date\u2019s website\u00a0to see when each of these eclipses will appear. <\/p>\n\n
January kicks off with the Quadrantids, one of the quickest yet strongest meteor showers of the year. The shower is expected to peak overnight between January 3 and 4, according to the American Meteor Society. Sky-gazers in the Northern Hemisphere can best view the shower between the late-night hours of Wednesday and dawn on Thursday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":13563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}