Although meteorologists often take summer/winter to start on June 1, northern hemisphere's summer and southern hemisphere's winter will officially begin on June 21 with June Solstice at 04:15 UTC. The Moon will reach its full phase at 13:11 UTC on June 9….
May 2017 brings us Eta Aquarids, an above average meteor shower capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak, in the southern hemisphere. The waxing gibbous moon, however, will block out many of the fainter meteors this year. The Moon will be located…
April brings us three meteor showers – Virginids on April 12th, Lyrids on the 22nd and 23rd and Alpha Schorpiids on the 28th. The Moon will present minimal interference for Lyrids and Alpha Scorpiids. On April 1, Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák is making…
The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world – March equinox – on March 20. This is the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the northern hemisphere and the first day of fall (autumnal…
A penumbral lunar eclipse will take place at 00:45 UTC on February 11. Although the Moon's light dims considerably during a penumbral eclipse, this is only perceptible to those with very astute vision, or in carefully controlled photographs. The eclipse will be…
January 2017 hosts one of the most intense annual meteor showers – the Quadrantids, known for producing spectacular fireballs. The timing favors western parts of North America and islands across the Pacific. The peak of Quadrantids is brief, typically lasting no…
The last of three supermoons for this year will occur on December 14. Over the nights following December 14, the Moon will rise around an hour later each day, becoming prominent later in the night. Within a few days, it will only be visible in the pre-dawn and…
This month’s Full Moon – the second of three supermoons in 2016 – will be the largest and closest to Earth since January 26, 1948. It won't come this close again until November 25, 2034. Out of three meteor shower peaks for the month, only Southern Taurids…
October will bring us the first of three supermoons for 2016. On October 16, the full moon will take place unusually close to the time of the month when the Moon also makes its closest approach to the Earth – called its perigee. This near coincidence between a…
September 2016 started with an annular solar eclipse visible across central Africa southwards to Madagascar and into the Indian Ocean. The next annular eclipse will occur on February 26, 2017, and will be visible from south and west Africa, much of South America,…
