Astronomical Events.
2024/5
December 2024
5th Dec - The cresent Moon is to the left of Venus in the evening twlight sky.
6th Dec - The planet Mars shining in a red hue, will be just above the Beehive cluster (M44) tonight.
7th Dec - Jupiter is at opposition tonight, this means the Earth is in between the Sun and Jupiter in a line.
8th Dec - The Moon is at its first quarter phase to the left of Saturn this evening.
12th Dec - The Moon forms a triangle with the Pleiades and Uranus (good binocculars or telescope to spot).
13th Dec - The Pleiades and the Moon are close together in the early evening sky.
14th Dec - Peak of the Geminid meteor shower, theres a nearby nearly full Moon so this will not be the best showing with brighter meteors being the most visible.
17th Dec - The Moon is above Mars and the Beehive Cluster (M44) in the late evening.
22nd Dec - The Ursid meteor shower is at its peak (10 per hour), the Moon is in its third quarter phase.
25th Dec - Mercury is at its greatest western elongation in the morning twilight, this means it is at its furthest from the Sun and good to view.
28th Dec - Th slim crescent Moon is to the right of Red Supergiat Antares and Mercury in the morning twilight.
January 2025.
1st Jan - Happy New Year everyone:-)
3rd Jan - Moon passes south of Venus in the early evening south-western sky.
4th Jan - 3:36 pm – 8:00 pm Lunar occultation of Saturn. Saturn disappears behind The Moon in a bright sky.Reappears in dark sky, low down in the south-western sky.
Timings will be slightly different depending on your location
6th Jan - First Quarter Moon.
7th Jan - For telescope owners and astro photographers, Titans shadow transits Saturns disk.
10th Jan - The Moon Occults members of The Pleiades (M45) star cluster in Taurus and Venus reaches greatest eastern elongation. Visible after sunset in south-western sky.
11th Jan - The moon passes North of Jupiter
12th Jan - Viewing Mars tonight as it is at its closest to Earth in constellation of Cancer.
13th Jan - Tonight is a full Moon and it can be seen passing close to Mars, and the bright stars Castor & Pollux in the constellation of Gemini.
14th Jan - Moon passes north of Messier 44, The Beehive Cluster in Cancer.
16th Jan - Mars reaches opposition, this means it is at its furthest from the Sun and good to view also, the Moon rises close to the bright first magnitude star Regulus in Leo.
17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Jan - Venus passes close to Saturn in south western early evening sky and after sunset on the 20th.
23rd Jan - For telescope owners and astro photographers, between 3.29pm and 8.58pm Titans shadow transits Saturns disk.
24th & 25th Jan - The crescent Moon passes close to the bright 1st magnitude red giant star Antares, in Scorpius, in the early morning south eastern sky.
29th Jan - The Moon is at its full phase.
(Partially reproduced with inspiration and thanks to Dave Eagle from www.star-gazing.co.uk and Steve Tonkin from www.binocularsky.com).
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Meteor Showers 2025
The Geminid meteor shower is one of the last of the year’s major showers, and can generally be relied on to put on a good display. In 2024, the Geminid meteor shower will be active between 4-20 December and will peak on 14-15 December.
What is the Geminid meteor shower? Meteors are pieces of debris which enter our planet’s atmosphere at speeds of up to 70 kilometres per second, vaporising and causing the streaks of light we call meteors. The meteors of the Geminid meteor shower are very bright, moderately fast, and are unusual in being multi-coloured – mainly white, some yellow and a few green, red and blue. These colours are partly caused by the presence of traces of metals like sodium and calcium, the same effect that is used to make fireworks colourful.
The shower has been known to produce over 150 meteors per hour at its peak, although light pollution and other factors mean that in reality the actual number visible is far less.
What sets the Geminids apart from other meteor showers is their origin: while most meteor showers originate from comets, Geminids are leftover bits and pieces of the asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon. Unlike comets, asteroids don’t develop tails when approaching the Sun, and their composition is different. However, scientists are still debating if Phaethon is even an asteroid - although it is built like one, it doesn’t move like one. Its orbit is highly elliptical, like a comet, which is why some scientists debate if Phaethon could be a completely new class of celestial objects: a rock comet. ​
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Meteor showers 2025.​
Shower Name, Date of Maximum, Normal Limits, Possible hourly rate, Description
Quadrantids 4 January, 26 Dec-12 Jan, 120, Bluish- or yellowish-white meteors with fine trains
Lyrids 22 April, 16-25 April, 18, Bright fast meteors, some with trains. Associated with Comet Thatcher
Eta Aquariids 5 May, 19 Apr-28 May, 40, Low in sky. Associated with Comet Halley
Alpha Capricornids 30 July, 3 July-15 Aug, 5, Yellow slow fireballs
Delta Aquariids 30 July, 12 July-23 Aug, 25, Steady stream of meteors over several days but a low rate per hour
Perseids 12 August, 17 July-24 Aug, 150, Many bright fast meteors with trains. Associated with Comet Swift-Tuttle (1737, 1862, 1992)
Draconids 8 October, 6-10 October, 10, Associated with Comet 21/P Giacobini-Zimmer
Orionids 22 October, 2 Oct-7 Nov, 15, Fast with fine trains. Associated with Comet Halley
Taurids
Southern: 10 Oct
Northern: 12 Nov
Southern: 10 Sep-20 Nov
Northern: 20 Oct-10 Dec
5 Very slow meteors
Leonids 17 November, 6-30 November, 15, Fast bright meteors with fine trains. Associated with Comet Tempel-Tuttle
Geminids 14 December, 4-20 December, 120, Plenty of bright meteors, few trains
Ursids 22 December, 17-26 December, 10, Sparse shower. Associated with comet 8P/Tuttle
(Thanks to rmg.co.uk for the above information)
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Supermoons 2025
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A supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest (perigee) to Earth at the same time the Moon is full.
So what's so special about a supermoon? For the interested observer, there's plenty to see and learn.
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The Moon orbits Earth in an ellipse, an oval that brings it closer to and farther from Earth as it goes around.
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The farthest point in this ellipse is called the apogee and is about 253,000 miles (405,500 kilometers) from Earth on average.
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Its closest point is the perigee, which is an average distance of about 226,000 miles (363,300 kilometers) from Earth.
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When a full moon appears at perigee it is slightly brighter and larger than a regular full moon – and that's where we get a "supermoon.
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See upcoming 2025 supermoon dates below.
Name Date and time Distance from Earth -
Hunter's Moon Oct. 7 at 03:48 GMT 224,600 miles (361,458 km)
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Beaver Moon Nov. 5 at 13:19 GMT 221,817 miles (356,980 km)
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Cold Moon Dec. 4 at 23:14 GMT 221,965 miles (357,219 km)
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