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There will be many delights in the night sky in 2024 for stargazers.
Full moons and meteor showers will light up the sky. Increased solar activity is expected to cause auroras that create colorful displays. And eclipse chasers are counting down to 2024 from the “Great American Eclipse” of 2017 – as a total solar eclipse will travel across the United States in April.
Many nights, there will be opportunities to see different planets or observe the International Space Station as it orbits Earth.
Keep your telescope and binoculars ready, and don’t forget to snag a pair of eclipse glasses so you can safely watch the total solar eclipse.
Full moons and supermoons
Twelve full moons will occur during 2024, and the September and October lunar events will also be considered supermoons, according to EarthSky.
Definitions of a supermoon can vary, but the term usually refers to a full moon that is closer to Earth than usual and appears larger and brighter in the night sky. Some astronomers say the phenomenon occurs when the moon is within 90% of perigee — the closest approach to Earth’s orbit.
Each month’s full moon is associated with a specific name, according to the Farmers’ Almanac. 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: Moon of worms
April 23: Pink moon
May 23: Flower moon
June 21: Strawberry Moon
July 21: Buck moon
August 19: Sturgeon moon
September 17: Autumn 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 occurred 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 the Earth and the sun, completely blocking the face of the sun.
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, where the moon only covers part of the sun’s face.
A total solar eclipse will not be visible across the contiguous US again 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 its furthest point in its orbit from Earth, so it cannot completely block the sun. Instead, total solar eclipses create a “ring of fire” in the sky and the sun’s blazing light surrounds the moon’s shadow.
Meanwhile, a partial lunar eclipse will be visible to many across Europe, North and East Asia, Australia, Africa, North and South America between March 24-25.
A lunar eclipse, which causes the moon to appear dark or dim, occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align so that the moon enters the Earth’s shadow. A penumbral lunar eclipse is subtler and occurs when the moon moves through the Earth’s outer shadow, or penumbra.
A partial lunar eclipse, when the Earth moves between the sun and the full moon without being perfectly aligned, will be visible across Europe and much of Asia, Africa, North America and South America between 17-18 September.
Check the Time and Date website to find out when each of these eclipses will be visible.
Solar activity and auroras
The sun is expected to reach solar maximum, or the peak of its 11-year cycle of activity, in mid-to-late 2024.
When the sun is active, it emits powerful solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or large clouds of ionized gas called plasma and magnetic fields that push out of the sun’s outer atmosphere. The solar storms generated by the sun can affect electrical power grids, GPS and aviation, and satellites in low-Earth orbit. These events also cause radio interference 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 affect Earth.
Scientists are eagerly anticipating what they might 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, is the auroras that dance around the Earth’s poles, known as the northern lights, or aurora borealis, and southern lights, or aurora australis.
When the energetic particles from the coronal mass ejections reach the Earth’s magnetic field, they interact with gases in the atmosphere to create different colored lights in the sky.
Geomagnetic storms driven by the sun in 2023 caused auroras to appear in places where they are rarely seen, including as far south as New Mexico, Missouri, North Carolina and California in the United States , and southeast England and other parts of the United Kingdom.
Depending on the location, the auroras may not always be visible overhead, but they create a colorful display on the sky.
Meteor showers
The new year begins with a meteor shower almost immediately. The Quadrantid Meteor shower is expected to peak between January 3-4, according to EarthSky.
After the Quadrantids, there is a bit of a lull in meteor shower activity, and the next one won’t happen until April. Fortunately, there are plenty of heavenly events to anticipate during the long wait.
Here is the complete list of meteor showers that occurred in 2024, according to the American Meteor Society.
Quadrantids: January 3-4
Lyrids: 21-22 April
Eta Aquariids: 4-5 May
Southern delta Aquariids: July 30-31
Alpha Capricornids: July 30-31
Perseids: August 12-13
Draconids: 7-8 October
Orionids: October 21-22
Southern Taurids: November 5-6
Northern Taurids: November 11-12
Leonids: November 17-18
Geminids: December 13-14
Ursids: 21-22 December
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