“The celestial ‘theatre season’ will begin in January with the Quadrantids meteor shower and a cluster of planets with the Moon in the morning sky. In the spring, Mercury will appear and there will be a series of meetings between the Moon, Jupiter and Uranus in the constellation Taurus. During the summer, the planet clears the field of artificial satellites and nocturnal glowing clouds, and especially the ‘shooting stars’ of the Perseid meteor shower. In the second half of the year, the planets will compete to see which one deserves more attention. Saturn and Jupiter will gradually pass through the period of best visibility, Mercury will appear in the morning sky, and at the end of the year, Venus and Mars will shine in the evening sky,” Pavel Suchan from the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic summarized what we can expect next year, among other things.
“Under the sky, we will be lured again by meteor showers and further possible auroras visible from our territory. But mainly the nice celestial meetings of the planets with the Moon and, last but not least, a partial eclipse of the big Moon and, with a high probability, the bright comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS,” added Petr Horálek from the Institute of Physics of the University of Silesia in Opava.
The aurora borealis can appear all year round. For those interested in observing the aurora borealis, Horálek recommends watching so-called auroral monitors, for example on a computer SolarHam or SpaceWeatherLiveor a mobile application Aurora Alerts.
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Meteor showers also occur several times a year. The aforementioned Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS could apparently be visible from the end of September to the end of October and the partial lunar eclipse on September 18.
“Although it will be small in percentage, it will definitely be very nice to observe with the eyes. This eclipse will be visible throughout the entire course in the western half of the Czech Republic,” said the Opava institute about the lunar eclipse.
Photo: Petr Horálek/Physical Institute in Opava
The sky during the partial lunar eclipse on September 18, 2024
The mentioned phenomena are according to comprehensive overview on the website of the Opava Institute observable from the Czech Republic and Slovakia and will probably have good observation conditions. However, the weather can interfere with the observation. According to experts, people should also go outside the cities for better observation, where the visibility of the phenomena is worsened by so-called light pollution.
The Quadrantids will start the year
If we take a closer look at some specific phenomena, almost regularly each calendar year begins from an astronomical point of view with one of the richest meteor showers: the Quadrantids. The swarm is active from approximately January 1 to 10.
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In many ways, the Quadrantids, whose parent body is somewhat unconventionally the asteroid 2003 EH1 (not a comet), can be described as one of the three strongest meteor showers of the year. This is primarily evidenced by the value of the zenith frequency, usually indicated by the figure of 120 meteors per hour. On the other hand, the short duration of the maximum activity of the swarm (roughly six hours) and the generally high probability of cloudy weather play against the swarm.
In 2024, the maximum occurs under not very favorable conditions. The peak of activity can be observed on the night of January 3 to 4 (Wednesday to Thursday), with the maximum occurring only after dawn around 10 a.m. CET. However, the Moon will not be very favorable for observation.
After that, those interested should definitely not miss April 20, when the planets Jupiter and Uranus will meet closely in the sky.
Rich August
Around August 12, we will be expecting a summer meteor shower in the morning hours. We should see the most meteors from the Perseid shower on the night of August 12-13, when it makes sense to observe the shower between midnight and 4 am. In good weather, 50-80 meteors will shine every hour.
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According to the Physics Institute in Opava, a very rare celestial spectacle will occur on the night of August 14 to 15. The bright planets Jupiter and Mars will angularly close to within 18 arc minutes in the sky, which is almost only half the angular diameter of the full Moon in the sky.
“The maximum approach itself will occur on August 14 at 18:52 CEST, when the planets will be below the horizon from our territory. But if you wait until their sunrise on August 15, 2024, around 0:25 CEST, you won’t miss much. At that time, the angular distance between the planets will still be quite small, around 21 arc minutes. When viewed with the naked eye, the planets will be really close to each other and visually impossible to miss even from cities,” said Horálek.
On Wednesday, August 21, a truly remarkable and relatively rare celestial spectacle will also occur in the early morning sky at dawn: the Moon will cover the planet Saturn.
Eclipsed Moon and Comet
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, September 18, we will see a partial lunar eclipse lasting one hour and three minutes.
At the time when the eclipse will take place, we will also observe one of the largest angular full moons of the year. “Only less than 11 hours after the maximum of the eclipse, the Moon will be closest to the Earth, at a distance of 357,283 km. At that time it will already be below the horizon, but at the time of the phenomenon it will be close enough to the Earth for us to observe one of the largest angular full moons of the year,” mentioned Horálek.
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According to him, one of the most interesting and anticipated celestial phenomena of 2024 could be the comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. According to Opava astronomers, it could become the promise of an extraordinary cometary spectacle, especially in October.
Photo: Petr Horálek/Physical Institute in Opava/Stellarium
Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS between October 11 and 13, 2024, at its closest approach to Earth, in the evening sky after 18:30 CEST extremely low above the western horizon
And December 7, 2024 is also worth mentioning, when at 21:50 CET the planet Jupiter will find itself in so-called opposition with the Sun. So it will be on the opposite side of the sky from the Sun, it will rise at dusk, it will set at dawn, it will be highest above the horizon at midnight.
At this time, Jupiter will also be at its brightest, as thanks to the effective backscattering of solar radiation, a large part of the sunlight falling on its surface will be “sent” in our direction.
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2023-12-30 14:21:25
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