This marks the beginning of winter (in the northern hemisphere) and the beginning of summer (in the southern hemisphere.) The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, respectively, in the sense that the length of time elapsed between sunrise and sunset on this day is a minimum for the year. Of course, daylight saving time means that the first Sunday in April has 23 hours and the last Sunday in October has 25 hours, but these human meddlings with the calendar and do not correspond to the actual number of daylight hours.
If you live in the southern hemisphere, this is your Summer Solstice, and good cause for celebrating the longest day of the year.
The waning gibbous moon will block out most of the faintest meteors this year. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Bootes, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
The Quadrantids is an above average shower, with up to 40 meteors per hour at its peak. It is thought to be produced by dust grains left behind by an extinct comet known as 2003 EH1, which was discovered in 2003. The shower runs annually from January 1-5. It peaks this year on the night of the 3rd and morning of the 4th.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!
This note is from Canton, the fellow who maintains the astronomical events calendar on your phone/computer/brain implant. I’ve just now added all the meteor showers and grand celestial events for 2021.
Based on suggestions from subscribers, I’ve made some changes this year. First of all, NO MORE ANNOYING ALARMS! Sorry about that.
Also, the (alleged) traditional Native American names and stories for each full moon appear in this year’s calendar, as well as additional names for the full moons as they are experienced in the southern hemisphere (courtesy of https://springwolf.net/2016/04/30/the-full-moon-in-the-southern-heisphere/)
In February look out for the INVASION OF MARS as well as a spectacular conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. OW my eyeballs!
If you find any errors or omissions, please let me know at canton@gmail.com.
More information about this calendar and the guy who makes it for you is here:
The planet Mercury is most easily visible in the early morning as it reaches its greatest eastern elongation — the highest point above the horizon in the morning sky. Which isn’t that high.
Look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before the sunrise erases it from view.
In the northern hemisphere this is the Wolf Moon because this was the time of year when hungry wolf packs howled outside. This moon has also been know as the Old Moon and the Moon After Yule.
In the southern hemisphere let’s call this the Thunder Moon, on account of thunderstorms being most common in January. The first full moon of the year is also the Rumble Moon or the Lightning Moon.