What’s that, a plane coming in for a landing just after sunset? No, that’s Venus blinding you from the western sky.
The planet Venus reaches greatest eastern elongation. This is the best time to view Venus without having to set your alarm since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky.
Keep your fingers crossed! Every now and then (like in 2008) the Taurid meteor shower — normally modest — produces spectacular fireballs. This year, the new moon will make things nice and dark, increasing the chances of being blinded and wowed by an amazing meteor or two.
The Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from September 7 to December 10. It peaks this year on the the night of November 4. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
Unfortunately the nearly full moon will dominate the sky this year, blocking all but the brightest meteors. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight.
The Leonids is an average shower, producing up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. (So I guess start making plans for November 2033?)
The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from November 6-30. It peaks this year on the night of the 17th and morning of the 18th. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2021.html
In the northern hemisphere, this full moon was known by Native American tribes as the Beaver Moon because this was the time of year to set the beaver traps before the swamps and rivers froze. It has also been known as the Frosty Moon and the Dark Moon.
In the southern hemisphere, this is the Full Flower Moon. Spring is beginning to wake Mother Nature from her cold sleep. Plants in general are usually in full bloom by November and many regions might call this Full Moon by its most popular wild flower or blooming tree name. One such region calls this The Full Orchid Moon.
Hello, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS, and GOODBYE 2021!
Canton (canton@gmail.com) will be researching and adding 2022 calendar events (meteor showers, etc.) during the last week of this month. Feel free to email him any suggestions. Also, if you do your holiday shopping on Amazon, you can support the work of this calendar by starting your shopping spree here: https://amzn.to/36xOpPx (Then click anywhere to buy whatever you intended to buy anyway.)
Starting on or around January 1, 2022, new events should automatically flow into your calendar once they are made available. Moon phases are already in place.
Peace and good health to you,
Canton Becker
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA
Have you been putting off your trip to Antarctica? This might be the right moment. You’ll get close to 24 hours of daylight, with wildlife at its busiest. And a total solar eclipse.
Everywhere else misses out. Parts of southern Africa, including locations in South Africa and Namibia, will benefit from a partial solar eclipse, weather permitting.
UPCOMING TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSES:
April 20, 2023 will be magical for folks in in East Timor and New Guinea…
… but start making plans for April 8, 2024 AKA „The Great North American Eclipse”. This will be BONKERS AWESOME, with totality beginning in Sinaloa, Mexico and continuing all the way across Mexico and melting brains from Dallas Texas to Maine before it winnows out in Canada’s atlantic coast.
SO MANY GREAT GREAT PLACES TO BE FOR THIS EVENT! Mazatlan, Niagara Falls, floating on a boat in Lake Erie or Lake Ontario, the Ozarks, big cities like Indianapolis and Cleveland…
See you there! http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html