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Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Look up! What's going on in the May night sky?
Eyes to the sky for the month of May, for a chance to spot pieces of Halley's Comet streaking by overhead. Here is the Astronomical Guide to May 2025: May 3-4 — Mars near the Waxing Crescent Moon May 4 — First Quarter Moon May 5-6 — eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks May 12-13 — Full Flower Moon May 20 — Last Quarter Moon May 22-24 — Waning Crescent Moon near Saturn and Venus May 27 — New Moon May 28 — eta Aquariid meteor shower ends May 31 — Mars near the Waxing Crescent MoonThe astronomical events for May 2025, including the phases of the Moon, planetary conjunctions, and meteor showers. (Scott Sutherland, moon graphics from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, conjunctions courtesy Stellarium) The Waxing Crescent Moon will be in the western sky from the first to the third of the month, in the hours just after sunset. Look on the night of the 3rd to see it near the planet Mars and the Beehive Cluster. The First Quarter Moon is on the 4th, with a Waxing Gibbous Moon passing through our skies each night after until the Full Flower Moon on the night of the 12th to 13th. This Flower Moon is the final micromoon of 2025. As this Full Moon is farther away from Earth than a typical Full Moon, it will appear smaller and dimmer in the sky. Check it out just after sunset or just before sunrise, though, for it to look substantially larger, thanks to the mysterious Moon Illusion. Passing through its Waning Gibbous phase from the 13th to the 19th, the Last Quarter Moon will occur on the 20th. The Waning Crescent Moon can then be seen in the predawn sky each morning from the 21st through the 26th. Check it out, low in the sky along the eastern horizon, on the mornings of the 22nd through 24th to catch it passing by the planets Venus and Saturn. The Crescent Moon passes by the planets Venus and Saturn in the predawn sky from May 22nd through 24th. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) The New Moon is on the 27th, giving us our darkest skies of the month. It's a great time for stargazing! After which the cycle begins again as the Waxing Crescent Moon will once again grace our evening skies until the end of the month. See it near the planet Mars again on the night of the 31st. DON'T MISS: Spring Constellations dominate the night sky during the month of May. To the south, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Serpens/Ophiuchus, and Aquila are visible in the evening sky each night, with Hydra stretching across much of the horizon as well. The constellations in the southern sky at midnight on May 15, 2025. (Stellarium) After midnight, Sagittarius, Capricornus, and Aquarius follow along, with Pisces rising towards dawn. To the north, Cassiopeia, Ursa Major ("The Big Dipper"), and Ursa Minor ("The Little Dipper") remain the easiest constellations to pick out, as they circle the north celestial pole. The constellations in the northern sky at midnight on May 15, 2025. (Stellarium) Cygnus, Hercules, Boötes, and Draco also feature prominently. SPACE WEATHER: Back on April 19, Earth crossed into a stream of dusty debris in space, left behind by famous Halley's Comet. This began the yearly eta Aquariid meteor shower. Although it started off slowly through the latter half of April, this shower quickly reaches its peak once we transition into May. According to NASA, the best time to view the eta Aquariids is between May 3rd and 9th. However, the morning of May 6 is when the meteor shower peaks. The radiant of the eta Aquariid meteor shower — the location in the sky where the meteors appear to originate from — in the predawn hours of May 6, 2025. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) The 'radiant' of the shower only crests the eastern horizon just after 3 a.m., local time. As a result, the eta Aquariids are definitely an 'early riser' meteor shower, and it only offers a short window each morning to see it. During the peak, from around 3 a.m. through morning twilight on the 6th, observers with a clear, dark sky could see anywhere from 20-40 meteors per hour. Give yourself about 20 minutes without any exposure to bright light (including your smartphone) for your eyes to adjust to the dark. Then, look straight up, taking in as much of the sky above as possible, as their brief flashes can show up at any point overhead. Urban light pollution will reduce the number of visible meteors, as the glare of illumination from buildings, street lights, and signs 'washes out' the sky, so only the brightest meteors can shine through. Fortunately, with the Waxing Gibbous Moon setting in the west just as the eta Aquariid radiant rises in the east, the sky should be free from lunar light pollution, providing excellent viewing conditions for the show. However, check your weather forecast before going out, to ensure that the sky above you isn't overcast, so at least some portion of the sky is available to watch for meteors. READ MORE: One fascinating phenomenon we can see with the eta Aquariids is 'persistent trains' — a glowing trail left behind after a meteor winks out, which can persist in the air for anywhere from minutes to hours. Four frames taken from a persistent train video, shot on October 21, 2022, show the initial Orionid meteor flash, and three views of the persistent train that developed in its wake. (Brenda Tate/Tim Doucette/UGC) Exactly what causes persistent trains is still something of a mystery. Meteor scientists (meteoriticists) have some hypotheses, but the phenomenon has been difficult to study in detail, as it has only rarely being captured on camera. Although the eta Aquariids peak early in the month, this shower has a very long 'tail' to it. Even though NASA recommends seeing the shower up until the 9th, we can still spot bits of Halley's Comet occasionally streaking through the predawn sky right up until Earth exits the comet's debris stream on May 28. Click here to view the video
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Look up! What's going on in the April night sky?
Eyes to the sky for the month of April, for a chance to spot debris from two different comets streaking through our night skies, and the smallest Full Moon of 2025. The Astronomical Guide to April 2025: April 4-5 — First Quarter Moon April 5-6 — Mars near the Waxing Gibbous Moon April 12-13 — Full Pink Moon April 14 — Lyrid meteor shower begins April 19 — eta Aquariid meteor shower begins April 20-21 — Last Quarter Moon April 21 — Mercury highest above eastern horizon before dawn April 21-22 — Lyrid meteor shower peaks April 24,25 — Mercury, Venus, and Saturn near Waning Crescent Moon April 27 — New Moon, Venus at its brightest April 30 — Lyrid meteor shower endsThe astronomical events for April 2025, including the phases of the Moon, planetary conjunctions, and meteor showers. (Scott Sutherland, moon graphics from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, planet conjunctions courtesy Stellarium) The Waxing Crescent Moon will be in the western sky each night to start off the month, until the First Quarter Moon on the 5th. The second week of the month will feature a Waxing Gibbous Moon until the night of the 12th-13th, when the Full Pink Moon will rise — the farthest, smallest, and dimmest Full Moon of 2025. Passing through its Waning Gibbous phase from the 13th to the 20th, we will see the Last Quarter Moon on the 21st. The Waning Crescent Moon can be seen in the predawn sky each morning after until the New Moon on the 27th. Although we will not see it, this will be the closest 'super' New Moon of this year. DON'T MISS: Spring Constellations are taking over across the night sky during the month of April. To the south, Orion is still visible in the western sky each evening, with Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Serpens/Ophiuchus following along throughout the night. The constellations in the southern sky at midnight on April 15, 2025. (Stellarium) To the north, Cassiopeia, Ursa Major ("The Big Dipper"), and Ursa Minor ("The Little Dipper") are still the easiest constellations to pick out, with Hercules and Draco featuring prominently as well. The constellations in the northern sky at midnight on April 15, 2025. (Stellarium) SPACE WEATHER: After over three months of waiting, the yearly 'meteor shower drought' between January and April ends this month. The Lyrids On the night of the 14th, Earth enters a stream of debris in space left behind by comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher). The tiny meteoroids in this stream will produce meteors in our night sky, which appear to originate from the constellation Lyra. This is the annual Lyrid meteor shower. The Lyrids start out sparse, with maybe one or two meteors per hour, for the first few days of the shower. This number will increase as we approach the most concentrated part of the stream, until the shower peaks at around 20 meteors per hour on the night of the 21st through the 22nd. After the peak, the number of meteors diminishes until Earth exits Comet Thatcher's debris stream on the 30th. The radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower in the eastern sky on the night of April 21-22. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) The timing of the Lyrids peak, with respect to the phases of the Moon, is fairly good this year. On the night of the peak, the meteor shower radiant rises at around 9:30 p.m., and a Waning Crescent Moon will appear above the horizon around 4 in the morning. That leaves most of the night with a dark, moonless sky, and even the light of the Crescent Moon shouldn't spoil the show. This is good news, because the Lyrids typically produce about 20 meteors per hour during their peak, so we can use all the help we can get to spot as many of them as possible. One exceptional thing about this meteor shower is that the meteoroid debris from Comet Thatcher hits the top of Earth's atmosphere at exceptionally fast speeds, around 100,000 km/h. Thus, anything larger than a grain of dust in the stream tends to produce a bright fireball that can easily be spotted, even during a Full Moon! The eta Aquariids On April 19, a second meteor shower begins, as Earth crosses into a second debris stream in space, this time left behind by famous Halley's Comet! This begins the eta Aquariid meteor shower. As with the Lyrids, the eta Aquariids begin with just a few meteors per hour, visible in the few hours just before morning twilight. We won't see this meteor shower peak until early May, though. The radiant of the eta Aquariid meteor shower in the predawn hours of May 6, 2025. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland) One fascinating phenomenon we tend to see with the eta Aquariids is something called 'persistent trains'. These are glowing trails left behind after the meteor winks out, which can persist in the air for anywhere from minutes to hours. Four frames taken from a persistent train video, shot on October 21, 2022, show the initial Orionid meteor flash, and three views of the persistent train that developed in its wake. (Brenda Tate/Tim Doucette/UGC) Exactly what causes these persistent trains is still something of a mystery. The problem, mostly, is that they have only rarely been recorded, so researchers only have a few examples to study. (Thumbnail image courtesy Fiona Donnelly who captured this Lyrid meteor along with the Northern Lights in April of 2017.)
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
What will the partial solar eclipse of March 2025 look like from space?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A partial solar eclipse will come to Earth on Saturday, March 29, 2025, as the moon passes in front of the sun. From Earth, photographers will capture images of a bite being taken out of the sun. From space, a fleet of satellites will image a shadow being cast across Earth. The moon projects two kinds of shadows at all times. There's a large fuzzy outer shadow, called the penumbra, and a much smaller, darker central shadow, the umbra. The latter causes a total solar eclipse, which is seen across a dark and narrow corridor on Earth called the path of totality. That's not what's happening on March 29, when only the moon's penumbra will touch Earth. Related: Where will the partial solar eclipse be visible in March 2025? Although a partial eclipse will be seen from Europe, western Africa, eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S., satellites will see a dark shadow across the Atlantic Ocean that will blend with the night side of Earth. Why? It's down to where the moon's penumbral shadow will be darkest. This partial solar eclipse is so very early as a total solar eclipse. At its maximum point in the Nunavik region of Quebec, Canada, observers will see 94% of the sun blocked by the moon at sunrise. This is where the eclipse shadow will be at its darkest. As the penumbra spreads across Europe, where only a relatively slight eclipse will be seen, the moon's shadow will be much lighter and thus harder for satellites to show. The shadow of a solar eclipse always moves from west to east even though the sun, the moon and stars appear to rise in the east and set in the west. That's because the moon orbits in the same direction as Earth's rotation, but at 2,300 miles per hour (3,700 kilometers per hour), it travels twice as fast, according to Ernie Wright at NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. Earth's curvature further increases the speed of the shadow. Geostationary weather and environmental monitoring satellites orbiting 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) from Earth tend to capture the best images of an eclipse shadow. Satellites to look out for, which in the past have imaged solar eclipses, including GOES-16, Copernicus Sentinel-3 and Himawari. It's also possible that astronauts aboard the International Space Station will image the eclipse, as they did during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. For that, follow astrophotographer-astronaut Don Petit, who's currently on the ISS and sending back spectacular imagery.
