2022 celestial events to watch out for

A New Moon happens when the Moon’s in its first phase, when the Earth, the Moon and the Sun are in approximate alignment.

This means they’re lined up, but not perfectly, with the Moon in the middle between the Earth and the Sun.

In this first phase, the side of the Moon facing Earth isn’t illuminated by the Sun’s light and is in darkness, which is why we can’t see the New Moon from Earth.

When New Moons happen, it’s a great time to stargaze and see other faint objects in the sky, such as galaxies, star clusters and meteor showers.

Without any light from the Moon brightening up the night sky, you’ll be able to see these a lot clearer.

Here are the dates of when there’ll be a New Moon the rest of this year:

• 29 June
• 2 July
• 27 August
• 25 September
• 25 October
• 23 November
• 23 December

A Full Moon happens when the Moon reaches its full phase. It’s approximately aligned with the Sun on opposite sides of Earth, allowing the Sun’s light to fully illuminate the Moon’s face.

When this happens, we can see the whole, round Moon beaming in the night sky. At this point, the Moon reaches its closest approach to Earth, making it appear bigger and rounder than usual.

Here’s when there’ll be a Full Moon the rest of this year:

• 13 July
• 12 August
• 10 September
• 9 October
• 8 November
• 8 December

A meteoroid is an object or debris in space, such as bits of rocks and ice, that are ejected from comets as they move in their orbits about the Sun.

When meteoroids enter Earth’s or another planet’s atmosphere at high speed, they burn up and create streaks of light in the night sky. This streak of light is called a meteor.

The meteors, or streaks of light, are often called ‘shooting stars.’

Meteor showers happen when Earth passes through the debris field of a comet or asteroid. They radiate from certain constellations, but they can be visible from anywhere in the night sky if the Moon’s light isn’t too bright.

They often last for a few weeks, but there are only a couple of days when they’ll be visible in the night sky.

If you want to get the best view, it’s best to look up at the sky from a dark location just after midnight, as this is when it’ll be clearest to see meteors.

Make sure to wrap up warm and go somewhere that’s away from light pollution if you can.

There’s a few meteor showers this year to watch out for:

• 29 and 30 July – Delta Aquariid

The Delta Aquariid meteor shower is an average shower, and at its peak, it can create up to 25 meteors an hour. This shower is created by debris from the comets Marsen and Kracht.

The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, but they’ll radiate from the Aquarius constellation.

Unfortunately, this shower is happening at the same time as a Full Moon, meaning the sky will be lit up by the Moon, and it’ll be quite difficult to see the showers. You might be able to see a few bright ones if you’re patient.

The shower will reach its highest point at around 3:30am, but watch out from 2am onwards to increase your chances of seeing the shower.

• 12 and 13 August – Perseids

This is one of the best showers to watch out for, as it’ll be creating up to 100 meteors per hour at its peak.

It’s produced by debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862.

It’s well known for creating lots of bright meteors in the sky, making it one of the favourites among astronomers.

This shower will also be harder to see since there’ll be a Full Moon around the same time, but because these meteors are so bright, there’s still a chance to see some of them.

These meteors will radiate from the Perseus constellation, but they’ll be visible anywhere in the sky.

• 21 and 22 October – Orionids

This shower is one of the most reliable showers and has been observed since ancient times. It’s created from dust grains left behind by Halley’s Comet and radiates from the Orion constellation.

Creating up to 25 meteors at its peak, it’ll be most visible on the night of 21 October and in the early morning of 22 October.

The Halley Comet itself returns to Earth’s vicinity every 75-76 years. It’ll next appear in 2062, so there’s a little while to go yet.

At this time, the Moon will be a thin, crescent shape, leaving the sky mostly in darkness. This’ll make it much easier to spot the shower.

• 4 and 5 November – Taurids

This Taurids shower is longer than the others, and only creates 5 to 10 meteors per hour at its peak.

It’s unusual as it produces two streams, instead of one. The first stream is caused by the dust grains from Asteroid 2004 TG10, and the second one by Comet 2P Encke.

Unfortunately, there’ll be another Full Moon at the shower’s peak, meaning it’ll be hard to see it. You might be able to see some of the brightest meteors if you’re patient.

• 17 and 18 November – Leonids

This shower creates around 15 meteors an hour at its peak, which is the night of 17 November and in the early morning of 18 November.

The Leonids is unique, since it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years when we’re able to see hundreds of meteors an hour. The last time this happened was in 2001, so we’ve not got too long until the next.

The Leonids shower is caused by debris left behind by the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865.

There’ll be a quarter Moon blocking the faint meteors in the shower this year, but we might still be able to spot some of the brightest ones.

• 13 and 14 December – Germinds

Radiating from the Gemini constellation, the Germinds is likely to be the best shower of the year. It’s able to create up to 120 different coloured meteors at its peak.

The 3200 Phaethon asteroid, discovered in 1982, causes the showers by leaving behind debris in its path.

The waning gibbous Moon at the same time this year will block many of the faint meteors. Since the Germinds are so numerous and bright, though, we should still be able to spot the shower in the sky.  

• 22 and 23 December – Ursids

This is the final meteor shower of the year. Created from dust grains left behind by the Comet Tuttle, this minor shower only creates around 5-10 meteors an hour.

The meteors appear to radiate from the Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) in the Ursa Minor constellation.

Since it’s happening around the time of the Winter Solstice,  there’ll be more hours of darkness for stargazing.

As well as Earth, every other planet in our Solar System orbits the Sun.

There are certain times when Earth is directly between the planet and the Sun, which is what we call a planet in 'opposition.' This means, when the Sun sets in the West, the planet will appear in the East.

At sunset is the best time to view and take photos of the planet, as it’s the closest and clearest it’ll appear for us.

Here are the dates when planets will be in opposition this year:

• 14 August – Saturn

With a medium or large-sized telescope, you might be able to see some of Saturn’s rings and a few of its brightest Moons.

• 16 September – Neptune

Since Neptune is so far away from Earth, even the strongest telescopes will only be able to pick up a tiny blue dot in the distance.

• 26 September – Jupiter

Jupiter is the biggest planet in our Solar System, and it might be possible to see some of its cloud bands through a medium-sized telescope.

If you can get your hands on a good pair of binoculars, you might be able to see four of Jupiter’s biggest Moons. They’ll appear as bright dots on either side of the planet.

• 9 November – Uranus

Unfortunately, even the most advanced telescopes will only be able to spot a tiny blue-green dot in the distance.

• 8 December – Mars

With a medium-sized telescope, you’ll be able to spot the darker details on the orange surface of Mars.

• 27 August – Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation

Reaching 27.3 degrees, the planet Mercury will reach its greatest Eastern elongation from the Sun.

This means it’s the best day to try and see Mercury, as it’ll be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky.

Just after sunset, try and spot the planet low in the Western sky.

• 23 September – September Equinox

This is when the Sun shines on Earth’s equator, and they’ll almost be equal amounts of day and night across the whole world. It’s also a day that marks the changing of the seasons.

It’s the first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, and the first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

• 8 October – Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation

Just 18 degrees away, Mercury will be at its greatest Western elongation from the Sun. This means the planet will be at the highest point in the morning sky, making it the best day to see the planet and take photos of it.

Make sure to look at the sky in the East just before sunrise.

• 25 October – Partial Solar Eclipse

Partial solar eclipses happen when the Moon covers part of the Sun.

It’ll be most visible from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and western parts of Asia, particularly western Russia and Kazakhstan. Central Russia will get over 80% coverage of the partial solar eclipse.

You can only safely look at a partial solar eclipse with a special solar filter, or by looking at the Sun’s reflection. It’s very dangerous to look directly at the Sun!

• 8 November – Total Lunar Eclipse

Total lunar eclipses happen when the Moon passes fully though the dark shadow of the Earth, or umbra. This means the Moon will slowly get darker, then appear to have a red colour.

It’ll be visible throughout eastern Russia, Japan, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and parts of western and central North America

• 21 December – December Solstice

On this day, the South Pole of Earth will tilt towards the Sun, reaching its southernmost position in the sky. The Sun will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.44 degrees south latitude.

It’s the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and the first day of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

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