In 2022, the gas giant Jupiter will reach opposition on September 26. For ancient Celts, the Cross Quarter Days marked the beginning of seasons rather than the midseason. PT.) Cross Quarter Day - Imbolc - Sunset Rodwin Chamber, Northern Vermont, USA. There are two total lunar eclipses this year, but if you live on the North American east coast, this months eclipse will be your best bet. Look carefully some seven degrees to the west of Mercury and you might also see the star Aldebaran in the twilight. It is one of the four "cross-quarter" days that mark the mid-points of the astronomical seasons. 2015. Artemis 1 is expected to launch no earlier than February 2022. With that in mind, your best chance of seeing some meteors is probably between 3:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., when Perseus (the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate) is rising high in the northeast and the Moon is setting in the southwest. To catch the most meteors, try looking some distance away from the showers radiant, which is located in the constellation Perseus. May Day, or Beltane, was the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, and marked the beginning of summer for the ancient Celts. Also Yule or Christmastide. February 2nd is an astronomical Cross-Quarter Day, one of four days in the year when the Earth is midway between the the Equinoxes and the Solstices. 22 days ago. Sign up for savings and product announcements. By that time, the Moon will be setting in the west for observers on the east coast, and by the time totality begins at 5:16 a.m. From an astronomical point of view, the four arms represent: Winter Solstice - around December 21st (on the cross above: at 6:00 o'clock). Naval Observatory (USNO) provides a wide range of astronomical data and products, and serves as the official source of time for the U.S. Department of Defense, and a standard of time for the entire U.S. I read it daily. That should give you plenty of time between sunset on the 21st and dawn on the 22nd to see some shooting stars! Here's an example from Northern Vermont, USA. Your pencil should hit both the +16.6 and the -16.6. Meanwhile, about five and a quarter degrees to the west of Venus is coppery Mars. For this article, we will assume that the ancient Celts observed all eight divisions of theyear. Though we recognize animal behavior isnt always the way to judge planting dates, the tradition continues, often with a wink and asmile. To see me thro the barley. It was not until 835 CE that Halloween was celebrated on 31 October (moved from 15 May). If you stayed up late to see the Quadrantids, youll be relieved to know you can have an early night tonight and still enjoy the Moon, Mercury, Saturn, and Jupiter together. It is understood that no pre-Christian people celebrated all eight festivals. On November 8, the second total lunar eclipse of 2022 will occur. The Geminids are a major meteor stream that can produce up to 150 meteors per hour. The second total lunar eclipse of the year takes place in the early hours of the morning - but not everyone in North America will get to see it. After making an appearance in the evening sky at the beginning of the year, Mercury is now best seen in the morning sky. During the mission, the Luna 25 spacecraft will land near the lunar south pole at the Boguslavsky crater and study the composition of the polar regolith. 2022 is a great year to see the planets huddled close together - if you don't mind getting up early to see them! The ExoMars 2022 mission is planned for launch in September 2022. Youll find it to the lower left of Castor and Pollux in Gemini, the two bright stars that mark their namesake twins. The Celtic fire holidays are a few days to a week earlier than the actual cross quarters. 1. The solar cross-quarter days occur midway between the equinoxes and solstices. If it was cloudy and dark, warmth and rain would thaw out the fields and have them ready forplanting. (The English church later celebrated this day as the birthday of John the Baptist, who foretold the birth of Jesus exactly six months later.) "In traditional astronomy, there are eight major seasonal subdivisions of every year," EarthSky shares. Scientists believe that this asteroid could be the iron core of a protoplanet the size of Mars. Grab your binoculars and start scanning the east-southeastern horizon at about 20 minutes before sunrise; the pair is about 22 degrees to the lower left of Venus, and at magnitude -0.1, Mercury is the brighter of the two (Saturn is magnitude 0.8.) The quarter days are loosely based on or named after the Germanic pagan festivals and the cross-quarter days are similarly inspired by the Gaelic fire festivals. Winter Solstice 2022: The First Day of Winter. Fall Astronomy Day occurs sometime between mid-September and mid-October. Draw lines B/L-I/s and I/s-B/L. The U.S. If youve been rising early over the past few weeks, you may have noticed Jupiter creeping away from the Sun and into the morning twilight. Its moving among the faint stars of western Virgo, so there are no other bright stars nearby, and the Moon wont pass through the area until after Mercury has disappeared from view. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. The Perseids are, probably, the most popular meteor shower at least in the Northern Hemisphere, where they peak during warm summer nights. The first of the two will occur on May 16 and will be visible throughout all of North America, Greenland, and parts of western Europe and western Africa. The bright star Spica appears 9 degrees to the west of the Moon. Be sure to compare the colors of the planets; Saturn appears a pale yellow, Mars is coppery, Venus is a brilliant white and Jupiter is pale gold. The Greater Sabbats; Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lammas, fall on dates that represent high energy in the season. October 5, 1582 became October 15. However, the show continues for observers on the west coast, with totality ending at 6:41 a.m. December 2022, Celestron AstroMaster 114 EQ - 114 mm Newtonian Reflector Telescope on Equatorial Mount, Celestron AstroMaster 114 mm Newtonian Reflector on Equatorial Mount - 31042 - Used -SOLD, Celestron AstroMaster 114 EQ Newtonian Reflector on Equatorial Mount - 31042 - Used - SOLD, Celestron AstroMaster 114 EQ - 114 mm Newtonian Reflector Telescope on Equatorial Mount - Used, David Levy 11" Planisphere for 30-60 Degrees North - 11E, LIVE Views of the Lunar Eclipse | May 15, 2022, LIVE Views of the Lunar Eclipse | November 19, 2021, What's in the Sky this Month | March 2023. Tomorrow, May 1 st is also known as May Day, which is one such holiday. The Yin Fire Goat still governs the remaining days of July. August. ET (11:50 p.m. PT). Keep your eye on the two planets over the next few days. For the ancient Celts, these signaled the beginning (not middle) of a season, with the major two divisions being winter (Samhain), starting the dark half of the year, and summer (Beltane), starting the light half of theyear. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. At Stonehenge, the emphasis on the solstices embedded into the architecture in the form of the principal axis and its orientation strongly suggests a solar-based system. ET on the 18th. ExoMars is a joint program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos. However, some of the Perseid meteors are so bright that you could manage to see them regardless. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into the central part of the Earths shadow called the umbra. This year (as in most years) that honor belongs to Septembers full Moon, but it can sometimes go to Octobers full Moon instead. In this article, well tell you about space-related events that you shouldnt miss in 2022. Put the point of your compass on E2. The Cross-Quarter Days are somewhat more movable. Mars has been drawing closer to the Pleiades over the past few weeks, and now the pair is within the same binocular field of view. With that in mind, and given the long winter nights in the northern hemisphere, many observers prefer this shower over its summer counterpart. Step outside at about 30 minutes before sunrise and youll find the crescent Moon hanging below a trio of planets. We appreciate yourenthusiasm! ! Its fascinating to us how our modern holidays reflect the rich fabric of ourpast. Mars is the last planet to reach opposition in 2022, and depending on where you live, it could either happen on the 7th or the 8th of December. Section 3: Select the year or year and month of the calendar. This meteor shower is capable of producing up to 100 meteors per hour. Under ideal conditions, you can expect to see about 25 shooting stars an hour. This month's Cross-Quarter Day is called Groundhog Day in the USA, and I'll bet that 99.9% of the population has no idea of its astronomical origins. East Coast observers will . May brings us a total lunar eclipse, June has the closest full Moon of the year, while July gives us a rare opportunity to see Mars and Uranus within the same binocular field of view - but once again, in the morning sky! The Quadrantids radiant is located in the constellation Bootes, but meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. On October 25, the second partial solar eclipse of 2022 will occur. If youve been keeping your eye on Mars over the past few weeks, youll have seen it moving toward the V-shaped Hyades star cluster in Taurus. Tonight, however, it can be seen to the lower left of Jupiter, which is still shining brightly nearly two weeks after reaching opposition. The two now fit within the same binocular field of view and will remain that way for the next week or so. If youve been keeping a watchful eye on Venus and Mars over the past few weeks, youll have seen them drawing closer together in the predawn twilight. Do the same with I/s3 and I/s3. Since the solstices and equinoxes can shift slightly from year to year, so can the cross quarter dates when using this method. In 2022, there will be two total lunar eclipses. Mid-April sees all the naked eye planets, bar Mercury, visible in the morning twilight, with all four (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) fairly evenly spaced over the southeastern horizon. ET (8:29 p.m. PT) to 12:53 a.m. The 4 lesser Sabbats or quarter holidays are the two solstices and two equinoxes. Unfortunately, in 2022, observation conditions will be far from ideal due to the Full Moon shining in the sky. NASAs mission Psyche was named after its object of study the large metallic asteroid 16 Psyche located in the main asteroid belt. PT.) ET (10:55 p.m. PT) with the entire eclipse ending at 2:50 a.m. This angle is set by Earth's axial tilt. Through binoculars, it appears as a blue-green star, while a small telescope will show a tiny disc at around 100x. this year September has 5 weeks (two of which are incomplete (the first day in September fell on a Wednesday and the last Wednesday in September is the 29th (5 weeks la. These are currently the three brightest objects in the sky and with just four degrees between the Moon and Jupiter and 3.2 degrees between Jupiter and Venus, the trio should easily fit within the same field of view of almost any 10x50 binoculars. About five and a half degrees will separate the two for the next three days, with the gap widening to five and three-quarter degrees by the 23rd. Either way, youll need binoculars to detect Uranus, as it will be too faint to be seen with the naked eye. See more of Sri Lanka Astronomical Association on Facebook. The partial phase then ends at 1:55 a.m. NOTE: While these events have been compiled with North American observers in mind, the majority can also be seen throughout the rest of the world. Theyll continue to draw closer together until August 2nd when the pair will be just a little over a degree and a quarter apart. In looking at orientations, in addition to those of the Quarter Days, some sacred sites on both sides of the Big Pond are oriented towards these Cross-Quarter Days. Leo, the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate, starts to rise at around midnight, with the Moon following close to 2 a.m. Just three-quarters of a degree separate the pair, but with both just five or six degrees above the horizon (and with such a short time before sunrise) theyll be difficult to spot. Custom programming and server maintenance by Reinvented Inc. What Are the Quarter Days and What Do They Mean? With the Moon near the bottom of the field of view, Uranus will appear as a bluish star above the Moon, near the top of the field of view. At an altitude of about 16 degrees at that time, the planet will be reasonably high above the horizon, but there are no bright stars or planets nearby to help you find it. Originally, this daywas called Imbolc (lambs milk) because the lambing season began. After centering the Moon in your binoculars, try moving them down toward the horizon and see if Mercury appears. The true cross-quarter day falls on November 7, representing a discrepancy of about a week. ET (9:53 p.m. Saturn is the first of the outer planets to reach opposition this year. These days marked the midpoint between eachsolstice andequinox. Blue-Green star, while a small telescope will show a tiny disc at 100x. That Halloween was celebrated on 31 October ( moved from 15 May ) to 150 meteors per hour out! Such holiday ideal due to the west of Mercury and you might also see star. 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