The Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF): Observations, Prospects for the Next 15 Years, and their Relevance to Native American Tribes
The comet will make its close approach to the sun on January 12. The comet, spotted by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, is named C/2022 E3 (ZTF) and will make its closest pass of Earth on February 2.
The celestial event is typically among the strongest meteor showers and is expected to peak overnight January 3 and 4, according to the American Meteor Society. Sky-gazers in the Northern Hemisphere can best view the shower between the late-night hours of Tuesday and dawn on Wednesday.
On any given day, there is always a good chance that the International Space Station is flying overhead. The Old Farmer’s Almanac has a calculator that can be used to determine the number of planets visible in the morning or evening sky.
The term blue moon refers to the second full moon in a month. The months and moon phases don’t always align since most of our months last 30 or 31 days. This results in a blue moon about every 2.5 years.
There are 12 full moons per year but in the next 15 years there will be 13 and two of them will be supermoons. Supermoons are brighter and closer to Earth than normal and therefore appear larger in the sky.
Each one has its own significance to each Native American tribe, with many also referred to by differing names.
The Quadrantid Shower: An Event for the New Year to be Celebrated and Learn to Look Out for the Rainfall of the Sun and the Moon
On April 20 there will be a solar eclipse visible to people in Australia, Southeast Asia andAntarctica. The moon blocking out the sun happens when it moves between the sun and Earth.
Meanwhile, a lunar eclipse can occur only during a full moon when the sun, Earth and moon align and the moon passes into Earth’s shadow. When this occurs, Earth casts two shadows on the moon during the eclipse. The penumbra is a partial shadow, while the umbra is the full shadow.
The full moon will not disappear, even when it moves into Earth’s shadow. Instead, sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere lights the moon in a dramatic fashion, turning it red — which is why the event is often referred to as a “blood moon.”
It could be a rusty or brick red if it’s raining in your area. As sunlight passes through our atmosphere and casts red light on the moon, blue light will become stronger, so red light will be the main color highlighted.
For people in North America, the new year begins with the annual Quadrantid shower, which is expected to peak in the night hours on January 3 and 4.
Find an open area with a wide view of the sky. You should have a chair and blanket in order to look straight up. And give your eyes about 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness — without looking at your phone — so the meteors will be easier to spot.
Predictions for the shower’s peak range from 10:40 p.m. to 1:40 a.m. ET (3:40 a.m. to 6:40 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time). The later time favors those in the eastern part of North America and the earlier time is more favorable for observers across Europe. The Quadrantids won’t be visible in the Southern Hemisphere because the shower’s radiant point doesn’t rise that high in its sky before dawn.
Take a look at the website of Time and Date to find out if you will be able to watch the event. The Virtual Telescope Project will also have a live stream of the shower over Rome.
The name of the meteor shower sounds weird because it doesn’t sound like it’s related to a constellation. That’s because the Quadrantids’ namesake constellation no longer exists — at least, not as a recognized constellation.
The constellation Quadrans Muralis, first observed and noted in 1795 between Boötes and Draco, is no longer included in the International Astronomical Union’s list of modern constellations because it’s considered obsolete and isn’t used as a landmark for celestial navigation anymore, according to EarthSky.
Seeking the Venus-Jupiter Conjunction in the Night Sky and Moonbows in the Old Farmer’s Almanac
The best time to spot the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the US will be early evening on Wednesday, but the two planets will continue to appear close together in the night sky on Thursday, he added. The conjunction is visible to the naked eye.
Conjunctions between planets happen frequently because the celestial bodies orbit around the sun in approximately the same plane as one another and trace similar paths across our sky.
NASA said that the planets will appear in the western sky around 6:58 pm, as evening twilight ends on the East Coast of the US.
They are supposed to be about half a degree apart, which is around the size of a full moon.
According to an astronomer at an observatory in Italy, Jupiter and Venus are the best objects in the sky after the moon. He plans to show the kiss between Venus and Jupiter.
The next full moon will occur on Tuesday, March 7, and that evening, Venus, Jupiter and Mars will also be visible in the night sky, NASA said. Its sometimes referred to as the crow, crust, sugar, or moon worm.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac states that the March moon is called the worm moon by Native American tribes because of how different creatures arise from their winter hideout to welcome spring. Someone could catch a stunning planetary phenomenon by looking up.
People who get a little rain on Monday or Tuesday night might also get to spot a moonbow, which is like a solar rainbow but produced by moonlight when it’s refracted through water droplets in the air, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. When the full moon is in the sky you can look for moonbows after the sun sets.