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Spending time with the sky, leaning back to regard the stars, always rewards us with a feeling of connection to our universe and a renewed commitment to experiencing awe. And coming up in 2024, we have amazing stargazing to look forward to, as reported by Thrillist. The biggest and most exciting news is the total solar eclipse in April—you may wish to book tickets now to be in the path of totality and experience this like a true Astrotourist; it’s the first time we’ll have a total solar eclipse since 2017! But let’s take a look at some of the other sky-based phenomena we can look forward to (there’s a partial lunar eclipse in October, for instance. Go partial moon!)
Quadrantids Meteor Shower
Just around the corner to rescue us from the post-holiday doldrums is the Quandrantids Meteor Shower, peaking January 3 and 4. At the height, you may be able to see as many as 40 meteors per hour, despite the waning gibbous moon, which will steal a lot of the sky’s darkness.
Total Solar Eclipse
This is the thing to get out of your mind excited about, and maybe even book a trip to Carbondale, Illinois for viewing since it’s the eclipse capital! It will be a glorious four minutes if, hopefully, we get clear skies to see it. It happens on April 8, a Monday, so clear your calendar.
Lyrids Meteor Shower
The Lyrids meteor shower should show us about 20 meteors per hour under good circumstances, but darn it, a full moon will be interfering again. These peak April 22 and 23.
Eta Aquariids Meteor Shower
When are they estimated to arrive? Ha ha. The Eta Aquarids should have 30 meteors per hour for us folks in the northern hemisphere (book travel south of the equator to catch a whopping 60 meteors per hour). The show peaks May 6 and 7, and the moon, thankfully, is a new moon, making stars more visible. Question: is it aquarids or aquariids? Even NASA can’t decide, with both spellings in one article.
Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower
Delta delta delta! This shower isn’t predicted to be very visible, but you can still try, especially on July 28 and 29.
Perseids Meteor Shower
This is one of the major falling star showers, which peaks on August 12 and 13 but can be visible starting as early as July 17 and ending by August 24. These are our long-running marathon stars. Despite the conditions not being ideal, you will probably be able see at least some of the up to 60 shooting stars per hour.
Hands in the air for the Supermoon Trifecta
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a supermoon times three! This fall, we’ll be able to see this awesomeness on September 18, October 17, and November 15. What is a supermoon? It’s just the term for when a full moon occurs when it’s at its closest point to the earth, making it appear bigger and brighter and fabulous to the hilt.
Partial Lunar Eclipse
You’ll get to see a cool shadow on the moon on September 18 with this partial lunar eclipse.
Annular Solar Eclipse
Cue up Johnny Cash; this is a ring of fire eclipse where the moon passes in front of the sun, giving us a view of a burning ring of fire that you can fall into (be aware: it burns, burns, burns). You’ll have to head to Hawai’i to see this one on October 2, though, as it focuses more on that swath of the Pacific Ocean and South American countries.
Draconids Meteor Shower
Don’t take draconian measures; these Draconids just show us around 10 meteors an hour, peaking October 7.
Orionids Meteor Shower
Ramping things up, the Orionids will be visible with up to 20 shooting stars per hour during peak times on October 21 and 22. We’re not even going to mention that the waning gibbous moon causing trouble, though.
Taurids Meteor Shower
Two different shows to choose from! September 7 to December 10 has a meager showcase showdown of five to 10 meteors per hour, but from November 4 to 5, you can see more.
Leonids Meteor Shower
The moon’s really not on our side. While the Leonids can display up to 15 meteors per hour during the peak times of November 17 and 18, there will be a nearly full moon at this time lighting up the sky. Tsk tsk.
Geminids Meteor Shower
Same deal! Nearly full moon. But heyyyyyy this shower has up to 120 meteors per hour, whether or not we get to see them, during the peak of December 13 and 14.
Ursids Meteor Shower
The last shower of 2024, and it’s a minor one. But during the peak of December 21 and 22, we are instead focused on Winter Solstice and other holiday plans, so it’s all good. We’ll catch a falling star and put it in our pocket, save it for a rainy 2025 day.
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