▶ A total solar eclipse occurs on April 8, when the moon enters the circle of the sun.
Last year, Seattle-area residents witnessed a mysterious celestial spectacle, including a shower of shooting stars, a pair of planets and a partial solar eclipse. Once again this year you will be able to admire spectacular displays in the night sky, including long-tailed comets, stellar conjunctions and nebulae forming new stars. However, binoculars and good weather are essential conditions. The Seattle Times, with the help of astronomy writer John Jardine Goss, has presented the following list of the top 10 astronomy shows worth seeing this year.
▲March 14-24, about 40 minutes after sunset, western sky: Mercury, which is closest to the Sun and usually invisible, appears bright during this time as its distance from the Sun increases.
▲April 8, 10:38am to 12:23am: The Moon enters the circle of the Sun and a total solar eclipse occurs. However, in Seattle, the moon appears as a partial eclipse, covering only about 20 percent of the sun. You must wear sunscreen to protect your eyesight.
▲April 10-11, after 9pm, northwestern sky: Jupiter approaches the dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster and the larger V-shaped Hyades star cluster. It’s a magical scene, so it’s definitely worth seeing.
▲July 30-31, 4-4:30, eastern sky: The crescent moon is close to bright Jupiter, red Mars, Aldebaran, the main star of the Hyades cluster, and the Pleiades cluster.
▲August 14, 1-5, eastern sky: Mars passes Jupiter at a narrower interval than the full Moon. It is an unmissable scene due to the brightness of the two planets, their distance from each other and the fact that they can be seen with the naked eye.
▲September 17, 7-8:16 pm: After sunset, Earth’s shadow covers about 9% of the moon, resulting in an extremely small partial lunar eclipse.
▲October 14-24, western sky after sunset: Comet Ciqinshan-Atlas crosses the night sky, trailing a long bright tail. If all conditions are favorable, it will be the greatest astronomical spectacle of the year, but if the weather is bad, it will be in vain.
▲November 12, around 5:30 pm, southwest sky: After sunset, Venus, faintly visible on the horizon, approaches with a mysterious glow in the upper right. The “M8” nebula is forming a new star.
▲November 4 and December 4, 5.15pm, southwest sky: The crescent moon pairs twice with bright Venus. This phenomenon happens almost every year.
▲After 10 pm on December 5, east-northeast sky: Mars breaks through the honeycomb cluster. In reality, Mars is tens of millions of miles from Earth, but the Hive cluster is a full 600 light-years from Earth.
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