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CINCINNATI – In 2020, backyard astronomers were treated to a surprise guest in comet NEOWISE and a full moon lit up on Halloween night.
Astronomers in Patagonia marveled at a total solar eclipse, and the planets Jupiter and Saturn came together in a unique conjunction.
What does the sky have in store for 2021? Mark your calendar because the first event of the year is less than two weeks away. Venus will appear next to the moon on January 11 as it moves behind the sun. Two lunar eclipses are also expected in 2021, one in spring and another in fall. And, the Perseid meteor shower will light up the sky again in August.
Here are the must-see astronomical events of the year:
Moon passing through
If you see a bright star next to the moon at night, there is a good chance it is a planet. Just before sunrise on January 11, face southeast and just above the horizon you will see a thin crescent moon to the right of the dazzling Venus.
Venus will then slowly make its way behind the sun and become invisible for several months. It will appear in the evening sky at the end of May and burn like the brightest star-shaped object all summer and fall.
On January 20 and 21, it will be the turn of March. The first quarter moon will pass through the red planet on each of these nights. Our two largest planets receive a guest in the morning sky as the moon approaches Saturn on April 6 and Jupiter on April 7.
Planets of love and war
In July, the planets Venus and Mars will appear very close together in the sky.
On July 11 just after sunset, Mars, Venus, and the crescent moon will align. And on July 12 and 13, the planets of love and war will only be about half a degree apart. In fact, you may be able to see both planets at the same time through a small telescope.
Mercury, always a difficult planet to find because it rarely moves away from the reflections of the sun, will make its best appearance right after sunset in May. Mercury’s season of observation begins on May 13 when it is next to the moon and ends on May 28 after close conjunction with Venus.
Two lunar eclipses
A total lunar eclipse is one of the coolest astronomical events to watch – the moon enters Earth’s shadow and can take on all of the weird shades of orange and red.
On the morning of May 26, there will be a lunar eclipse, but what you see depends on where you live. From the Midwest, the eclipse will start just as the moon sets, so you will only see a partial eclipse. The east coast will be greatly missed. The further west you live, the more you’ll see. People living in the mountain time zone will see most of it while residents of the west coast will see a total eclipse.
On November 19, the moon will enter Earth’s shadow for the second time in 2021. Although it is not a total lunar eclipse, at its peak, over 97% of the moon will be blocked . It is possible that the moon is getting dark enough that you will see a small pinkish glow on one side of the lunar surface that morning. Better yet, this partial lunar eclipse will be visible across the whole of the United States.
The tiny eclipse and the best meteor shower
On June 10, the moon will block part of the sun in what is called an annular solar eclipse. It’s best seen from northern Canada, but the states between Minnesota and Virginia and much of the northeastern United States might see a small burst of sun eclipsed on this day.
The best meteor shower of the year may be the Perseids, which will peak on August 12 and 13. The Perseid meteor shower occurs every year, and with the moon widely out of the way, you can see between 10 and 20 meteor streaks across the sky per hour.
Dean Regas is the Cincinnati Observatory astronomer and author of the books “100 Things to See in the Night Sky” and “Space Facts!” He can be reached at [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 2021 Space Events Include Lunar Eclipses, Meteor Showers
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