IPAS membership will provide daytime solar and evening celestial observing each day for event attendees.

The Ningaloo Eclipse : This hybrid solar eclipse takes its name from an Aboriginal word. The path of totality passes over North West Cape, a remote peninsula of Western Australia. Only about 375,000 people in the world are expected to be able to see this from their backyard.

A hybrid solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is almost too close to the Earth to completely block the Sun. This type of eclipse will appear as a total eclipse to some parts of the world and will appear annular to others.

Before you jump on a plane to North West Cape or East Timor, you might want to check out the safety and travel advisories…

… OR start making travel plans for the GREAT ECLIPSE OF APRIL 2024, a once-in-a-lifetime event especially for folks living in Mexico and the USA.

Huzzah! Nice dark skies this year. Late evening April 21 until dawn April 22 – or late evening April 22 until dawn April 23 – will be best.

The Lyrid meteor shower – April’s shooting stars – lasts from about April 15 to 29. About 10 to 15 meteors per hour can be expected around the shower’s peak, in a dark sky. The Lyrids are known for uncommon surges that can sometimes bring the rate up to 100 per hour. Those rare outbursts aren’t easy to predict, but they’re one of the reasons the tantalizing Lyrids are worth checking out. The radiant for this shower is near the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra.

Boo! Full moon falls at the peak of the 2023 Eta Aquariid shower, promising to drown out all but the brightest shooting stars. If you want to try watching in moonlight, try the mornings of May 5, 6 and 7, 2023, in the hours *before dawn*.

Like the Eta Aquariids in May, the Delta Aquariid meteor shower in July favors the Southern Hemisphere and tropical latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s well viewed from latitudes like the southern U.S. These faint meteors appear to radiate from near the star Skat, aka Delta Aquarii, in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. The maximum hourly rate can reach 15 to 20 meteors in a dark sky. The nominal peak is around July 29-30, but, unlike many meteor showers, the Delta Aquarids lack a very definite peak. Instead, these medium-speed meteors ramble along fairly steadily throughout late July and early August. You’ll see plenty of Delta Aquariids mixed in with Perseids, if you’re watching in early August, and from a southerly latitude. An hour or two before dawn is usually the best time to watch the Delta Aquariids.

This shower is produced by debris left behind by comets Marsden and Kracht. The shower runs annually from July 12 to August 23.

The full moon arrives just after the peak of this year’s Delta Aquarids, so take advantage of the moon-free MORNINGS in late July for watching the Delta Aquariids (and early Perseids).

The rather faint Delta Aquariid meteors will fall most abundantly in the pre-dawn hours. Like the Eta Aquariids in May, the Delta Aquariid meteor shower in July favors the Southern Hemisphere and tropical latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s well viewed from latitudes like the southern U.S. These faint meteors appear to radiate from near the star Skat, aka Delta Aquarii, in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer. The maximum hourly rate can reach 15 to 20 meteors in a dark sky. The nominal peak is around July 29-30, but, unlike many meteor showers, the Delta Aquarids lack a very definite peak. Instead, these medium-speed meteors ramble along fairly steadily throughout late July and early August. You’ll see plenty of Delta Aquariids mixed in with Perseids, if you’re watching in early August, and from a southerly latitude. An hour or two before dawn is usually the best time to watch the Delta Aquariids.

This shower is produced by debris left behind by comets Marsden and Kracht. The shower runs annually from July 12 to August 23.

The moon will be a waning crescent and only 10% illuminated during 2023’s peak of the Perseid meteor shower. Good watching! Although the predicted peak falls during the night of August 11-12, it has a long range: from July 14 to September 1. So, you can start watching for these meteors in early August morning hours, when the moon is waxing and will set before the night is over. You can also look after the peak in August, after sunset, as the moon rises later and later each night.

The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most beloved meteor shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a rich meteor shower, and it’s steady. These swift and bright meteors radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus the Hero. As with all meteor shower radiant points, you don’t need to know Perseus to watch the shower. Instead, the meteors appear in all parts of the sky. These meteors frequently leave persistent trains. Perseid meteors tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into midnight. The shower typically produces the most meteors in the wee hours before dawn

For a while there, astronomers calculated that the Swift-Tuttle would collide with the Earth during the Perseids in 2126. Such an impact would have spoiled any stargazing since the comet is the largest near-Earth object that periodically goes through our sky. If Swift-Tuttle ever does hit the Earth, its 60 km/s impact will be about 27 times more energetic than the astroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs.

The Perseids are famous for producing a large number of bright meteors. The shower runs annually from July 14 to August 24.

Saturn will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view and photograph Saturn and its moons. A medium-sized or larger telescope will allow you to see Saturn’s rings and a few of its brightest moons…

In 2023, the Orionid meteor shower should rain down its greatest number of meteors on the morning of October 22, in a moonless sky. But the morning of October 21 is worth a look, too.

On a dark, moonless night, the Orionids exhibit a maximum of about 10 to 20 meteors per hour.

These fast-moving meteors sometimes produce bright fireballs, which might be able to overcome a moonlit glare. If you trace these meteors backward, they seem to radiate from the Club of the famous constellation Orion the Hunter.

The Orionids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Halley, which has been known and observed since ancient times.

The second quarter moon will block most of the dim meteors this year. But if you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones.

Keep your fingers crossed! Every now and then (like in 2008) the Taurid meteor shower — normally modest — produces spectacular fireballs. There seems to be a seven year periodicity with these fireballs. 2008 and 2015 both produced remarkable fireball activity.

The meteoroid streams that feed the Southern (and Northern) Taurids are very spread out and diffuse. Thus the Taurids are extremely long-lasting (September 28 to December 2 in 2022) but usually don’t offer more than about five meteors per hour. That is true even on their peak nights. The Taurids are, however, well known for having a high percentage of fireballs, or exceptionally bright meteors. Plus, the two Taurid showers – Southern and Northern – augment each other. In 2022, the expected peak night of the South Taurid shower is that of November 4-5, but the waxing gibbous moon will be bright at 87% illumination. Peak viewing will thus be in the pre-dawn morning of November 5, just after the moon has set at 3 a.m.

The North Taurids meteor shower is (October 13 – December 2 in 2022) but modest, and the peak number is forecast at about five meteors per hour. The North and South Taurids combine to provide a nice sprinkling of meteors throughout October and November. Typically, you see the maximum numbers at or around midnight, when Taurus the Bull is highest in the sky. Taurid meteors tend to be slow-moving but sometimes very bright. In 2022, just as for the South Taurids, the bright moon interferes with your viewing. The meteor peak takes place just after full moon and the waning gibbous moon rises a bit later every night, providing dark skies only a few hours after nightfall.

The South and North Taurid meteors continue to rain down throughout the following week, but the moon will keep getting fuller, so the best viewing is during mornings before the peak rather than after.

The Taurids is unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke.

In 2022, the expected peak night of the Leonids is from November 17 until dawn November 18. The waning crescent moon doesn’t rise until about 2 a.m., so the best peak viewing is just before that time. The famous Leonid meteor shower produced one of the greatest meteor storms in living memory. Rates were as high as thousands of meteors per minute during a 15-minute span on the morning of November 17, 1966. On that beautiful night in 1966, Leonid meteors did, briefly, fall like rain. They streamed from a single point in the sky – their radiant point – in the constellation Leo the Lion. Some who witnessed the 1966 meteor storm had a strong impression of Earth moving through space, fording the meteor stream. Leonid meteor storms sometimes recur in cycles of 33 to 34 years. But the Leonids around the turn of the century – while wonderful for many observers – did not match the shower of 1966. And, in most years, the Lion whimpers rather than roars. In a typical year, you’ll see a maximum of perhaps 10-15 meteors per hour on a dark night. Like many meteor showers, the Leonids ordinarily pick up steam after midnight and display the greatest meteor numbers just before dawn, for all points on the globe.

This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. (So I guess start making plans for November 2033?)

The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from November 6-30. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

A short and strong return of the Andromedids was last observed on 2021 November 28, producing about 50 meteors per hour. The Andromedids are a historical shower previously thought to be defunct. They are expected to flare once again this year, although nobody knows how strong they may be. In ten days, around Dec 10, we may encounter meteoroids released from comet 46P/Wirtanen for the first time. Keep looking up!

Since the radiant rises in mid-evening, you can watch for Geminids all night around the peak dates of December 13 and 14. Plus, a young waxing crescent moon will not interfere with the Geminids in 2023, hooray!

The bold, white, bright Geminids give us one of the Northern Hemisphere’s best showers, especially in years when there’s no moon. They’re also visible, at lower rates, from the Southern Hemisphere. The meteors are plentiful, rivaling the August Perseids.

You can watch the usually reliable and prolific Geminid meteor shower from evening December 13, with the best views probably just before or around midnight. Under a dark sky with no moon, you might catch 120 Geminid meteors per hour.

These meteors are the debris left behind by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, which was discovered in 1982. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini, but can appear anywhere in the sky.