All posts tagged: Cosmic Calendar

April skygazing: An early micromoon, comet flyby, and the Lyrid meteor shower

April skygazing: An early micromoon, comet flyby, and the Lyrid meteor shower

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. April 1 Full Pink Moon April 17 Best Chance to See Comet C/2025 R3 April 19 The Moon, Venus, and Pleiades Conjunction April 22 Lyrid Meteor Shower Predicted Peak Spring has sprung, the annual hour of sleep has been stolen from us, and the days are getting longer.  But don’t fear, skygazers, there are still enough celestial sights to see this month to keep you happy. They include an early full moon, a meteor shower known for generating unexpected spectacles, and a lovely conjunction of the moon and one of our cosmic neighbors. Also, there’s a comet to see! Onwards!  April 1: Full Pink Moon A full moon on the first day of the month! As far as we know, there’s no name for this, but it doesn’t matter, because April’s moon is gifted with the most poetic of names anyway. It’s the Pink Moon, making April the best month of the year for fans of Nick Drake, Édith …

March skygazing: a full blood moon rises and new season

March skygazing: a full blood moon rises and new season

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. March 3 Total Lunar Eclipse/Full Worm Moon March 20 Vernal Equinox March 25 and 26 Conjunction of Jupiter and the Moon Assuming that the clouds actually part long enough for us to see the sky every so often, March promises at least one memorable celestial event: a full moon and full lunar eclipse on March 3. It will also bring the official beginning of spring and a couple of nights’ worth of intense discussion between the moon and Jupiter. March 3: Total Lunar Eclipse/Full Worm Moon This month’s full moon is a genuinely special one/It coincides almost exactly with a total lunar eclipse! Lunar eclipses occur when the sun, Earth and moon line up perfectly. If the moon is in the middle, then it’s a full solar eclipse, with the moon casting its shadow across the earth. If the Earth is in the middle, then it’s our shadow that gets cast across the moon. For reasons we explained during …

February stargazing: A planet parade comes to town

February stargazing: A planet parade comes to town

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. February 1 Full Snow Moon February 8 Alpha Centaurids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak February 28 Six Planets in Alignment All Month and Year Possible Auroras February: it’s a short month, and it’s also relatively short on stargazing highlights. Still, patient stargazers will be rewarded with a memorable planetary alignment. And for those readers joining us from the Southern Hemisphere, there’s also the Alpha Centaurids meteor shower to look forward to. February 1: Full Snow Moon This month’s full moon falls on the very first day of the month, which means we were only one day away from one of the rarest lunar phenomena: a month with no full moon at all! This can only happen in February—since it’s the only month shorter than a full lunar cycle—and last happened in 2018. There’s no agreed-upon name for this phenomenon, but since it’s the opposite of a blue moon—the second full moon in a month with two full moons—we rather like …

January stargazing: A supermoon, asteroid, and one very large planet

January stargazing: A supermoon, asteroid, and one very large planet

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. January 2 Asteroid 40 Harmonia in Full Opposition January 3 Full Wolf Supermoon January 3–4 Quadrantids Meteor Shower Predicted peak January 10 Jupiter in Full Opposition The stargazing calendar for 2026 gets off to a bit of a contrary start. January is all about opposition, which is the astronomical term for a configuration where a celestial object is directly opposite the sun in the sky. These configurations generally provide great opportunities for viewing the object in question, because from our perspective, it will be both fully illuminated and also far removed from the sun’s glare. Here’s what’s on tap for the first month of the new year.  January 2: Asteroid 40 Harmonia In Full Opposition 2026 starts with an opportunity to take a look at an asteroid: Asteroid 40 Harmonia. The space rock is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Harmonia is chiefly notable for its size: at just under 70 miles in diameter, it’s in the top …