All posts tagged: stargazing

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 …

Why I’m going to reap the mental health benefits of stargazing in 2026

Why I’m going to reap the mental health benefits of stargazing in 2026

Published by skeptic

For me, this year is going to be all about self-care via the stars. It has been 20 years since I first felt palpable envy at someone being able to navigate the night sky. In 2006, I was at a conference in La Jolla, California, reporting for New Scientist. Among the delegates was astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson. One evening, as we were all having an al fresco dinner, he took out a laser pointer and gave us a tour of the visible constellations. I was mesmerised, and impressed by the ease with which Tyson wandered through the heavens. I made myself a promise: when I got home, I was going to become a stargazer. It didn’t happen. I still haven’t learned to spot much beyond Orion and the Plough, or Big Dipper. Maybe I can blame the streetlit skies of my neighbourhood, but I can also blame the fact that, even then, I was older than is ideal. A love for the night sky is best developed in childhood. Those who start young, guided …

The stargazing events to look forward to in 2026

The stargazing events to look forward to in 2026

Published by skeptic

Watching the solar eclipse in Menan, Idaho in 2017 Natalie Behring/Getty Images As one year draws to a close, I like to get excited about what the year ahead has in store for me in terms of astronomical events, and pop them in my calendar. For 2026, top of my list are the planets lining up, various eclipses and the usual calendar of meteor showers. All these events are visible in both hemispheres, unless I’ve specified. In January, the dark skies in the northern hemisphere will hopefully bring us plenty of chances to glimpse the aurora, as it continues to be an active time for solar flares. The Quadrantid meteor shower, peaking on 3 January, should also be a lovely spectacle, although the full moon that night might obscure some of the fainter meteors. Jupiter will be bright in the sky throughout January, as it reaches opposition, meaning it is on the opposite side of Earth from the sun. This is the best time to look at this stunning planet through binoculars or a telescope. …