Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 1, 2016 #1 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Meteor Showers in 2016 Everyone seems to enjoy the brief and sometimes dazzling streaks of light from meteors, sometimes called "shooting stars." Sky & Telescope predicts that the two best meteor showers in 2016 will be the Quadrantids in early January and the Perseids in mid-August.If you watch the starry night sky from a dark location, a few times every hour you'll see brief streaks of light from meteors, sometimes called "shooting stars." Derived from the Greek word meteoros (meaning "high in the air"), meteors are bits of interplanetary debris slamming into Earth's upper atmosphere at altitudes of 80 to 120 km (50 to 75 miles). Read more... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 23, 2016 Author #2 Share Posted January 23, 2016 (edited) Solar and Lunar Eclipses in 2016 This year there's a total solar eclipse on March 9th (visible from Indonesia) and an annular on September 1st (central Africa). But the terrific "tetrad" of total lunar eclipses is over — we'll see just two barely-there penumbral eclipses, on March 23rd and September 16th.Any list of nature's grandest spectacles would certainly include eclipses of the Sun and Moon. Up to seven of them can take place in one year, though the last time that happened was 1982. The fewest possible is four, as will be the case in 2016. Neither of the solar eclipses — one total and one annular — is observable from the Americas. And both lunar eclipses will involve extreme grazes of Earth's shadow that will challenging to notice at all. Read more... Edited January 23, 2016 by Waspie_Dwarf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted March 17, 2016 Author #3 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Comets To Catch in 2016 A look ahead to see what new and returning comets will spice up the new year.A small confession. I wanted the title to read "bright" comets, but while 2016 has its share of interesting comets, including the bright leftover, Catalina (C/2013 US10), no returning comets are expected to approach the naked-eye limit. Two may climb to magnitude +7, but the others will be at least a magnitude fainter. If there's a bright comet waiting to be discovered, 2016 would be the perfect year for it. Comet lovers will have few distractions. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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