In the blink of an eye, 2022 has ended unexpectedly. This year, the world is unpredictable, but what memories do people who look up at the starry sky leave behind?
In the past year, solar eclipses were too far away from us. There were only two partial solar eclipses in the world, and most of the Chinese people could not see them; there were also two lunar eclipses, among which the extremely rare “blood moon” on November 8 “The occultation of Uranus will feast the eyes of people who have experienced a long period of “astronomical drought”.
On November 8, 2022, total lunar eclipse will occult Uranus | Kenny & Night Sky China
The drama of the planets and the moon is still the absolute protagonist in the night sky. The Venus star of the East opened the curtain of the whole year with a “crooked smile” and was in the center of the stage for most of the year. The moon occulting Venus under the blue sky, and the moon occulting Mars in the Northeast region, let people enjoy the dynamic picture of the star-moon phase drama. The “five stars out of the east” in the middle of the year and the eight planets in the same frame at the end of the year are also unforgettable scenes of planetary encounters in 2022.
Five Stars Out of the East | Liang Xiaojun & Night Sky China
In this year, there will be no unexpected surprises brought to us by little elves such as Comet Xinzhi in 2020 and Comet Leonard in 2021. With a handful of pigeons, the story of the solar system really seems a little dull. It has to be the Geminid meteor shower. Although it is seriously disturbed by the moonlight, it is still very rewarding and worthwhile.
Geminid Bolide | Windsky & Night Sky China
For us Chinese, the most memorable “celestial phenomenon” in 2022 may be man-made celestial bodies. The Tiangong space station crossed the night sky again and again. With the construction of Wentian and Mengtian, this “new star” in China became more and more shining; the Shenzhou spacecraft carrying astronauts took to the sky for the third time, passing through the pink rocket cloud in the night sky It also excites the people who look up to it…
The rocket that launched the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft passed through Beijing | My name is Liu Dapi & Night Sky China
These celestial phenomena are either memorable or regrettable. In any case, the earth’s revolution around the sun year after year will not slow down due to world disturbances.
In the new year, what will happen on the earth may be unpredictable, but the feast in the night sky will not be absent. The “menu” has been prepared, just look up at the sky, and you can have this “feast” together!
Big Three in the Northern Hemisphere Prospects for the Two Major Meteor Showers
The Quadrantids meteor shower, the maximum has passed, don’t read… | EasyNight
The Quadrantid meteor shower on January 3 is a routine astronomical “appetizer” every year, but in recent years, this dish has become more and more tasteless: although it can reach 100 meteors per hour when it is extremely large, but The peak duration is very short, and most of the time its peak is not in our night, or when it meets a big moon, it is almost invisible.
That was the case this year. The peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower occurred in the daytime on the afternoon of January 4th. The thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month is close to the full moon, and the cold wave is coming.
(Besides, when this article was published, the maximum of this meteor shower had already passed, so let’s ignore it…)
Cartography EasyNight
Don’t miss the remaining two meteor showers – Persian and Gemini, this year!
In the warm late summer and early autumn, the Perseid meteor shower will arrive as scheduled around August 13.
This is the only “temperature-friendly” large meteor shower in the northern hemisphere. The predicted flow in 2023 is still about 90 per hour, and it will most likely occur on June 27 of the lunar calendar. Only in the early morning will a thin crescent moon rise. It can be said that moonlight does not interfere with meteor observation at all.
Fire meteors appearing during the Perseid meteor shower in 2021 | Shao Shuguang & Night Sky China
This is considered to be the “weather time”, and the remaining uncertain factor is the “geography” – most places in summer will be cloudy and sunny, and it may not be so easy to find a place with a high rate of sunny days.
As for “Renhe”, this meteor shower happened on Sunday night, so it may not be so friendly to the working party. If the observation is made on Saturday night in advance, the flow will be much smaller, but it is better than nothing; for the school party, it does not matter. Isn’t it just in the summer vacation!
The Perseid meteor shower occurs in summer, accompanied by meteors falling from the bright summer Milky Way, which is the unique beauty of the Perseid meteor shower | EasyNight
By the end of the year, the Geminid meteor shower on December 13 is the meteor shower with the largest expected flow (the maximum can exceed 120 or even 150 per hour) and the most stable meteor shower over the years.
In 2023, the Geminid meteor shower will catch up with a good time-the night of the second day of the winter month of the lunar calendar! At that time, a thin crescent moon will set in the twilight with the afterglow after sunset, and there will be no moonlight for the next night .
Geminid Meteor Shower in 2022 | MG_Raiden Yang & Night Sky China
The experience of previous years tells us that the performance of the Geminid meteor shower is better than that of the Perseids. Even with the influence of moonlight, it can be seen enough-the flow is large, there are many bright meteors and even fireballs, and there are many long-term ground-grazing meteors-then, Moonless nights are even more worth looking forward to!
It is a little pity that the Geminid meteor shower occurs on a working day, which is too unfriendly to the party going to school and going to work. If there is only one chance to ask for leave, then leave it for Gemini Rain at the end of the year !
The Geminid meteor shower in 2023 is the most anticipated of the year | EasyNight
Except for these three “three major meteor showers in the northern hemisphere”, other meteor showers can be ignored. If you really can’t help but want to see it, you can consider the following:
At this time, I have to say something more: some news media, I can’t wait to publicize the meteor shower every day, like a wolf is coming, the really beautiful meteor shower has no place… Next time someone will ask which meteor shower is worth watching this year , just forward this article to TA!
Solar eclipse return, lunar eclipse tasteless
In 2022, people on the earth have spent a year without a total solar eclipse or an annular solar eclipse, which seems very dull and boring. In 2023, the central solar eclipse finally returns strongly !
We know that solar eclipses are generally divided into three types: the most spectacular celestial phenomenon on the earth-total solar eclipse, the second best annular solar eclipse, and the partial solar eclipse again. If you want to score from the perspective, the scores of the three may be 100 points, 10 points and 1 point.
In 2022, there will only be two partial solar eclipses around the world, with a total of 2 points; and the first solar eclipse in 2023 will score 110 points! Why is this?
Because what will happen on April 20 is a rare “total annular eclipse” , also known as a mixed eclipse or a compound eclipse.
Cartography EasyNight
In this solar eclipse, the shadow cone of the moon’s umbra almost just reaches the surface of the earth, resulting in a total eclipse seen in some areas and an annular eclipse seen in other areas. This special solar eclipse is called a total annular eclipse.
Whether it is a total eclipse or an annular eclipse, the eclipse is very close to 1 (that is, the moon will just block the surface of the sun, and the size is almost exactly the same). This will not only bring a very spectacular sight in terms of perception, but also an extremely rare opportunity for astronomers to observe the activities on the surface of the sun.
Total solar eclipse in the United States in 2017 | Steed & Night Sky China
The total annular eclipse began as an annular eclipse near the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, and then turned into a total eclipse, passing over the Exmouth and Cape Range National Parks in the northwest corner of Australia , Barrow Island, Passing East Timor and the Indonesian province of West Papua, it transitioned to an annular eclipse again, ending near the Marshall Islands in the western Pacific Ocean.
Unfortunately, in China, only a small part of the southeast coast of this solar eclipse – the most southeastern part of Zhejiang, the coastal area of Fujian, the southeastern coastal area of Guangdong, the southeastern part of Hainan, and all of Taiwan Province – can see the eclipse. Smaller partial eclipse .
So if you want to see the beauty of the total solar eclipse at a glance, you can consider going abroad to “follow the sun” this year !
The visible range of the two solar eclipses in 2023 | EasyNight
Another solar eclipse this year, a purely annular eclipse, occurs on October 15 .
It passes through Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Texas and other places in the United States, crosses the Gulf of Mexico to the southeastern corner of Mexico, then passes through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and finally across Brazil North, ends on the Atlantic Ocean in eastern Brazil.
The partial eclipse area visible in this eclipse covers almost exactly the entire Americas, and we on the opposite side of the earth will not be able to see it .
Annular solar eclipse in UAE in 2019 | Jia Hao & Night Sky China
In 2023, there will also be two lunar eclipses. Compared with last year’s two lunar eclipses, which were both total eclipses and covered up the wonderful performance of Uranus , the lunar eclipse in 2023 is relatively tasteless .
The first lunar eclipse occurred from the night of May 5th to the early morning of May 6th, and it was a penumbral lunar eclipse. The moon has only entered the penumbra of the earth, and the naked eye can see a corner of the moon slightly darkened-this impression can’t even keep up with a partial eclipse.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on January 11, 2020 | Steed
The second lunar eclipse occurred in the early morning of October 29th. It was a partial lunar eclipse, but the eclipse was only 0.13, which means that only 13% of the diameter of the moon entered the shadow of the earth. A penumbral lunar eclipse to see…
The partial lunar eclipse on October 29, only ate such a little | EasyNight
Venus drama continues
In 2022, Venus lasted for nearly 10 months in the morning star season. Before sunrise, the “Venus” in the eastern sky is always seen shining; and in 2023, Venus “Chang Gung” and “Qi Ming” will be equally divided year.
Of course, wonderful astronomical phenomena are indispensable, and most of them are concentrated in the “Chang Gung” season in the first half of the year-this means that there is no need to get up from the bed early in the morning to see Venus, and Venus in the evening will be very eye-catching. The moment after school and get off work, shining in the afterglow of the west after sunset.
Schematic diagram of the altitude and azimuth of Venus at sunset (take the Central Plains area at 35° north latitude as an example, other areas can also be used for reference) | EasyNight
Then until August 2023, Venus will appear in the west after sunset. Taking the Central Plains as an example, Venus will hang in the sky at an altitude angle of 20°~30° at sunrise almost throughout the spring and summer seasons, and it can reach a height of 40° at the highest around May. In terms of perception, this height also has to be looked up.
After May, Venus will gradually decrease in altitude and phase at sunset, but as it gets closer to the earth and its apparent diameter becomes larger, its brightness will also begin to increase sharply until around July 10 Reach bright and blind -4.7 and so on.
Venus and Crescent Moon | Shi Huan & Night Sky China
Then, Venus enters its inferior conjunction phase, when it will quickly disappear into the twilight of sunset.
In the first half of the year, Venus will meet with Saturn, Jupiter and other celestial bodies many times, and of course there will be “How old are you” with Venus accompanying the moon. All are wonderful sights that can be seen in the city.
Among them, there are three highlights that deserve special attention:
First, on January 23, Venus and Saturn reached a very close , only 0.3°. Although we’ll miss the closest approach, a 0.5° approach (approximately one full moon’s diameter away) can be seen two days before and after the evening. On the evening of the 23rd, a crescent crescent moon also came next to Venus and Saturn, bringing the first double happiness to the New Year of the Lunar Year of the Rabbit.
On January 23, the astronomical show on the second day of the Lunar New Year | EasyNight
The second is Venus conjunct Neptune on February 15th – the closest distance between them is less than 3 arc minutes (1/10 of the diameter of the full moon)! This means that we can not only photograph the surface phases of Neptune and Venus in the same frame, but even use a slightly larger telescope to hopefully photograph Neptune’s satellites in the same frame as Venus! Fans of planetary photography must be gearing up.
Diagram of Venus and Neptune | EasyNight
Third, the lunar occultation of Venus on March 24 !
At around 20:00 on this night, the thin crescent moon will pass in front of Venus, cover Venus for a short period of time, and then move away. This is the astronomical phenomenon that the moon covers Venus.
This time the moon occults Venus, and the entire central and southern regions of China can see the complete process of entry-exit. It is worth mentioning that if we go to the boundary of the occultation zone, what we see is the scene of Venus “skimming” from the edge of the moon.
At this time, if you use a large-aperture telescope connected to a high-magnification lens to observe, the Venus you see seems to “rise” from the uneven surface of the moon-it just “walks sideways”, isn’t it amazing!
The moon occulted Venus seen at the edge of the occultation belt, and it looks like this when zoomed in | EasyNight
In addition to this occultation, Venus will meet with the moon on time every month in other months, and the fairy tale landscape accompanied by the stars and the moon will often be performed in the evening; it will also rub Jupiter, Uranus, and the Pleiades star cluster at close range over the shoulder.
In June, she and Mars will fall into the embrace of the “ghost cluster” M44 on the nights of the 2nd and 13th.
On the evening of June 13, Venus enters M44 (ghost cluster) | EasyNight
After this excitement, Venus will be submerged in sunlight on August 13, and then it will change from an evening star to a morning star, and begin to shine in the oriental white before sunrise——
In the second half of the year, Venus is still shining as the morning star, but there are fewer supporting roles | EasyNight
In the second half of the year, Venus will rapidly rise and brighten in just one month, return to the peak brightness of -4.7 magnitude around September 17, and then appear in the sun at a horizon altitude close to 40° for more than a month. The eastern sky before departure.
However, compared to the various appearances of Venus on the same stage in the first half of the year, it is mainly a one-man show in the second half of the year. Apart from two shallow moon companions, it shines alone more often.
In April 2020, Venus encounters the Pleiades star cluster | Ma Xiaohu & Night Sky China
The above are the astronomical phenomena we recommend to see in 2023. This list is certainly not complete, and there are many more things worth seeing that I don’t have time to describe.
Of course, there are still some unpredictable astronomical events, what if some “dark horses” appear again? For example, what if there is another great comet of the century, a sudden burst of new meteors, or even a supernova in the Milky Way?
…Hey, wake up, these things are unexpected.
In short, friends who do not want to miss major astronomical phenomena, please continue to pay attention to Guoke, even if it is a sudden astronomical event, it will be notified to you in time.
No matter what, let us bless the just-arriving 2023 and make a wish: every day we want to see the sky is sunny!
Author: EasyNight
Edit: Steed
an AI
After missing the first celestial event of the year, the author of this article finally delivered the manuscript… Fortunately, I didn’t miss anything.
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