WEBVTT - What Astronomy Events Are Happening in 2021?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here is shaping up to be

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<v Speaker 1>a fantastic year for astronomical events, so we wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>present you with a list of some of the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>and brightest that there will be. It's not a complete list,

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<v Speaker 1>of course. A check a star app on any given

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<v Speaker 1>day in the universe may surprise you, but in chronological order,

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<v Speaker 1>here are a few to keep in mind. March thirteen

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<v Speaker 1>will be the ideal night for attempting to run the

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<v Speaker 1>Bessio Marathon. This is an event that many amateur astronomers

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<v Speaker 1>attempt once a year on the best night of moon

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<v Speaker 1>phase and weather conditions to try to see all a

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and ten deep space objects in the Messy You catalog.

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<v Speaker 1>These deep space objects include nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies.

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<v Speaker 1>Seeing them all in a single night is quite a challenge.

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<v Speaker 1>You'll need a minimum eighty millimeter telescope to complete the

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<v Speaker 1>Messier Marathon on, so start making plans now if you're

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<v Speaker 1>thinking of investing in one before March. On April seventeen,

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<v Speaker 1>the lunar occultation of Mars will occur, a lunar occultation

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<v Speaker 1>is when the Moon passes directly in front of another

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<v Speaker 1>planet or star. It's the lunar equivalent of an eclipse.

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<v Speaker 1>Just like eclipses, lunar occultations are visible from only a

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<v Speaker 1>small area on Earth when they occur. This one, with

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon passing over Mars will be visible only from

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<v Speaker 1>parts of Southeast Asia. The first great opportunity to spot

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<v Speaker 1>shooting stars will occur in the early morning of April.

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<v Speaker 1>The night of April one, this is the predicted peak

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<v Speaker 1>of the Lyrad's meteor shower that occurs from April sixty

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<v Speaker 1>six every year. Lyrad's meteors are caused by the comet Thatcher,

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<v Speaker 1>which orbits the Sun every four d and fifteen years.

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<v Speaker 1>What makes the Lyrad special is the chance to see

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<v Speaker 1>Lyrad fireballs. These meteors are unusually bright and can even

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<v Speaker 1>cause a shadow. On the night of peak activity, you

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<v Speaker 1>can see around twenty meteors per hour. And then, after

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<v Speaker 1>more than a year of penumberal lunar eclipses, which are

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<v Speaker 1>less impressive and harder to spot than partial and total

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<v Speaker 1>lunar eclipses, we finally have a chance to see a

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<v Speaker 1>total lunar eclipse on the night of May, viewers and

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<v Speaker 1>parts of Eastern Asia, Oceania, Western North America, and southern

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<v Speaker 1>South America will have the chance to spot a blood

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<v Speaker 1>red moon in the sky. Be sure to check the

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<v Speaker 1>time zone when the total lunar eclipse will occur in

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<v Speaker 1>your area so that you don't miss it. And, as

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<v Speaker 1>is always the case, lunar and solar eclipses happen together,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes one of each, sometimes as solar eclipse will be

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<v Speaker 1>bookended by two lunar eclipses. On June tenth, those in

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<v Speaker 1>northern Russia and Siberia and Canada's northwest territories will have

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<v Speaker 1>the chance to see an annular solar eclipse. This is

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes called a ring of fire eclipse because the moon

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't fully block out the Sun, causing a bright circle

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<v Speaker 1>of sun in the sky. This is one of two

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<v Speaker 1>solar eclipses, the others in December and a bit more spectacular.

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<v Speaker 1>More on that one in a minute. In the meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll see the peak of the Percy and meteor shower

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<v Speaker 1>on August twelve. This is widely considered the best meteor

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<v Speaker 1>shower of the year thanks to its high frequency of

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<v Speaker 1>activity and the warm weather that we experience in the

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<v Speaker 1>northern hemisphere during August. Typically, the proceeds peak sometime between

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<v Speaker 1>August twelve and fourtee. That peak is expected to be

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<v Speaker 1>on the first night. Look for up to a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty meteors per hour on this night, caused by

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<v Speaker 1>debris left by the Comet Swift Tuttle on its one

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<v Speaker 1>and thirty three year orbit around the Sun. NASA has

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<v Speaker 1>a number of exciting missions planned in though as with

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<v Speaker 1>all space launches, the dates are always considered tentative until

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<v Speaker 1>the launch actually happens. These include test flights for the

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<v Speaker 1>Boeing star Liner, the second man spacecraft planned for the

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<v Speaker 1>International Space Station, crude missions after SpaceX's crew Dragon, and

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<v Speaker 1>the Lucy mission to study Trojan asteroids near Jupiter. But

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<v Speaker 1>the one everyone has been waiting for is the James

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<v Speaker 1>Webb Space Telescope launch. The mission to launch a replacement

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<v Speaker 1>for the Hubble Space Telescope began and was supposed to

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<v Speaker 1>happen in two thousand seven. Numerous delays of plague the project,

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<v Speaker 1>but NASA seems confident that the October thirty first date

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<v Speaker 1>they've set will actually happen. We know this isn't an

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<v Speaker 1>astronomy event per se, but it's still pretty cool. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>after occulting Mars in the spring, the moon is back

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<v Speaker 1>for another lunar occultation on November seven. This time, it's

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<v Speaker 1>bright neighboring Venus that will be blocked by the Moon.

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<v Speaker 1>Like the lunar occultation of Mars, this occultation is only

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<v Speaker 1>visible from a small area of Earth. In this case,

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<v Speaker 1>those in far East Asia, including eastern China, Korea, and

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<v Speaker 1>Japan will have a picture perfect view the waxing crescent

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<v Speaker 1>Moon passing in front of Venus. Then in December, the

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<v Speaker 1>Southern Hemisphere will see a total solar eclipse. This is

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<v Speaker 1>the better solar eclipse viewing opportunity of the two this year.

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<v Speaker 1>Overnight from December three to four, the sun, Moon and

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<v Speaker 1>Earth will align, casting a shadow over part of the

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<v Speaker 1>Southern Hemisphere. But like that earlier eclipse, you'll need to

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<v Speaker 1>be up for quite a journey in order to experience totality.

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<v Speaker 1>Is the Moon's shadow passes over Earth, it will only

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<v Speaker 1>be visible from parts of Antarctica and cruise tours planning

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<v Speaker 1>to be in the right area on the day of

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<v Speaker 1>the eclipse. Last, but certainly not least, end your year

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<v Speaker 1>of astronomical wonders by viewing the Geminid meteor shower when

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<v Speaker 1>it peaks on the night of December. This meteor shower

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<v Speaker 1>won't be quite as good as the percy it's in

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<v Speaker 1>August for a number of reasons, including cold winter weather

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<v Speaker 1>in the northern Hemisphere and a bright, waxing gibbus moon.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're up for it anyway, there will be up

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<v Speaker 1>to a under twenty meters per hour on the night

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<v Speaker 1>of peak activity. Today's episode was written by Valerie Stomach

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clang. For more in this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain stuff It's production of I Heart Radio. For more

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