The AMS received more than 700 reports so far about a fireball event that occurred over Ohio on September 30th, 2020 around 10:24 Universal Time (06:24 EDT). The event was mainly seen from the Ohio but we also received reports from Washington DC, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Ontario.
Each year around October 8th the Earth passes close to the orbit of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. In most years only a…
During this period, the moon reaches its full phase on Thursday October 1st. At that time, the moon is located opposite the sun and remains above the horizon all night long. This weekend the waxing gibbous moon will set during the early morning hours, allowing a few hours of observations under dark skies between moon set and dawn.
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Wednesday September 23rd. At this time, the half-illuminated moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and sets near 2300 local daylight saving time (LDST). This weekend the waxing crescent moon will set during the early evening hours and will not interfere with meteor observing.
During this period, the moon reaches its new phase on Thursday September 17th. At this time, the moon is located near the sun and is invisible at night. This weekend the waning crescent moon will rise during the early morning hours and will not be too much of a nuisance as long as you keep it out of your field of view while observing.
Normally, the September epsilon Perseids meteor shower (SPE) produce a peak of around 5 meteors per hour at maximum. This year, with a 60 percent illuminated moon rising near 22:30 (10:30pm) local summer time, one could easily dismiss the probably of seeing anything extraordinary from this source.
During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Thursday September 10th. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises near 23:00 local daylight saving time (LDST) on September 9th. This weekend the waning gibbous moon will rise during the early evening hours and will spoil the viewing for the remainder of the night.
During this period, the moon reaches its full phase on Thursday September 3rd. At this time, the moon is located opposite the sun and remains above the horizon all night long. This weekend the waxing gibbous moon will set during the early morning hours, allowing a short opportunity to view meteor activity prior to dawn.
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Wednesday August 26th. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and sets between midnight and 0100 local daylight saving time (LDST). This weekend the waxing crescent moon will set during the early evening hours and will not interfere with the more active morning hours.
During this period, the moon reaches its new phase on Wednesday August 19th. At this time, the moon is located near the sun and is invisible at night. This weekend the waning crescent moon will rise during the early morning hours but will be too thin to interfere with meteor observing.
During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Tuesday August 11th. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises between 23:00 and midnight local daylight saving time (LDST on August 10/11) . This weekend the waning gibbous moon will rise during the late evening hours, allowing a short but dark glimpse of the early August activity between dusk and moonrise.
Perseid meteors over Luzern, Switzerland ©right; Orest Shvadchak (Olympus Corp. E-M10 Mark III, 8mm, 1s, f/1.8, ISO1600) The Perseids are…
During this period, the moon reaches its full phase on Monday August 3rd. At this time, the moon is located opposite the sun and remains above the horizon all night long. This weekend the nearly full moon will set an hour prior to dawn, allowing a short but dark glimpse of the early August activity. By Thursday, the short, dark portion of night will have shifted to the evening sky in the hour following dusk.
Our friends at the IMO just released their annual meteor shower calendar for 2021: everything you need to know about 2021 meteor activity in 28 pages.
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Monday July 27th. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and sets near midnight. This weekend the more active morning sky will be totally free of interfering moonlight. As the week progresses though, only the few hours just prior to dawn will provide dark skies.
During this period, the moon reaches its new phase on Tuesday July 21st. At this time, the moon is located near the sun and is invisible at night. The moon will be located near the sun during this entire period; therefore, meteor observations can be held at any time of the night without lunar interference.
During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Monday July 13th. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises near 0100 local daylight saving time (LDST). As the week progresses the waning crescent moon rises later in the morning with each passing night. This allows the window of dark skies to increase as the week progresses. The most active hours just prior to dawn will have slight interference from moonlight but one can overcome this simply facing in a direction where the moon is not visible within your field of view.
One good thing about a Perseid maximum with lunar interference is that it guarantees that two weeks prior that the Southern delta Aquariids (SDA) will peak under good conditions. Such is the case in 2020 when the last quarter moon will diminish the Perseid peak. The SDA's will peak on July 29th with a waxing gibbous moon setting just as the SDA radiant culminates in the southern sky.
During this period, the moon reaches its full phase on Sunday July 5th. At this time, the moon is located opposite the sun and remains above the horizon all night long. As the week progresses the waning gibbous moon rises later in the evening with each passing night. This allows for some early evening meteor observing under dark skies. Unfortunately, this is also the time of the lowest meteor activity of the night.
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Sunday June 28th. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and sets near 01:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). As the week progresses the waxing gibbous moon remains longer in the morning sky with each passing night. This narrows the opportunity to view meteor activity under dark conditions from many hours early in the period to almost nil late in the period.
During this period the moon reaches its new phase on Monday June 22nd. At this time, the moon is located near the sun and it invisible at night. As the week progresses the waxing crescent moon will enter the evening sky but will not interfere with meteor observing.
American Meteor Society