Sky Events You Don't Want To Miss In 2017: Planets, Meteor Shower, Comet, Eclipse

• comments
• 
• 

"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky". It is the song that everybody used to sing in childhood or even adulthood when seeing the night sky showered by twinkle twinkle things. In fact, the twinkle things are not only the stars, instead of asteroids, nebula, meteors, and planets with their moons.

Talk about the planet, remember the eight planets' name learned in school? Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune? Yes, these planets can be seen in this year (2017), explained the guest lecturer and instructor at New York's Hayden Planetarium, Joe Rao to Space. So, be ready to keep the eyes open to see the heaven on the night sky.

Mercury

As a morning star, Mercury will be rising an hour before a sunrise, in the eastern sky. The bright Mercury "star" usually appears in ochre hue or yellowish color. Here are the schedules: 5th Jan-14th Feb, 29th April-7th June, 6th-20th September (it will be the easiest and brightest Mercury to catch), and 20th-31th December. Meanwhile, as an evening star sets an hour after sunset in the western sky. Mercury appears in 23th March-8th April (the brightest and easiest to spot), 5th July-17th August, 2nd November-4th December.

Venus

From first January to 16th of March, Venus appears in the western sky with a silvery light. The brightest Venus in evening will be seen between last of January to first of March, which the greatest glitter on 17th February.

Venus is also seen in the morning at the dawn for months started from the third of April to 13th November with the brightest appearances on 30th of April. A slender crescent of Venus can be seen through a telescope from the middle of February until early May. On the morning of twenty September, Venus passes to Regulus. The next month, on a fifth of October, this planet will pass about one-quarter of a degree north of the Red Planet, Mars. Venus also will stand side by side with Jupiter in 13th November.

Mars

The yellow-orange hue 'star' is seen in the morning from 11th September to the end of the year, and from first of January to a sixth of June. The source also describes that the Red Planet comes closer to Earth in late July 2018.

Jupiter

A silver-white luster Jupiter appears in the morning from 1st January to 6th April, and from 13th November to 31th December. Jupiter also can be spotted on the evening of 7th April to 6th October.

Saturn

The yellowish-white shine of Saturn is spotted on the morning of 1st January to 14 June and evening from 15th June to 4th December.on 15th June, Saturn is opposite to the sun. For the brightest shine of the planet starts from twelve to sixteen June. Set the telescope magnifying to 30 power to see the rings of Saturn clearly.

Uranus

The brightest Uranus is from 27th August to 7th December. From 30th April to 18th October is seen in the morning, while in the evening it's started from the first of January to 29th March and 19th October until 31th December. Uranus may appear in tiny greenish disk through a small telescope.

Neptune

Catch Neptune's shine in the morning from 18 March through 4th September, and in the evening from 1st January to 15th February, also 5th September to 31th December. The bluish-hued world is noticeable only with a telescope or stargazing binoculars.

Besides of the planets, a meteor shower, comet and eclipse are scheduled to have a show in 2017 as Andrew Fazekas said in his article.

Meteor Shower

The first meteor shower of this year, The Quadrantids seen in the late night of second January up to the pre-dawn of the next day. According to the source, from the darkest location, the shower meteor reach 60 shooting stars per hour. Luckily, it can be seen with bare eyes, without any binoculars or a telescope.

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova

The comet will appear in the dawn skies of 11th February as the comet is turning back to the outer solar system after rounding the sun in December last year. The closest point to the Earth is at 7.7 million miles and can be caught by the naked eyes.

Annular Solar Eclipse

People who live along a narrow line in the Southern Hemisphere will be lucky to see a "ring of fire" eclipse of the sun. This phenomenon occurs when the moon's disk is not completely cover the sun when it moves in front of it. The annular solar eclipse will be seen in 26th February starts over the South Pacific Ocean, crosses South America, and ends in Africa.

Total Solar Eclipse

For North America people, don't miss this event or wait until 2024 to see the next total solar eclipse. The event will be on 21st August and will cross the United States, from Oregon to South Carolina. It will change the daytime skies into dark twilight for a few minutes. 

Now go to the new calendar and mark the dates!