The following is a rundown of the main astronomical events visible in 2013 as provided by astronomer John Pressly Meteor Showers Glenelg would be a fantastic place to view meteor showers as many meteors can be very faint and only the very bright ones are seen in light-polluted skies (like we have to suffer here!).The name given to a meteor shower relates to the constellation that they appear to radiate from. Meteors are small pieces of dust entering Earth’s atmosphere and in dark sky locations random ones can be spotted most nights as they streak across the sky. However, there are regular showers at certain times of the year. These are caused by the Earth moving through a debris trail left by a passing comet. Usually meteors can be spotted for about a week either side of the ‘peak’ of the shower but the best night is the peak when the shower will reach its maximum number of visible meteors. Meteor rates vary from shower to shower, with some, such as the Lyrids, only producing about 20 an hour, up to the most spectacular one of the year, the Perseids, where rates can reach over 100 meteors per hour. 2013 Orionids – October 17 – 25 (Peaks 21 October) Leonids – November 13 – 20 (Peaks 17/18 November) Geminids – December 06 – 19 (Peaks / 14 December) Visible Planets The five planets visible to the naked eye should all be able to be seen throughout 2013 at various times - Mercury – very elusive little world but should be visible in the early mornings (rising around 5am) between August 12 and 20 and November 8 and 16. Venus – Brightest of all the planets. Visible low in the southeast throughout January around sunrise. Throughout November and December 2013 it will be visible from around 4pm to 6pm. Mars – Not well placed in 2013 until much later in the year. From October Mars starts to rise in the east around 3am, by November 2am, December 1am and will be visible in the sky from rising until dawn. Jupiter – Best placed of the planets in 2013. Visible in the night sky from January to May, by which time it is setting around 11pm. Visible again by 9pm from November. Saturn – In January Saturn is rising around 3am but gets earlier each night. By April Saturn is rising by 10pm and will be visible in the evenings throughout June, July and August, by which time it is once again setting around 11pm. Comets There are a few periodic comets which will be making a reappearance in our skies in 2013. Comets are big ‘dirty’ snowballs which orbit around the Sun. When they approach the Sun they start to ‘melt’ and leave a trail of debris behind them which can be visible as a coma, or tail, in dark skies. 2011/L4 (not a very exciting name!) - should be in the sky from April to June moving through Virgo into Pisces. It might reach naked-eye visibility but will definitely be spotted in binoculars. Comet Encke – Visible using binoculars between September and November moving through Aquarius. Comet Ison – The biggy!! Predicted to outshine the full Moon and possibly be visible in daylight, Comet Ison will appear in our skies from Late November to early December 2013. It is a sun-diver, that is its on a course that will lead to its destruction as it crashes into the Sun. Got to admit to being rather excited by this one! Eclipses There are three eclipses involving the Moon throughout 2013. They take place on April 25, May 25 and October 18. They are not likely to be very impressive though as the Moon is only passing through a small part of Earth’s shadow, so only part of it will darken. No solar eclipse events take place in our part of the world until March 20 2015 when a total eclipse will be visible above the Faroe Islands and we will get about 80% of the Sun covered! The Northern Lights The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are caused by the interaction between Earth’s magnetic field and the Solar Wind, a stream of charged particles from the Sun. The Solar Wind is released in solar flares or really big eruptions called Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). A large CME, if it collides with the Earth can cause a very large geomagnetic storm which will cause spectacular aurora displays. Flares and CMEs are associated with Sunspots, large magnetic storms visible on the surface of the Sun. Sunspots go through an 11 year cycle with many spots (solar maximum) to very few (solar min). 2013 will be the peak of the Solar Maximum, so there should be increased sunspot activity leading to a greater chance of flares and CMEs and a greater chance of aurora sightings. Whilst they cannot be predicted the equinoxes usually see an increased probability of aurora sightings and they are also more likely to be visible in the darker months of winter.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 08:23:06 +0000
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