“Night Skies”

By Scott Hamilton

I was reading an article, which I plan to highlight here, about all the things happening in the night skies this year and it reminded me of a verse in the Bible. It is not often that I bring my faith into these articles, but I really could not help it this week. In Luke 21:25, “And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides.” (New Living Translation). I’m not saying by any means that these events are the signs spoken of in this verse, but I just found it interesting that having followed science and astronomy most of my life, it is the first time I heard about many of these events.

The most interesting to me is the disappearance of Saturn’s rings. I had never heard about this particular event occurring and figured it was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime event, but as it turns out, this happens on a regular basis. The last time was in 2009 and they will disappear again on November 8, 2025. This rare event occurs approximately every 15 years, when Saturn’s tilt aligns with Earth, causing the few mile thick rings to appear nearly invisible. The best way to observe this event is with a backyard telescope under high magnification. You will find Saturn, without its iconic rings, in the southern sky within the constellation Aquarius.

The first event of the year we have already missed was on January 18; Saturn and Venus appeared less than half a degree apart in the sky, making them easier to find with the naked eye and even better with binoculars. The second major event of the year is coming during the March blood moon. A blood moon occurs when the sun, Earth and moon are precisely aligned so that the Earth casts a shadow over the moon. Stargazers can get a great view of the event across the Americas in the early morning hours of March 14. Starting around 10:57 p.m. local time on March 13, the Earth’s shadow will begin to cover the moon, starting the full lunar eclipse. The total eclipse will occur between 1:26 and 2:31 a.m., when the moon will appear dark orange, or a coppery red.

The next event is a partial solar eclipse on March 29; though much less spectacular than the total eclipse we experienced last April, we will still experience the sun appearing as a crescent shape in the sky. It won’t be very impressive from here; for the best views you will need to be in northern Quebec, where they will experience an 80-92 percent eclipse.

Near the middle of the year we will experience one of the rare times that you can see Mercury, as it is usually between Earth and the Sun, not to mention it does not reflect the light of the Sun very well. On June 26, we have one of the rare chances to see the planet, as it will appear near our moon. This is the perfect setup for a novice sky-watcher to experience Mercury. You will want to look low in the sky shortly after sunset, 20-23 minutes before twilight fades completely. It will be a faint light near the slender crescent moon. It is recommended to use binoculars to enhance your view as it may still be hard to spot the dim light of Mercury in the sunset glare.

In August you will experience the second planetary alignment of the year when Jupiter and Venus come into nearly perfect alignment. In the early morning sky of August 12, the two brightest planets will appear stunningly close together in the rare opportunity to see two planets at the same time with a small telescope or binoculars. Venus shines a brilliant white next to Jupiter’s slightly dimmer golden glow. It is even possible to see Jupiter’s four Galilean moons as tiny dots around the planet. If you miss this event don’t worry too much, as it will happen again in 10-15 months.

On September 7 we have the rare occurrence of a second blood moon, but you have to travel to Africa, Asia, or Australia to experience it, so unless you have a big vacation budget don’t miss the one in March. On September 19, you can experience another interesting alignment when the moon, Venus and the bright star Regulus form a striking triangle in the eastern sky about 45 minutes before sunrise. Set your alarm for this one and experience the shining diamond of Venus and the regal blue-white hue of Regulus.

The final event of 2025 is the annual Geminid meteor shower peaking on December 13 to December 14, where this year we can expect to see between 60 and 120 meteors per hour as we have the advantage of it coinciding with the New Moon. The fact that it lands during the New Moon leaves us with no natural light to interfere with the shower, so if you can find an area away from city lights you should have no trouble spotting several “shooting stars” this year, as long as the weather allows for clear skies.

We can also expect to experience a lot of vivid auroras in the night sky throughout this year as well, since we are in a peak season of solar flare activity, which occurs on an eleven year cycle. The increased sun-spot and solar flare activity impacts the Earth’s magnetic field, causing the beautiful auroras in the night sky. So keep your eyes on the heavens and enjoy the signs and wonders presented this year. Until next week, stay safe and learn something new.

Scott Hamilton is an Expert in Emerging Technologies at ATOS and can be reached with questions and comments via email to sh*******@te**********.org or through his website at https://www.techshepherd.org.