Stargazing Events for 2022 – Part One
If you love the outdoors as I do, you probably get very excited about celestial events. There are so many fantastic stargazing opportunities every year, and 2022 will be no exception. If this is your first time out, here’s a piece of advice: you want as little light pollution as you can get, so check out the lightpollutionmap.info website and find the perfect place to view these events near you!
Let’s start 2022 off right, with the first celestial
event peaking on January 3rd. The Quadrantids Meteor Shower offers up to forty meteors per hour, and thankfully, the moon will be a thin crescent during this week, setting before nightfall for the perfect viewing experience. Bundle up and stay warm, though, as frigid temperatures can make you miserable. January also offers the best view of Mercury on the 7th as it will rise to the Eastern Elongation point (the highest point in the sky) on that night.
February and March are mostly a bust, but that’s okay because April brings us the Lyrids Meteor Shower on the 22nd and 23rd. This is a great way to celebrate Earth Day! While the most you might see is 20 meteors per hour in a perfectly dark sky, they’re some of the brightest meteors we get the pleasure of viewing, with trails lasting for whole seconds. It’s a must-see event, for sure! This month also brings a partial solar eclipse to those near Argentina on the 30th!
As things warm up in May, so do the celestial events! On May 6th and 7th, the Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower will bring up to 60 meteors per hour, and the moon will have gone to bed by midnight, leaving a dark sky for a phenomenal view. A scant week later, on the 16th, a total lunar eclipse will be visible to North America and Greenland. Check the NASA website for timing near you.
For the events in July through December, please look at our Stargazing Events for 2022 – Part Two! Some of the best meteor showers happen in the second half of the year, and you won’t want to miss them! Other notable dates in January through July are the new moons and full moons outlined below. Stargazing doesn’t require a meteor shower, and getting out during a new moon is a great time to enjoy the night sky!
If you live in the city without transportation, you can look up local observatories and planetariums for the dates above, so you don’t miss out. Good luck!
January
- New Moon: January 2nd
- Full Moon: January 17th
February
- New Moon: February 1st
- Full Moon: February 16th
March
- New Moon: March 2nd
- Full Moon: March 18th
April
- New Moon: April 1st
- Full Moon: April 16th
- New Moon: April 30th
May
- Full Moon: May 16th
- New Moon: May 30th
June
- Full Moon: June 14th
- New Moon: June 29th