If you live or vacation in Allegany County you’re probably a backyard astronomer of sorts. You might find yourself outdoors on a clear night marveling at the countless stars in the heavens. There’s something innate, something primeval, about the love affair with the nighttime skies. The universe is fascinating, awe-inspiring, and relaxing – after a day of hustle and bustle and going in a hundred different directions, it’s comforting to look skyward, see that vastness and realize that we and our human experiences are but tiny, inconsequential blips in the whole scheme of things.
Far from the inescapable light pollution of big cities and their suburbs that haunt WNY locales like the Buffalo and Rochester metro areas, we’re blessed in Allegany County with incredible dark skies that lend themselves to great viewing of the cosmos.
As a matter of fact, some people even travel here to take in the nighttime sights.
They plan for it, based on the calendar of events for celestial activities.
You should plan accordingly, too. Mark your calendars now, so you’re ready to get the most out of looking skyward.
To help you plan for skywatching in 2025, here’s a look at some of the nighttime sights on tap for the year.
Lunar eclipses
On the night of March 14th there will be a total lunar eclipse. The timing is perfect – it’s happening on a Friday night, so your kids can stay up late without worrying about waking up early for school and, depending on your job, if you don’t work Saturdays you can stay up late, too.
Northern Lights
The aurora borealis or northern lights are more abundant when the sun’s face is covered with sunspots and it is emitting all sorts of flares and other solar energy. From the mid-2010s and through the pandemic years, the sun wasn’t too eventful as it was at the bottom of the 11-year sunspot cycle — and that past cycle was a dud to begin with. Solar Cycle 25 is well underway and it has been surprising astronomers with its liveliness the past two years.
2024 was a banner year for the northern lights as they were very visible a few times in Allegany County. Expect more of the same in the new year as the solar cycle peaks in 2025. We aren’t as lucky as northern Canada when it comes to these amazing celestial sights – they see them in abundance and in extraordinary detail — but that doesn’t mean the sun won’t surprise us on occasion. If I had to guess, Allegany County residents will get to see them quite well on five occasions in 2025.
If you want to know when you have a chance, a great tool is the aurora oval (updated every few minutes) on the left side toolbar of the website SpaceWeather.com. If the green or red hue takes over or comes close to the US-Canada border on that map, it’s time to get outside and look. You don’t ever want to miss the northern lights. They are incredible and you have only so many good solar cycles in your lifetime.
The best meteor showers
The Persieds meteor shower never ceases to amaze, throwing some really bright meteors out there. 2016 was an outburst year, and I saw nearly 100 shooting stars over an hour and a half period on the peak night. While 2025’s shower won’t reach such numbers, the Perseids is always a good show. Even during lean years, you can see 30 to 60 per hour, some of them being impressive fireballs, the sight of which will be seared in your memory forever.
In 2025, Perseids will peak on the night of August 12th heading into the morning hours of the 13th. Your best bet is after midnight. Look towards the constellation Perseus to see them in their full beauty. Viewing will be subdued in 2025 as there will be plenty of moonlight from an 80% full moon to obscure all but the brightest fireworks.
December’s Geminids shower, which is a consistent and totally underrated meteor shower (probably because your average person doesn’t like sitting outside in cold weather), will be a fine one to watch 2025 because of the moon will be less than 40% full and it won’t rise until after 2:00 AM on the night of the peak. This event will peak overnight December 13th into December 14th. Don’t overlook this event as skywatchers love this show for its sometimes colorful meteors.
New moons
If you are serious about stargazing, you will as I do mark on your calendar every date on which there is a new moon. Basically “no moon,” the new moon ensures there is no moonlight robbing your skywatching experience, meaning you have full visibility of the stars, the Milky Way, meteors and more. You typically have perfect dark sky viewing for four days on either side of the new moon.
New moons will occur on: January 29, February 28, March 29, April 27,
May 27, June 25, July 24, August 23, September 21, October 21, November
20, and December 20.
From the 30 December 2024 Wellsville Sun
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