The chances are that if you live in rural Eastern Niagara County you’re a
backyard astronomer of sorts. You might find yourself outdoors on a
cool, clear winter night marveling at the countless stars in the
heavens. In the summer months, you probably sit around campfires in your
backyard yelling “did you see that?!” to your family and friends
whenever a meteor streaks across the night sky.
There’s something innate, some primeval, about the interest, the love
affair, with the nighttime skies. The universe is fascinating,
awe-inspiring, and even relaxing – after a day of hustle and bustle and
going in a hundred different directions, it’s always 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.
We backyard astronomers like to maximize this appreciation, because, far
too often, Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate with us. The Niagara County
skies are some of the cloudiest in the United States, thanks to the
Great Lakes and the prevailing southwesterly winds that drive the
moisture from Lake Erie before it hits a brick wall of cold air created
by Lake Ontario, creating the abundant clouds.
So, any time that we are blessed with a clear night, we like to take
advantage of it. And, we always hope that it happens when some celestial
event is taking place. To help you plan for that in 2016 -- and to give
you the signal to start praying to God to ease up on the cloud machine a
little bit -- here’s a look at some of the nighttime sights on tap for
next year…
Eclipses
Unfortunately, observers on the Niagara Frontier won’t get to see any
lunar or solar eclipses, either partial or full, in 2016. But, we’ll
more than make up for it the next year: skywatchers are pumped for
August of 2017 when a full solar eclipse will take place in the US, the
first one in 38 years. When that event happens, we won’t be on the
center line (which runs from the Carolinas to Oregon), but we will see
two-thirds of the sun covered by the moon.
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. In recent years, the sun hasn’t been too eventful
as we are on the down slope of the 11-year sunspot cycle – some space
weather enthusiasts believe that it might even be something worse than
that recurring cycle’s trough and we might be heading into a prolonged
period of a quiet sun.
Either way, the northern lights won’t be very common -- you might even
call them downright rare -- for our latitude again in 2016 (we aren’t as
lucky as northern Canada where they are bathed by the green glow most
every night). In 2015 there were less than a half dozen aurora events
that were visible from the Lake Ontario shore and we might see more of
the same in 2016 unless the sun wakes up and belches some energy our
way.
Comets
2016 will be a slow year for readily-visible comets (those you can see
with naked eyes, binoculars or common backyard telescopes). The only one
we have a chance to see is Catalina. During the first half of January,
you will be able to see her but only as a small fuzzy dot through your
binoculars. You will have to look east before the sun rises. This map
should help you track Catalina: (link)
The year 2017 will be a different story as we will be graced with three
comets that can be seen with binoculars and one of them might even
become visible to the naked eye.
The best and brightest meteor showers
The Quantrids meteor shower will be the first of the year, peaking on
Jan. 3 and 4. The second quarter moon will dull all but the brightest
shooting stars, but the output will be good enough that you should see a
few per hour. The best time to look is after midnight towards the
constellation Bootes.
The Persieds meteor shower never ceases to amaze, throwing some really
bright meteors out there. This year it will peak on Aug. 12 and 13. On
both nights the waning moon will set around midnight, making for some
excellent dark sky viewing (after midnight is always the best time to
see these streakers anyways). Look towards the constellation Perseus to
see them in their full beauty.
Unfortunately, due to timing in 2016, some of the other consistent
showers (like December’s Geminids) won’t make for great viewing due to
full moons or nearly full moons.
New moons
If you are serious about stargazing, you will 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 decent dark sky viewing for three days on
either side of the new moon.
New moons will occur on Jan. 10, Feb. 8, March 9, April 7, May 6, June
5, July 4, Aug. 2, Sept. 1, Oct. 1, Oct. 30, Nov. 29, and Dec. 29, 2016.
Bob Confer lives in rural Gasport where cloudy nights consistently frustrate the stargazer. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer or email him at bobconfer@juno.com.
From the 24 December 2015 East Niagara Post
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