Sky Chart for 5 a.m. NZST on Sunday 5 May 2024. Note the radiant for the eta Aquariid shower above the north-eastern horizon. Source: Stellarium. The eta Aquariids are one of the best annual meteor showers that favour the southern hemisphere. This year, NASA forecasters predict that Earth will pass through a concentrated area of […]
On the night of Tuesday 8 November, we will see a total lunar eclipse in the skies above New Zealand. The full moon will drift deep into the path of Earth’s shadow causing the bright lunar surface to progressively darken and change to a dark red-orange colour. The eclipse ends in the early hours of
For the second time in 2021, the full moon will drift into the path of Earth’s shadow causing the bright lunar surface to darken and change to a dark reddy-orange colour. On 19 November, we will see a partial lunar eclipse, however it will be one of the deepest such events for centuries, only narrowly
Late in the evening of Wednesday 26 May 2021, the full moon will drift into the path of Earth’s shadow causing the bright lunar surface to darken and change to a reddy-orange colour. This is a total lunar eclipse, otherwise known as a “blood moon”. It doesn’t happen during every full moon phase as the
21 December 2020 marks the Summer Solstice or “longest day” here in New Zealand. This year, it will also be the date of a Great Conjunction featuring our solar system’s two largest planets, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. A conjunction is the term used to describe an event where two or more celestial bodies
As I write this, it’s 50 years to the day since a giant Saturn V rocket rumbled off the launchpad to begin the “successful failure” that was the Apollo 13 mission. Amidst a global pandemic at the present time, most of our thoughts are much closer to home and right now we find more in