Eclipses, Meteor Showers, Comets - It's a Treat for Sky Gazers This Year

Dr A P Bhat
Poornaprajna College

Udupi, Jan 1: Year 2013 is one of the good years for sky watchers. Along with five planets, two lunar eclipses, 8 better meteor showers, two comets will be visible to the naked eye. Among them, one will be the best, called great comet of the century - ISON. If calculation goes correct it may be like moon in late November and December.

Few sights in our sky are more impressive, often appearing as bright (or brighter) than the brightest stars, and with bright tails that may span a considerable distance across the night sky, such objects called comets are truly spectacular and awe-inspiring.

It is easy to see how ancient people, who didn't understand their physical nature, often considered them as being supernatural phenomena, usually signs of divine displeasure.

Comets are relatively common phenomena, with several usually being accessible to larger backyard telescopes at any given time. Perhaps once a year or so, on the average, a comet will come along that is bright enough to view with the unaided eye, if a sky-watcher is at a dark site and knows where to look. A "Great Comet," however, is fairly rare, with such objects appearing perhaps only once a decade on the average.

The first of these two comets, the Panstarrs, was discovered in June 2011 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System project, a comprehensive survey program based at Mount Haleakala, Hawaii, that became operational a little over two years ago. While Comet Panstarrs was a very dim and distant object at the time of its discovery, it has brightened steadily since then. For the past several months it has been detectable with larger backyard telescopes as it slowly tracks across the constellations of Scorpius and Libra.

Comet Panstarrs will be visible only from the southern hemisphere for the first two months of 2013, but by the beginning of March it begins to swing northward. At around the middle of that month it becomes visible from the northern hemisphere, quite possibly as a very bright object low in the west during evening twilight.

At that time it is also near its closest approaches to the sun (28 million miles) and Earth (102 million miles). Over subsequent weeks it continues tracking northward and becomes more easily visible, although it should also fade as it moves away from the sun and Earth.
By the latter part of May it will be high in the northern sky near Polaris, although by that time it will probably no longer be detectable with the unaided eye.

The comet called C/ 2012 S1 (ISON) was discovered by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok using the International Scientific Optical Network telescope. It will pass within two million miles of the sun's surface.

The Russian astronomers have said that the comet may be brighter than any comet spotted in the last century, visible even in broad daylight, and this may end up being its one and only trip to the solar system, as its trajectory may see it plunge into the sun in a fiery death.

Comets are dusty balls of ice, generally originate from the Kuiper belt, a region of icy small bodies beyond Neptune. Occasionally, a comet gets dislodged from its orbit, and plunges into the inner solar system.

This new comet has been discovered that is predicted to blaze incredibly brilliantly in the skies during late November and December 2013. With a perihelion passage of less than two million kilometres from the Sun on 28 November 2013, current predictions are of an object that will dazzle the eye at up to magnitude —16. That's far brighter than the full Moon. If predictions hold true then C/2012 S1 will certainly be one of the greatest comets in human history, far outshining the memorable Comet Hale-Bopp of 1997 and very likely to outdo the long-awaited Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4) which is set to stun in March 2013.

List

Comet

December 26, 2013 - Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), on December 26, 2013 will be closest to Earth, 64 million miles. The comet will be at perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on November 28, 2013, at a distance of 0.012 AU (1.8 million km) from the center of the Sun.

Meteor showers

January 3,4, 2013 - Quadrantids - Quadrantid meteor shower, get to have up to 40 meteors per hour, usually on 3 and 4 of January, but may be visible on January 1-5.

April 21, 22, 2013 - Lyrid meteor shower. Lyrids are meteor showers with medium intensity, usually producing about 20 meteors per hour. These meteors can produce bright dust tail that takes a few seconds. Some meteors may be visible between April 16 to 25. These meteors radiate from the constellation Lyra, and their source Comet Thatcher 18611.

May 5, 6, 2013- Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Eta Aquarids usually produce about 10 meteors per hour. The highest intensity usually take place on 5 and 6.

Full Moon will discourage observations. The radiant point is the constellation Aquarius, and the meteors originates from Comet Halley. The best observations are usually to the east after midnight, away from city lights.
 
July 28, 29, 2013 - South Delta Aquarids can produce about 20 meteors per hour. Radiant point for these meteors is in the constellation Aquarius

August 12,13, 2013 - Perseid meteor shower. Perseids are one of the best meteor showers that produce up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak hours. Radiant point is in the constellation Perseus, and the meteors originates from the tail of Swift-Tuttle Comet.Find a place away from city lights and look to the northeast after midnight.:

October 21, 22, 2013 - Orionid meteor shower. Orionids are a meteor shower of medium intensity, which produces about 20 meteors per hour. A good view is in any morning from
October 20 to 24. The first Quarter Moon will set before midnight, leaving a dark sky. The best cardinal point to see will be to the east after midnight.Orionids originates from Comet Halley.

November 17, 18, 2013 - Leonids meteor shower - Leonids meteor showers are one of the best for observation. You will see about 40 meteors per hour.Leonids have a cyclic peak year every 33 years when hundreds of meteors can be seen each hour. Last time this phenomenon occurred in 2001. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo after midnight and the meteors originates from the tail of the Comet Temple-Tuttle.

December 13, 14, 2013 - Geminid meteor shower- is considered by many to be the best meteor shower on the the sky. Geminids are known to produce up to 60 multicolored meteors per hour at their peak. Most usually appear on, or around 13 by December and 14, although some meteors should be visible between 06 and 19 December. They radiate from the constellation Gemini and originates from the asteroid 3200 Phaeton. This year, New Moon will guarantee a dark sky, so it would be a wonderful show. The best observation is to the east after midnight in a dark area.

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New Moon

January 11, February 10, March 11, May 10, June 8, July 8, August 6, September 5, October 5, November 3, December 3

Full Moon

January 27, February 25, March 27, April 25, June 23, July 22, August 21, September 19, November 17, December 17

Planets

Mercury:

March, 31, 2013 27.8° Eastern sky in the early morning
June 12, 2013 23° Western sky at evening
July 30, 2013 19.6° Eastern sky at morning,
October 9, 2013 25.3° Western sky at evening
November 18, 2013 19.5° Eastern sky at morning,
 
Venus - From May to end of the year in the evening western sky

November 1, 2013 47.1° maximum in western sky

April 28, 2013 - Saturn in opposition.The planet will be closest to Earth and it's face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. This is the best time to view and photograph Saturn and its moons.

May 28, 2013 - Conjunction of Venus with Jupiter. The two bright planets will be at 1 degree apart in the sky series. Mercury will also be visible nearby.

Eclipses

April 25, 2013- Partial Eclipse of the Moon . Earth is between the Moon and the Sun and Earth shadow will partially cover lunar disc at 11:09 p.m. (mag = 0.014). Eclipse will be visible mostly from Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.

October 18, 2013 - Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. The eclipse will be visible all over the world at 1:51 pm, except in Australia and extreme eastern Siberia.