Celestial events calender: 2021

We have successfully completed one more orbit around the Sun. We observed the changes occured in our life and in space too. Now it's the time to orbit and explore the entire Universe again.

 We have already watched many more exciting events in the previous year 2020 that will be unforgettable includes appearance of comet neowise to conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn. 

Let’s discover what are the important notable events that are going to happen in the upcoming year 2021!!

JANUARY

3,4 - Quadrantids meteor shower

1st meteor shower of the welcoming new year is Quadrantid meteor shower and around 40 Quadrantids per hour will appear in the dark night sky.

13- New moon phase

Best day to observe the clusters of stars and galaxies as there is no moonlight in the new moon phase.

Showing different phases of moon
(moonconnection.com)

24- Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

Best time to observe Mercury as Mercury is at greatest elongation at eastern side at this time.

28- Full moon phase(wolf moon)

Fully illuminated moon will appear in the night sky and we called it as wolf moon.

FEBRUARY

11- New moon phase

27- Full moon phase

The full moon appear in February month is called snow moon.

MARCH

6- Mercury at greatest western elongation

Mercury is at greatest elongation at western side at this month at this time.

13- New moon phase

20- Vernal(N), Autumnal(S) equinox (march equinox)

Spring equinox in northen hemisphere and fall equinox in the sauthern hemisphere when day and night are of equal length.

20- Venus at greatest western elongation

28- Full moon phase(worm moon)

APRIL

12- New moon

17- Occultation of mars by moon

Occultation is a phenomena when an object hidden behind another object while passing through it due to the orbital motion of both the objects. Moon and Mars will come closer on 17th of this month.

Showing Moon & Mars occultation (nypost.com)

27- Full moon (super) Pink moon

Full moon  of the month April is called pink moon.

22, 23- Lyrid meteors

The second meteor shower of the year we can observe it during 22nd and 23rd of April. Lyrids can be observe better in Northern hemisphere which are in the constellation Lyra.

MAY

6,7- Eta Aquarid meteors

Eta Aquarids are the meteors of constellation Aquarius which are created by the debris from comet Halley.

skyandtelescope.org

11- New moon phase

17- Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

Mercury is at greatest elongation at eastern side at this time.

26- Total lunar eclipse

This is the first lunar eclipse after two years. Last lunar eclipse was held on January 2019 and it will be visible in many areas including South Asia, East Asia, Australia, North & South America and some parts of Antarctica.

26- Full moon (super) phase (Flower moon)

JUNE

10- New moon phase

10- Annular solar eclipse

This year on 10th Jan annular solar eclipse will occur in which moon will be in the middle of Sun and Earth as a result Sun light will not be able to reach the Earth occuring solar eclipse. 

21- Summer(N) winter solstice(S)

We can observe longest day time in Northern hemisphere occuring summer soltice.

24- Full (Super)moon phase, Strawberry moon

The full moon of the month has another name called super strawberry moon which is the biggest supermoon of 21st century.

JULY

4- Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

10- New moon phase

13- mars venus conjunction

Venus will be in conjunction with Mars on 13th of this month.

24- Full moon phase(Buck moon)

Buck moon will rise at the end week of the month also called rose moon and thunder moon.

28, 29- Delta aquarids meteors

This meteor shower events are considered as the longest events and will appear for around two weeks but 28 and 29 of this month will be the best time observe the meteors.

AUGUST

2- Saturn at opposition

Any outer planet beyond Earth’s orbit is near opposition, the planet comes closer to Earth at that time and the planet shines bright and visible in the sky. Saturn will make closest approach to Earth and it lies opposite to Sun.

8- New moon phase

12, 13- Persid meteors

The prolific meteor shower persids will appear in the middle of this month which are from the constellation perseus.

18- close conjunction of mars and mercury

19- Jupiter at opposition

Jupiter will appear darker and brighter on 19th of the month.

accuaweather.com

22- Full moon phase(Blue moon)

The seasonal blue moon of August also called sturgeon moon will appear fully on 22nd of August.

SEPTEMBER

7- New moon phase

14- Neptune at opposition

14- Mercury at greatest eastern elongation

20- Full moon phase(Harvest moon)

we can see the fully illuminated moon which will be on the opposite side of the Earth. It is well known as corn moon or harvest moon by early native American people because it occurs when corn is harvested on this time of the year.

22- Autumnal (N) Vernal (S) equinox

The sun will rise on east and sets on west and the length and time of day and night are of equal over the world on 22nd September called equinox.

timesanddate.com

OCTOBER

6- New moon phase

7- Draconids meteors

Draconids which are the annual meteors normally appear on the month of october also called as Giacobinids.

10- Taurid fireball season peaks

Taurids are the annular meteors of the month of october associated with comet Encke and on mid november we can see around 5 meteors per hour and it also known to produce fireballs.   

 20- Full moon phase(Hunters)

Good oppertunity for sky watchers to watch the blood moon of the year. This is also called haunters moon or harvest moon.

21, 22- Orionids meteors

Orionids which belongs to the constellation Orion will be in peak on 21-22 of the month.

25- Mercury at greatest western elongation

NOVEMBER

4- New moon phase

4,5- Taurids meteors

Taurids meteors from the constellation Taurus will appear on the night sky on 4th & 5th of the month often we called Halloween fireballs. These meteors have two different showers; in northern part, Taurids originated from asteroid and in sauthern part it created from comet Encke.

5- Uranus at opposition

17,18- Leonid meteors

Spectacular meteors Leonids will appear on it's peak on 17-18th of this month.

19- Full moon phase (Beaver moon)

The fully illuminated moon which signifies the begining of the winter also called frost moon and will appear in East Asia, America, Australia and some part of northen Europe.

19- Partial lunar eclipse

DECEMBER

4- Total solar eclipse

4- New moon phase

13,14- Geminid meteors

Geminids shower is the most important and spectacular meteor shower appear in the sky. Geminids meteor shower wil visible on 13th December and upto early morning of 14th December. But one can see this from 4-17 December for around two weeks but best to watch between 13 &14th of the month. We can see around 120-130 meteors per hour on these days when they are active on their peak.

19- Full moon phase

21- Winter (N) Summer (S) solstice

This is the phenomena occurs on 21st December of the year and this is the day of shortest day and longest night often we called as mid-winter.

21, 22- Ursid meteor shower

The meteor from the constellation Usra Minor will be active on it's peak on the date 21 & 22 December of the year. It will be visible for a week from 17-24 December. The rate of this Ursid meteors are very low in comparision to geminids and can be observed around 10-20 meteors per hour.

 This calender refers to all  the important spectacular celestial cosmic events which we are going to observe this year. Don't miss any event, mark your calender and watch the exciting phenomena occur in the space and stay connected with us for further detail discussion on the similar amazing astronomy events of every month of 2021.