If you’re outdoors Friday night, you may want to look up to the sky.
Three events will be happening simultaneously that could inspire even the most die-hard couch potato to do a little stargazing.
Clay County physics teacher Thomas Webber, WJCT’s go-to sky guy, said first off, it’s December 21.
“During the winter, our northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun. We have the shorter days, the colder temperatures. And then in the summer we’re tilted toward it: more direct sunlight, longer days. So December 21, the winter solstice, marks the shortest day of the year,” he said.
Or the longest night of the year, if you’re a glass-half-full kind of stargazer. Which brings Webber to cool event number 2:
“This year, the full moon is also occurring on the winter solstice. So we have this long night to enjoy the full moon. This happened last time in 2010. But it’s kind of interesting to note that it will not happen again until 2094,” he said.
As if a full moon on the longest night of the year isn’t cool enough, why don’t we throw in a meteor shower?
“Normally with this meteor shower we see about a dozen. It’s not a remarkable meteor shower. This year it’s predicted to burst, which means we could have up to a couple of dozen,” he said.
But there’s a double edged sword with the he full moon, he said. It means the sky’s going to be very bright, which will make the meteors somewhat difficult to see.
But for folks determined to try, the Ursid meteor shower will peak around midnight.
Photo used under Creative Commons license.
