12/31/2019 Six Eclipses, Three Supermoons and A Rare ‘Great Solstice Appulse’: A Skywatcher’s Guide To 2020

218,205 views | Dec 27, 2019, 10:00pm

Six Eclipses, Three Supermoons and

A Rare ‘Great Solstice Appulse’: A
Skywatcher’s Guide To 2020
Jamie Carter Contributor
Science
I write about science and nature, stargazing and eclipses.

Jupiter and the southern Milky Way rising over the Tasman Sea, at Cape Conran, on the Gippsland ... [+] UNIVERSA

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Will 2020 be the year you start stargazing? You’ve picked a great time to begin. Here
are the celestial highlights of the next 12 months:

The ‘Solstice Ring Of Fire Eclipse’

Earth just had one on Christmas Day, but an annular solar eclipse is coming in 2020
that’s extra special.
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12/31/2019 Six Eclipses, Three Supermoons and A Rare ‘Great Solstice Appulse’: A Skywatcher’s Guide To 2020

Although it will have to be viewed through sola

eclipse glasses, the sight of a bright circle
around the moon will, on June 21, 2020—the
date of the solstice—bring fading light levels an
possibly a view of the solar corona to intrepid
eclipse-chasers.

They will gather in Ethiopia, Oman and Tibet

for a super-short eclipse lasting as little as 23
seconds.

An annular Solar Eclipse is observed on May Nature’s grandest spectacle: total

21, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masashi
solar eclipse
Hara/Getty ... [+] GETTY IMAGES

If you've
never seen the famous "hole in the sky“—one of
nature's greatest displays—another chance will
come on December 14, 2020 when the Moon’s
central shadow will take just 24 minutes to
cross Chile and Argentina. Observers on the
centerline of the path of totality (in southern
Chile’s beautiful Lake District and Argentina’s
region of Patagonia) will experience 2 minutes 9
seconds totality.

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A total solar eclipse in Grand Teton Nationa

Four lunar eclipses Park on August 21, 2017 outside Jackson,
Wyoming. ... [+] GETTY IMAGES

There will be four penumbral lunar eclipses in

2020. These are not dramatic events, but the sight of a light grey and easy-to-look-at
full moon is still a strange sight for experienced moon-gazers. Such eclipses are
caused when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are almost, but not quite aligned, and ou
satellite drifts into Earth’s shadow for a few hours. Here’s when they’re happening,
and who on the Earth’s night-side will see them:

January 10, 2020: Wolf Moon Eclipse (Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa).
Note: occurs two weeks after the “Christmas Eclipse” and is the deepest, and
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12/31/2019 Six Eclipses, Three Supermoons and A Rare ‘Great Solstice Appulse’: A Skywatcher’s Guide To 2020

so the most impressive, penumbral lunar eclipse of 2020.

June 5, 2020: Strawberry Moon Eclipse (Asia, Africa and Australia). Note:
occurs two weeks before an annular solar eclipse.

July 5, 2020: Thunder Moon Eclipse (South America, North America and
Africa). Note: occurs two weeks after an annular solar eclipse.

November 29-30, 2020: Frosty Moon Eclipse (North and South America,
Australia and East Asia). Note: occurs two weeks before a total solar eclipse in
South America.

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Three supermoons

Defined as less than 223,694 miles from the center of Earth, supermoon full moons
will occur three times in 2020. If you want to appreciate their larger apparent size,
always look east at moonrise or west at moonset. Only when they are close to the
horizon can you appreciate their extra size and brightness.

March 9: Super Worm Moon

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April 8: Super Pink Moon
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May 7: Super Flower Moon

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‘Giant planet week’

Since Earth is an inner planet, on one day each year it gets between the Sun and each
outer planet. On that day that planet is at its brightest as seen from Earth. In 2020,
both Saturn and Jupiter go into so-called “opposition” in the same week. A small
telescope will get your awesome views of Jupiter’s cloud bands and Saturn’s rings.

July 14: Jupiter at opposition

July 20: Saturn at opposition

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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals the intricate, detailed beauty of Jupiterâ s clouds in ... [+] NAS

ESA, A. SIMON (GODDARD SPA

Three promising meteor showers

2019 wasn't a particularly good year for shooting stars, with many of the year’s majo
meteor showers marred by bright moonlight. It gets a little easier in 2020, with the
moon staying out of the way of these displays, though August’s Perseids meteor
shower is again a casualty of our satellite’s brightness. Here are the three to plan for

April 21-22: Lyrids meteor shower (moon is 1% illuminated)

November 16-17: Leonids meteor shower (moon is 5% illuminated)

December 13-14: Geminids meteor shower (moon is 1% illuminated)

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A ‘Great Solstice Appulse’

Here’s something that’s not happened since the year 2000, and won’t happen again
until 2040. On December 21, 2020—the exact date of the solstice—Saturn and Jupit
will appear incredibly close together (just 0.06º apart) right after sunset.
Astronomer’s call this an “appulse”or a “great conjunction.” It will all be a matter of
perspective; Jupiter and Saturn will actually be 733 million miles from each other, a
well as being 887 million miles and 1620 million miles from Earth, respectively.
However, from Earth, the giant gas planets will appear almost as one.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes

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Jamie Carter

I'm an experienced science, technology and travel journalist interested in space exploration,
moon-gazing, exploring the night sky, solar and lunar eclipses, astro-trave... Read More

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