Auroras

Skywatch Alert: Harvest Supermoon, Meteors & Auroras Light Up Oct 6–7, 2025

Key Skywatch Highlights (October 6–7, 2025): The Harvest Supermoon of October 6–7, 2025 Illustration: A comparison of a supermoon at perigee vs. a micromoon at apogee, as seen from Earth. The Oct. 6 full moon occurs near lunar perigee, making it a supermoon (larger and brighter than average) science.nasa.gov. NASA/JPL-Caltech. October’s full moon arrives on the night of October 6–7 and is extra special: it’s both the Harvest Moon and a Supermoon. The term Harvest Moon refers to the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox (Sept. 22), traditionally aiding farmers with extended evening light timeanddate.com. In 2025, the September

6 October 2025

Skywatch Alert: Meteors, Auroras & ISS Sighting to Light Up Oct 1–2, 2025

Key Facts Meteor Showers & Comets Early October brings two modest meteor showers. The Orionids, active Sept 26–Nov 7, begin in earnest on Oct 2 amsmeteors.org starwalk.space. NASA notes the Orionids arise from “debris trailing behind Halley’s Comet” and typically yield ~10–20 meteors/hr at peak science.nasa.gov. (Peak viewing is mid-Oct, but with the New Moon on Oct 21–22 the sky will be dark.) Meanwhile, the Southern Taurids (active Sept 20–Nov 20) are underway; these slow meteors from Comet 2P/Encke are rich in bright fireballs amsmeteors.org. Note the sky will be fairly bright around Oct 1–2 (Moon ~¾ full in-the-sky.org), so expect

1 October 2025

Astronomy · ISS Sightings · Meteor Showers · Northern Lights · Skywatching

Skywatchers’ Delight: Solar Eclipse, Saturn’s Brightest Night & Equinox Auroras (Sept 21–22, 2025)

Key Facts: Partial Solar Eclipse at Dawn (Sept 21) An impressive partial solar eclipse will greet early-risers (and late-day viewers across the dateline) on Sunday, Sept 21, 2025. This eclipse is “deep” – at peak about 85% of the sun’s disk will be covered by the moon earthsky.org. The eclipse path spans the South Pacific, including much of New Zealand, a thin slice of eastern Australia’s coast, parts of Antarctica, and various Pacific islands space.com. In these regions the event happens around local sunrise on the 22nd (morning of Sept 22 in NZ/Aus, which corresponds to Sept 21 UTC) earthsky.org.

21 September 2025

Astronomy · Auroras · Saturn · Skywatching · Solar Eclipses

Skywatch Alert: Rare Meteor Shower, Auroras, and Planetary Spectacles on Sept 16–17, 2025

Key Sky Events (Sept 16–17, 2025) – At a Glance 1. Rare Chi Cygnid Meteor Shower Peaks (Sept 14–16) One of the most intriguing sky events this week is the Chi Cygnid meteor shower, an unusual, recently discovered meteor display. First noticed in 2015 by NASA astronomer Peter Jenniskens and colleagues, the Chi Cygnids have shown a pattern of increased activity every 5 years (with upticks observed around 2010, 2015, 2020, and now 2025) earthsky.org earthsky.org. This year’s return was expected to climax around September 13–15, 2025 earthsky.org earthsky.org, and indeed low-light cameras detected a flurry of slow-moving meteors from

16 September 2025

Astronomy · Auroras · Meteor Showers · Night Sky Events · Stargazing

Cosmic Spectacle Alert: Auroras, Meteor Shower & Planetary Parade Dazzle Sept. 10–11, 2025

Key Facts Auroras Dance at High Latitudes After an unexpected geomagnetic storm dazzled skywatchers in early September, the Northern Lights remain a top attraction for those in northern regions. Over Labor Day weekend (Sept. 1–2), a potent “cannibal” solar eruption hit Earth’s magnetic field, sparking auroras as far south as Illinois and Oregon in the U.S. space.com space.com. “Impact is expected by late September 1. G2+ conditions possible,” explained Dr. Tamitha Skov, a space weather physicist, as she noted that one fast coronal mass ejection (CME) overtook another to intensify the storm space.com. The result was a geomagnetic storm that briefly

10 September 2025

Astronomy · Auroras · Meteor Showers · Night Sky · Planetary Events

Skywatch Alert: Meteors, Auroras & Planet Parade on Sept. 9–10, 2025

Meteor Shower: September Epsilon Perseids An annual meteor shower is gracing the early-September skies – albeit a minor one. The September Epsilon Perseids are active from about Sept. 5 to 21 in-the-sky.org as Earth drifts through debris left by an unidentified comet. This shower is not to be confused with August’s famous Perseids; the September Epsilon Perseids are much fainter and produce far fewer meteors space.com space.com. In 2025, peak activity is expected around 8 a.m. EDT (12:00 GMT) on Sept. 9 space.com in-the-sky.org. That timing means the best chances to see meteors come in the predawn hours of Sept.

9 September 2025

Astronomy · Meteor Showers · Night Sky · Space Events · Stargazing

Skywatch Alert: Meteor Shower, Planet Parade & Auroras Dazzle This Weekend (Aug 30–31, 2025)

Dark Skies and Meteor Showers: Perseids Fade, Aurigids Arrive Late August 2025 brings wonderfully dark night skies thanks to the Moon’s phase. August 23 was a rare “Black Moon” (a third new moon in a season), so evenings around Aug 27–30 have had little moonlight ts2.tech. By this weekend the Moon is only about 7–8 days old (first quarter phase), setting around midnight and leaving most of the night moonless ts2.tech. These dark conditions are ideal for spotting faint meteors, the Milky Way, and other dim celestial sights without glare ts2.tech. Meteor activity this weekend comes from two sources: the tail

30 August 2025

Astronomy · Meteor Showers · Sky Events · Space · Stargazing

Black Moon, Meteors & Auroras: Skywatch Alert for Aug 23–24, 2025

The Black Moon occurs when the new moon reaches Aug 23 at 06:06 UTC, making it the third of four summer 2025 new moons (June 25, July 23, Aug 23, Sept 21) and rendering a moonless sky. The Perseid meteor shower, which peaked in mid-August with up to about 100 meteors per hour under ideal conditions, is winding down by Aug 23, but a Moonless sky this weekend could yield roughly 5 meteors per hour with occasional bright fireballs. The minor Kappa Cygnids (Aug 3–28, peaking around Aug 16) remain active with at most about 3 meteors per hour at

23 August 2025

Astronomy · Auroras · Meteors · Skywatching · Space Events

Cosmic Show on Aug 22–23, 2025: Meteors, Planet Parade, Auroras & More

Perseid meteors continue through August 23, 2025, with the peak on Aug 12–13 under a Moon about 84% full, and by Aug 23 the Moon is new, giving dark skies for meteor watching; the meteors originate from Comet Swift–Tuttle. The minor Kappa Cygnids shower peaks around Aug 16–18, producing about 3 meteors per hour and occasionally slow, dramatic fireballs. Venus and Jupiter form a bright dawn pair in the east around Aug 22, separated by only a few degrees, with Venus at magnitude about −4 and Jupiter around −2. Mercury reached greatest western elongation on Aug 19, 2025, shining near

22 August 2025

Astronomy · Auroras · Meteors · Planetary Events · Skywatching

Skywatchers Alert: Meteors, Planetary Parade, Auroras & More Dazzle on August 21–22, 2025

The Perseid meteor shower remains active on Aug 21–22, offering a handful of meteors per hour under dark skies with the radiant in Perseus and occasional bright fireballs as the Moon is a thin waning crescent near new. The minor Kappa Cygnid meteor shower peaks around Aug 18 and produces about three meteors per hour at best, with occasional dramatic fireballs from the northern sky. During Aug 21–22 a spectacular dawn planetary parade features Venus and Jupiter a few degrees apart in Gemini, Mercury near the very thin crescent Moon on Aug 21 with the Beehive cluster between them, Saturn

21 August 2025

Astronomy Events · Auroras · Meteors · Planet Parade · Skywatching

Breathtaking Skywatching Spectacles on Aug 18–19, 2025: Meteors, Planetary Trio, Auroras & More

The Perseids meteor shower remains active Aug 18–23, 2025, with peak rates up to 50–100 meteors per hour under dark skies, but a bright Moon 84% full on Aug 12 reduced peak rates to about 10–20 per hour; by Aug 18–19 the Moon wanes to ~23% and ~15% illumination, improving viewing. Auroras could appear around Aug 19 due to the solar maximum and a potential minor G1 geomagnetic storm, offering modest displays at high latitudes if solar wind conditions are favorable. On Aug 19 (and Aug 20), a slim crescent Moon joins Venus and Jupiter in the predawn eastern sky,

18 August 2025

Astronomy · Aurora · Meteors · Planets · Skywatching

Skywatch Alert: Meteor Fireballs, Auroras & Planetary Spectacles Dazzle the Night Sky (Aug 15–16, 2025)

The Perseid meteor shower peaked on August 12–13, 2025, and on August 15–16 the Moon is in last quarter, about half-lit and rising late, providing darker evening skies. The Perseids remain active through August 23, 2025, with expert estimates of about 15 meteors per hour under moonlit conditions, meaning only roughly 10–20% of the usual 60–100 meteors per hour may be visible. Perseid earthgrazers can be seen starting around 9–10 PM local time toward the northeast as Perseus rises. The Kappa Cygnids peak around August 16, 2025 and typically produce only a few meteors per hour, perhaps up to about

15 August 2025

Astronomy Events · Auroras · Meteors · Night Sky · Skywatching