Celestial events to watch in 2024

The cosmos are always moving, changing, and making way for awe-inspiring astronomical phenomena. These are the best, most exciting events to watch for in the coming weeks and months.

Total solar eclipse (April 8, 2024)

A total solar eclipse will be making an appearance over North America in April 2024, and another "won't be visible across the contiguous U.S. again until August 2044," CNN said.

During the eclipse, the moon will completely cover the sun, causing the sky to briefly become darker as the moon passes through. In addition, "bright stars or planets may shine in the dark sky, and the air temperature will drop as the sun disappears," CNN said. Viewers should not look at the eclipse directly, especially when any amount of sunlight is visible.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The last total solar eclipse occurred in August 2017 and was known as the "Great American Eclipse."

Lyrids meteor shower (April 16 - April 25, 2024)

The Lyrids are an annual meteor shower causing between 15 and 20 meteors per hour at its peak. Each meteor shower is associated with a parent comet or asteroid which the debris breaks off of. For the Lyrids, the parent comet is Comet Thatcher, discovered in 1861, Smithsonian said. The shower will peak on April 22 and can "produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds," said Sea and Sky. 

The shower may be harder to see this year because of a full moon at its peak, but experts say viewing from a dark location and being patient can bring it into view. NASA said to "come prepared with a sleeping bag, blanket, or lawn chair. Lie flat on your back with your feet facing east and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible."

Eta Aquarid meteor shower (April 15 - May 27, 2024)

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is an "above average shower, capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak," said Sea and Sky. It happens as the Earth passes through leftover debris from the comet Halley. The shower is expected to peak around May 6, 2024. 

The meteor shower is known for its speed, with "meteors traveling at about 148,000 mph (66 km/s) into Earth's atmosphere," NASA said, adding that "fast meteors can leave glowing 'trains'"

Perseid meteor shower (July 17 - Aug. 24, 2024)

The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most vibrant of the year. While it lasts approximately a month, the shower is expected to peak between Aug. 11 and Aug. 12. At its peak, you can expect to see 60 to 100 meteors in an hour from a dark place making the Perseid shower "widely sought after by astronomers and stargazers," TimeandDate said.

The Perseids are caused by debris from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The meteors "frequently leave long 'wakes' of light and color behind them as they streak through Earth's atmosphere," said NASA. At the peak of the shower, "the moon will be about 50 percent illuminated," the Smithsonian said. "It will set at midnight, so optimal viewing conditions are early in the morning until dawn."

Partial lunar eclipse (Sept. 18, 2024)

On the night of Sept. 17 into Sept. 18, a portion of the moon will pass through the Earth's shadow, resulting in a partial lunar eclipse. The phenomenon will be visible throughout North and South America, Europe and Africa. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse can be viewed without protective eyewear. 

"Because the moon orbits the Earth at an angle of about five degrees — rather than along a flat plane — the shadow is often cast above or below the moon's orbit," said the Smithsonian. However, "about twice a year during the full moon, the angle is just right for an eclipse."

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (Oct. 12 - 19, 2024)

The comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will pass near Earth in fall of 2024. It is also expected to be visible to the naked eye. The comet will be approximately 44 million miles away from Earth at its closest point, and has the potential to be bright and vibrant. "Pretty much right away, it started a buzz in the comet community, because predictions were putting it all over the place in terms of how bright it could get," Ariel Graykowski, a planetary astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, said to Scientific American.

Comets are notoriously unpredictable, being that they are "dusty, icy relics of planetary formation that were hurled to the solar system's outskirts eons ago," said Scientific American. Like leftovers at the back of your freezer, "they spend most of their time inert and unnoticed in the dark." As this event gets closer, scientists can better predict its visibility; however, many already forecast a "fantastic celestial spectacle."

Update March 26, 2024: This article has been updated throughout.