1st eclipse season of 2024 starts March 24-25

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Alan Howell from Albuquerque, New Mexico, took this photo in Mariposa Basin Park during the maximum annularity on October 14, 2023, and wrote: “What an incredible adventure! It took months of planning, gear testing, software and equipment training, booking flights and hotels, car traveling, weather forecast monitoring and location scouting to produce this colorized H-alpha image of the ‘ring of fire’ eclipse, showing prominences … This was certainly one of the most challenging and rewarding astrophotography images I’ve taken.” No doubt why … Very well done! We’re in the 1st eclipse season of 2024.

The first eclipse season for 2024 starts March 24. There will be a penumbral lunar eclipse on March 24-25, 2024, followed two weeks later by a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. These are two different kinds of eclipses: lunar and solar. But these two eclipses fall within a single eclipse season.

An eclipse season is an approximate 35-day period during which it’s inevitable for at least two (and possibly three) eclipses to take place.

Then, later this year, the September-October 2024 eclipse season will feature a very shallow partial lunar eclipse on September 17-18, 2024, and an annular solar eclipse on October 2, 2024.

What are eclipse seasons?

What’s an eclipse season? It’s an approximate 35-day period during which it’s inevitable that at least two (and possibly three) eclipses will take place. Typically, there are two eclipses in one eclipse season, and two eclipse seasons in one calendar year. So we typically have at least four eclipses per year. Eclipse seasons repeat in cycles of 173.3 days (somewhat shy of six calendar months).

So, why don’t you see that many eclipses then? To see a lunar eclipse, the moon has to be above your horizon. So it has to be night, or close to night, and that only happens for half of Earth at once. Solar eclipses are even harder to catch. In fact, a total solar eclipse can be seen only from a narrow track along Earth’s surface. The accompanying partial solar eclipse can be seen only in areas adjacent to that track.

Give back to astronomy with a donation to EarthSky.org! Your gift will support educational resources that teach people of all ages about space exploration and the fascinating facts about our universe.

2024 has 2 eclipse seasons

The March-April 2024 eclipse season features a penumbral lunar eclipse on March 24-25, 2024. And a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

The September-October eclipse season features a very shallow partial lunar eclipse on September 17-18, 2024, and an annular solar eclipse on October 2, 2024.

By the way, in 2024, the middle of the eclipse seasons falls on April 5 and September 29. At the middle of an eclipse season, which recurs in periods of about 173 days, the lunar nodes are in exact alignment with the Earth and sun.

What causes an eclipse season?

There are many cycles in the heavens. In fact, an eclipse season is just one of these many celestial cycles.

Consider a scenario where the moon orbited Earth on the same plane as the Earth orbits the sun. Then we’d have a solar eclipse at every new moon, and a lunar eclipse at every full moon.

But, in reality, the moon’s orbit is inclined by five degrees to the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane). Most of the time the new moon or full moon swings too far north, or south, of the ecliptic for an eclipse to take place.

For instance, in the year 2024, we will have 13 new moons and 12 full moons, but only two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses.

In the year 2024, there are 13 new moons and 12 full moons. Moon phases table via Fred Espenak/ AstroPixels.com. Used with permission.

Why we have eclipses

Eclipses are all about alignments. In a solar eclipse, the sun, moon and Earth line up, with the moon in the middle. Image via NASA.

In a lunar eclipse, the sun, Earth and moon line up, with the Earth in the middle. Image via NASA.

Earth (shown as a white dot in the center of each blue disk) at each date when it’s aligned with the sun and moon. The moon is shown on the outer edge of the blue disk, it’s either sunward from it (new moon) or outward from it (full moon). The blue disk is the plane of the moon’s orbit around Earth, darker blue for the half north of the ecliptic. This plane gradually rotates backward. There is an eclipse if the moon is new or full when near ascending or descending node through the ecliptic plane. Small arrows show the moon’s course over 7 days. Image via Guy Ottewell. Used with permission.

Nodal precession of the lunar nodes as the Earth revolves around the sun causes an eclipse season approximately every six months. Image via Nela/ Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lunar nodes point at the sun

Twice every month, as the moon circles Earth in its orbit, the moon crosses the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane) at points called nodes. If the moon is going from south to north, it’s called the moon’s ascending node. If the moon is moving from north to south, it’s called the moon’s descending node.

Read more: Node passages of the moon: 2001 to 2100

Whenever the lunar nodes point directly at the sun, that momentous event marks the middle of the eclipse season. The alignment of the moon, sun and Earth is most exact when an eclipse happens at the middle of an eclipse season. And the least so when an eclipse occurs at the start, or the end, of an eclipse season. Any lunar eclipse happening early or late in the eclipse season presents a penumbral lunar eclipse, whereas any solar eclipse happening early or late in the eclipse season features a skimpy partial eclipse of the sun.

The plane of the moon’s orbit is inclined at 5 degrees to the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun (the ecliptic). The moon’s orbit intersects the ecliptic at two points called nodes (labeled here as N1 and N2). It’s the middle of the eclipse season whenever this line of nodes points directly at the sun. In the above diagram, the line of nodes does not point at the sun. Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

2 or 3 eclipses in one eclipse season?

An eclipse season most often presents only two eclipses. However, if the first eclipse falls early in the eclipse season, then it’s possible for a third eclipse to occur before the eclipse season ends.

For example, the last time three eclipses happened in one eclipse season was June-July 2020:

June 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse
June 21, 2020: Annular solar eclipse
July 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse

Likewise, the next time three eclipses will occur in one eclipse season will be June-July 2029:

June 12, 2029: Partial solar eclipse
June 26, 2029: Total lunar eclipse
July 11, 2029: Partial solar eclipse

Read more: How often are there three eclipses in a month?

Eclipse season terminology

With this in mind, here are some words you need to know to understand eclipse seasons: lunar nodes and ecliptic. The ecliptic is the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the sun. A lunar node is the point where, in its monthly orbit of Earth, the moon’s orbit intersects that plane. An eclipse season is when – from Earth’s perspective – the sun is close enough to a lunar node to allow an eclipse to take place. If the sun is close to a lunar node at full moon, we see a lunar eclipse. If the sun is close to a lunar node at new moon, we see a solar eclipse.

To put it another way, if the moon turns new or full in close concert with the moon’s crossing of one of its nodes, then an eclipse is not only possible, but inevitable.

The moon’s orbit around Earth is inclined 5 degrees to Earth’s orbit around the sun, so the moon crosses the Earth’s orbital plane twice a month at points called nodes. Every 173.3 days, the line of nodes points at the sun, and this is the middle of the approximate 5-week eclipse season (highlighted in gray). During any eclipse season, there is always at least one solar eclipse and one lunar eclipse, occurring within one fortnight of the other. If the 1st eclipse arrives early enough in the eclipse season, 3 eclipses can fit within a lunar month, and up to 7 eclipses occur in one year’s time. Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

Minimum of 4 eclipses in one year

A lunar month (period of time between successive new moons or successive full moons) is about 29.5 days long. So a minimum of two eclipses (one solar and one lunar, in either order) happens in one eclipse season. A maximum of three eclipses is possible (either lunar/solar/lunar or solar/lunar/solar), though the first eclipse of the eclipse season has to come quite early to allow for a third eclipse near the end.

So a minimum of two lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses occur in one calendar year. Yet, depending on how the eclipse seasons and lunar phases align, it’s possible to also have five, six or seven eclipses in one year.

For the maximum of seven eclipses to occur in one calendar year, the first eclipse must come in early January. That leaves enough room for the seventh eclipse in late December. In one scenario, an eclipse season sporting two eclipses comes early in the year and late in the year. The middle eclipse season stages three eclipses.

It’s quite rare for seven eclipses to occur in one calendar year, however. Seven eclipses last happened in the year 1982, and will next occur in the year 2038.

Maximum of 7 eclipses in one year

Also, it’s remotely possible for a calendar year to sport two eclipse seasons with three eclipses each, and one eclipse from an eclipse season that straddles into the previous or following year. By way of example, we present the years 1935 and 1879-80.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman at 39,000 feet (12,000 meters) over Ontario captured this photo of the ring of fire on June 10, 2021. He wrote: “I was on the Sky and Telescope annular eclipse flight over Ontario, Canada. Viewing prospects for the eclipse on the ground were not promising given weather and virus closures. We had a great view from the air with the sun in eclipse well above the clouds. The flight was great fun for the eclipse chasers.” Thanks, Eliot!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Shaun Tarpley in League City, Texas, captured an incredibly vibrant shot of the lunar eclipse of May 15, 2022, and wrote: “This image was taken from my backyard. The iOptron Skyguider Pro allowed me to take this 13 second image at roughly 700mm to bring out the detail in the moon and sky.” Thank you, Shaun!

Bottom line: Eclipse seasons are periods during which eclipses not only can take place, but must take place. A minimum of two eclipses (one solar and one lunar, in either order) happens in one eclipse season. A maximum of three eclipses is possible (either lunar/solar/lunar, or solar/lunar/solar). In 2024, the eclipse seasons are in March-April, and then again in September-October.

Read more: Total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024

The post 1st eclipse season of 2024 starts March 24-25 first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/skuvo67

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Alan Howell from Albuquerque, New Mexico, took this photo in Mariposa Basin Park during the maximum annularity on October 14, 2023, and wrote: “What an incredible adventure! It took months of planning, gear testing, software and equipment training, booking flights and hotels, car traveling, weather forecast monitoring and location scouting to produce this colorized H-alpha image of the ‘ring of fire’ eclipse, showing prominences … This was certainly one of the most challenging and rewarding astrophotography images I’ve taken.” No doubt why … Very well done! We’re in the 1st eclipse season of 2024.

The first eclipse season for 2024 starts March 24. There will be a penumbral lunar eclipse on March 24-25, 2024, followed two weeks later by a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. These are two different kinds of eclipses: lunar and solar. But these two eclipses fall within a single eclipse season.

An eclipse season is an approximate 35-day period during which it’s inevitable for at least two (and possibly three) eclipses to take place.

Then, later this year, the September-October 2024 eclipse season will feature a very shallow partial lunar eclipse on September 17-18, 2024, and an annular solar eclipse on October 2, 2024.

What are eclipse seasons?

What’s an eclipse season? It’s an approximate 35-day period during which it’s inevitable that at least two (and possibly three) eclipses will take place. Typically, there are two eclipses in one eclipse season, and two eclipse seasons in one calendar year. So we typically have at least four eclipses per year. Eclipse seasons repeat in cycles of 173.3 days (somewhat shy of six calendar months).

So, why don’t you see that many eclipses then? To see a lunar eclipse, the moon has to be above your horizon. So it has to be night, or close to night, and that only happens for half of Earth at once. Solar eclipses are even harder to catch. In fact, a total solar eclipse can be seen only from a narrow track along Earth’s surface. The accompanying partial solar eclipse can be seen only in areas adjacent to that track.

Give back to astronomy with a donation to EarthSky.org! Your gift will support educational resources that teach people of all ages about space exploration and the fascinating facts about our universe.

2024 has 2 eclipse seasons

The March-April 2024 eclipse season features a penumbral lunar eclipse on March 24-25, 2024. And a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

The September-October eclipse season features a very shallow partial lunar eclipse on September 17-18, 2024, and an annular solar eclipse on October 2, 2024.

By the way, in 2024, the middle of the eclipse seasons falls on April 5 and September 29. At the middle of an eclipse season, which recurs in periods of about 173 days, the lunar nodes are in exact alignment with the Earth and sun.

What causes an eclipse season?

There are many cycles in the heavens. In fact, an eclipse season is just one of these many celestial cycles.

Consider a scenario where the moon orbited Earth on the same plane as the Earth orbits the sun. Then we’d have a solar eclipse at every new moon, and a lunar eclipse at every full moon.

But, in reality, the moon’s orbit is inclined by five degrees to the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane). Most of the time the new moon or full moon swings too far north, or south, of the ecliptic for an eclipse to take place.

For instance, in the year 2024, we will have 13 new moons and 12 full moons, but only two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses.

In the year 2024, there are 13 new moons and 12 full moons. Moon phases table via Fred Espenak/ AstroPixels.com. Used with permission.

Why we have eclipses

Eclipses are all about alignments. In a solar eclipse, the sun, moon and Earth line up, with the moon in the middle. Image via NASA.

In a lunar eclipse, the sun, Earth and moon line up, with the Earth in the middle. Image via NASA.

Earth (shown as a white dot in the center of each blue disk) at each date when it’s aligned with the sun and moon. The moon is shown on the outer edge of the blue disk, it’s either sunward from it (new moon) or outward from it (full moon). The blue disk is the plane of the moon’s orbit around Earth, darker blue for the half north of the ecliptic. This plane gradually rotates backward. There is an eclipse if the moon is new or full when near ascending or descending node through the ecliptic plane. Small arrows show the moon’s course over 7 days. Image via Guy Ottewell. Used with permission.

Nodal precession of the lunar nodes as the Earth revolves around the sun causes an eclipse season approximately every six months. Image via Nela/ Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lunar nodes point at the sun

Twice every month, as the moon circles Earth in its orbit, the moon crosses the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane) at points called nodes. If the moon is going from south to north, it’s called the moon’s ascending node. If the moon is moving from north to south, it’s called the moon’s descending node.

Read more: Node passages of the moon: 2001 to 2100

Whenever the lunar nodes point directly at the sun, that momentous event marks the middle of the eclipse season. The alignment of the moon, sun and Earth is most exact when an eclipse happens at the middle of an eclipse season. And the least so when an eclipse occurs at the start, or the end, of an eclipse season. Any lunar eclipse happening early or late in the eclipse season presents a penumbral lunar eclipse, whereas any solar eclipse happening early or late in the eclipse season features a skimpy partial eclipse of the sun.

The plane of the moon’s orbit is inclined at 5 degrees to the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun (the ecliptic). The moon’s orbit intersects the ecliptic at two points called nodes (labeled here as N1 and N2). It’s the middle of the eclipse season whenever this line of nodes points directly at the sun. In the above diagram, the line of nodes does not point at the sun. Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

2 or 3 eclipses in one eclipse season?

An eclipse season most often presents only two eclipses. However, if the first eclipse falls early in the eclipse season, then it’s possible for a third eclipse to occur before the eclipse season ends.

For example, the last time three eclipses happened in one eclipse season was June-July 2020:

June 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse
June 21, 2020: Annular solar eclipse
July 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse

Likewise, the next time three eclipses will occur in one eclipse season will be June-July 2029:

June 12, 2029: Partial solar eclipse
June 26, 2029: Total lunar eclipse
July 11, 2029: Partial solar eclipse

Read more: How often are there three eclipses in a month?

Eclipse season terminology

With this in mind, here are some words you need to know to understand eclipse seasons: lunar nodes and ecliptic. The ecliptic is the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the sun. A lunar node is the point where, in its monthly orbit of Earth, the moon’s orbit intersects that plane. An eclipse season is when – from Earth’s perspective – the sun is close enough to a lunar node to allow an eclipse to take place. If the sun is close to a lunar node at full moon, we see a lunar eclipse. If the sun is close to a lunar node at new moon, we see a solar eclipse.

To put it another way, if the moon turns new or full in close concert with the moon’s crossing of one of its nodes, then an eclipse is not only possible, but inevitable.

The moon’s orbit around Earth is inclined 5 degrees to Earth’s orbit around the sun, so the moon crosses the Earth’s orbital plane twice a month at points called nodes. Every 173.3 days, the line of nodes points at the sun, and this is the middle of the approximate 5-week eclipse season (highlighted in gray). During any eclipse season, there is always at least one solar eclipse and one lunar eclipse, occurring within one fortnight of the other. If the 1st eclipse arrives early enough in the eclipse season, 3 eclipses can fit within a lunar month, and up to 7 eclipses occur in one year’s time. Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

Minimum of 4 eclipses in one year

A lunar month (period of time between successive new moons or successive full moons) is about 29.5 days long. So a minimum of two eclipses (one solar and one lunar, in either order) happens in one eclipse season. A maximum of three eclipses is possible (either lunar/solar/lunar or solar/lunar/solar), though the first eclipse of the eclipse season has to come quite early to allow for a third eclipse near the end.

So a minimum of two lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses occur in one calendar year. Yet, depending on how the eclipse seasons and lunar phases align, it’s possible to also have five, six or seven eclipses in one year.

For the maximum of seven eclipses to occur in one calendar year, the first eclipse must come in early January. That leaves enough room for the seventh eclipse in late December. In one scenario, an eclipse season sporting two eclipses comes early in the year and late in the year. The middle eclipse season stages three eclipses.

It’s quite rare for seven eclipses to occur in one calendar year, however. Seven eclipses last happened in the year 1982, and will next occur in the year 2038.

Maximum of 7 eclipses in one year

Also, it’s remotely possible for a calendar year to sport two eclipse seasons with three eclipses each, and one eclipse from an eclipse season that straddles into the previous or following year. By way of example, we present the years 1935 and 1879-80.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman at 39,000 feet (12,000 meters) over Ontario captured this photo of the ring of fire on June 10, 2021. He wrote: “I was on the Sky and Telescope annular eclipse flight over Ontario, Canada. Viewing prospects for the eclipse on the ground were not promising given weather and virus closures. We had a great view from the air with the sun in eclipse well above the clouds. The flight was great fun for the eclipse chasers.” Thanks, Eliot!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Shaun Tarpley in League City, Texas, captured an incredibly vibrant shot of the lunar eclipse of May 15, 2022, and wrote: “This image was taken from my backyard. The iOptron Skyguider Pro allowed me to take this 13 second image at roughly 700mm to bring out the detail in the moon and sky.” Thank you, Shaun!

Bottom line: Eclipse seasons are periods during which eclipses not only can take place, but must take place. A minimum of two eclipses (one solar and one lunar, in either order) happens in one eclipse season. A maximum of three eclipses is possible (either lunar/solar/lunar, or solar/lunar/solar). In 2024, the eclipse seasons are in March-April, and then again in September-October.

Read more: Total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024

The post 1st eclipse season of 2024 starts March 24-25 first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/skuvo67