Astro-tourism in search of eclipses, meteor showers and dark skies elusive from Earth

For years, small groups of astronomy enthusiasts have traveled the world in pursuit of the rare solar eclipse. They’ve embarked on mid-ocean cruises, taken flights in the path of eclipses, and even traveled to Antarctica. In August 2017, millions of people in the United States witnessed a total solar eclipse visible from Oregon to South Carolina, with a partial eclipse visible to the rest of the continental United States

The interest in astronomical events sparked by this eclipse is likely to return with two visible eclipses in the United States during the next year, the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023 and the total eclipse on April 8, 2024. national parks, observatories or other dark sky natural places to view astronomical events are not limited to just tracking eclipses.

According to a recent study, 80% of Americans and a third of the planet’s population can no longer see the Milky Way from their homes due to light pollution. As a result, most people have to travel to witness meteor showers and other common astronomical events.

I’m a space scientist with a passion for teaching physics and astronomy and photographing the night sky. Every summer, I spend several nights backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, where the skies are dark enough to see the Milky Way with the naked eye. My son and I also like to take frequent road trips along US 395, the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway which coincides with eclipses and meteor showers.

Don’t miss the astronomical events

There are two types of eclipses. Lunar eclipses occur when the full moon passes through the shadow of the Earth. Solar eclipses occur when the new moon briefly blocks the sun.

There are three types of solar eclipses. During a total eclipse, the Moon completely covers the Sun, with totality, or the time during which the Sun is completely eclipsed, lasting up to seven minutes. During totality, those in the path of the eclipse will see the corona of the Sun, or its outer atmosphere, behind the silhouette of the Moon.

The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is an ellipse, so the Moon can appear up to 15% smaller when at its farthest point from Earth, its apogee, compared to its size when at its closest point to Earth. Earth, its perigee. An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon fails to cover the entire disk of the Sun, leaving a ring of sunlight around the Moon.

Finally, a partial eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks only part of the Sun’s disk, as the name suggests.

Meteor showers are a much more common astronomical event than eclipses and are visible from anywhere in the dark sky on Earth. Meteor showers occur when Earth’s orbit around the Sun takes it through the dust left behind by a comet. The Earth kicks up the dust like a car hurtling through a cloud of bugs on the highway.

Meteor showers are named after the constellations from which the meteors appear to emanate, although you don’t have to look in that direction to see the meteors. The most important meteor showers, which occur on approximately the same dates each year, are the Perseids, which take their name from the constellation Perseus and peak on the night of August 12-13; the Geminides, named after the constellation Gemini, on December 14-15; and the Lyrids, named after the constellation Lyra, on April 21-22. The night sky will be mostly moonless for the first two of this year, but a nearly full moon will make it difficult to see 2024’s Lyrids rain.

Tips for aspiring astrotourists

One of the most important factors to consider when planning a stargazing or meteor shower outing is the phase of the moon. The full moon rises around 6pm and sets at 6am, making stargazing nearly impossible due to its brightness. For ideal stargazing conditions, the Moon should be below the horizon, and the best viewing conditions are during a new moon. You can use a moonrise/set calculator to determine the phase of the moon and its rising and setting for any location on Earth.

Another important factor is time. Amateur astronomers always joke that the sky is cloudy during the most interesting astronomical events. For example, most major US cities that are in the path of the April 2024 eclipse have had overcast skies on April 8 60% of the time since the year 2000.

Most Americans live in areas heavily polluted with light. A light pollution map like lightpollutionmap.info can help identify the nearest dark sky location, which, in my case, is hours away. These maps often use Bortle’s Dark Sky Scale, which scales from 1 for extremely dark skies to 9 for highly light-polluted urban centers.

While you can still see the brightest meteors from the outskirts of the city, the darker your sky, the more meteors you’ll see. In general, expect to see fewer than 25 meteors per hour. To see the complex structure of the Milky Way with the naked eye, look for a location with a Bortle Index of 3 or lower.

It is important to arrive at your chosen site early, preferably during daylight hours. Stumbling into an unfamiliar site in the dark is a recipe for disaster and can even disturb others who are already on the site. Getting there early also gives your eyes time to adjust to the dark as night falls, as it typically takes 30 minutes or even more for your eyes to reach their full dark-adaptive potential.

Be sure to bring a headlamp or flashlight with a red light setting, as red light won’t spoil your night vision. Avoid using the phone, as even one glance at the screen can ruin the dark adaptation of the eyes. If you’re using a sky viewing app, set the app to night mode.

Plan ahead if you’re thinking of traveling to see one of the visible eclipses over the United States next year. If you are in the path of the eclipse, stay still! If you’re on the go, staying overnight in the same place overnight before and after the eclipse can help avoid the hour-long traffic jams experienced by eclipse watchers in 2017.

Also, you should never look directly at the Sun with the naked eye, even during a total eclipse. You’ll need an inexpensive pair of eclipse glasses to fully watch and enjoy the eclipse, but get yours ahead of time, as many stores sold out of glasses during the 2017 eclipse.

No matter where you travel during the coming year, don’t forget to look up at night and take in the beauty of the night sky away from the city lights.