Events in the Night Sky in 2022

Vicky Derksen of Night Sky Tourist and the Fountain Hills Dark Sky Association knows everything that goes on in the sky above our heads. We asked her for a brief rundown of this year’s best eclipses and meteor showers. Here’s a basic schedule of what to look forward to when you look up to the night sky this year in Arizona:

 

• January 3-4: Quadrantids Meteor Shower. This shower featured up to 40 meteors per hour, originating mostly from around the Bootes constellation.
• April 22-23: Lyrids Meteor Shower. This shower will likely feature about 20 meteors per hour, coming mostly from the constellation Lyra.
• May 6-7: Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower. This shower will feature about 60 meteors per hour, originating mostly from around the constellation Aquarius.
• May 16: Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse. This total eclipse will be visible across all of North America, and will cause the moon to gradually develop a dark, red color.
• July 28-29: Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower. This shower will yield about 20 meteors per hour, and will originate mostly from the constellation Aquarius.
• August 12-13: Perseids Meteor Shower. This is one of the best showers of the year, likely reaching more than 60 meteors per hour. It will mostly yield meteors from around the constellation Perseus, but meteors can come from all over the night sky.
• October 7: Draconids Meteor Shower. This shower will likley only produce about 10 meteors per hour, coming mostly from around the constellation Draco.
• October 21-22: Orionids Meteor Shower. This shower will yield about 20 meteors per hour, coming mostly from the constellation Orion.
• November 4-5: South Taurids Meteor Shower. This is another minor meteor shower, letting out about 5-10 meteors per hour, coming from the constellation Taurus.
• November 8: Total Lunar Eclipse. This total lunar eclipse will be visible across Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the western United States. We may be able to see some of its dark red “Blood Moon” coloration, but likely not as much as during the May 16th eclipse.
• November 17-18: Leonids Meteor Shower. This shower will put out abut 15 meteors per hour, though the moon may block some of the smaller meteors this year.
• December 13-14: Geminids Meteor Shower. Geminids is the big one. This shower can create up to 120 meteors per hour at its peak. The moon will be out during this year’s Geminids, but it will still be a good show.
• December 21-22: Ursids Meteor Shower. This shower will be a minor one, creating about 5-10 meteors per hour. There will be no moonlight, so it should look great.

 

You can learn much more about what’s going on in the sky this year by listening to Vicky’s bi-weekly Night Sky Tourist Podcast and signing up for her newsletter.