Six unmissable celestial events of 2019, from ‘kissing’ planets to incredible solar and lunar eclipses
- The night sky is going to be a busy place in 2019. These are six of the best events
- Look out for a blood moon, shooting stars, and partial and total eclipses
Have you ever experienced a total solar eclipse? When the moon blocks out the sun’s disk, its icy white corona appears, pulsing and spitting into space. It’s an incredible sight and worth travelling across the world to witness.
Displays of shooting stars, “blood” moons, and planets shining brightly together are also celestial sights worth knowing about when planning trips away. These are the big celestial events happening during 2019.
1. The year’s best shooting stars: January 3, 2019
If you can get yourself to a truly dark place (in Hong Kong, try Sai Kung High Island Reservoir and the south of Lantau Island, for example), you could see the year’s best meteor shower when the Quadrantids peak on January 3. It’s possible there could be around 50 to 100 shooting stars per hour. If you are headed to northerly altitudes on a Northern Lights hunt during early January, prepare for two celestial sights for the price of one.