In 2024, if you want to witness some incredible spectacles in the French sky, you'll have to be prepared to sacrifice a little sleep! Usually, you have to wake up in the middle of the night to get the most out of shooting star showers or eclipses. And this year, amateur astronomers are in for a treat, with a comet, a lunar eclipse and a whole host of celestial phenomena!
With the naked eye or a telescope, if the sky is cloudless, get ready to look up at the stars! Get out your calendar and take note of the events you won't want to miss! Let's hope for nice evenings without too many clouds and rain to make the most of them. Unfortunately, some of the eclipses will not be visible from France again this year.
Comet 12/Pons-Brooks, discovered in the 19th century, has two asperities that form horns, earning it the name "Millennium Falcon". It will be visible to the naked eye throughout 2024, and will make its closest approach to Earth on April 21, just 230 million kilometers away, with a magnitude of 4.
And let's not forget the famous Lyrid shooting stars that light up the sky every year!
Lyrides: a shower of shooting stars visible in the sky in April
From April 14 to 30, 2024, a shower of shooting stars will be visible in the French sky. These are the Lyrides, meteors that pass through our atmosphere every year. Look up to the sky and admire the show! [Read more]
May is no exception when it comes to shooting stars! The peak of the Êta aquarides meteor shower is expected around May 5. The radiant is located near the constellation Aquarius, from which 10 to 20 shooting stars seem to emerge every hour in our hemisphere. These meteors come from the debris of the famous comet Halley. To observe them, move away from the city lights to a high spot!
Êta Aquarides: a shower of shooting stars visible in the sky in May
From April 19 to May 28, 2024, a shower of shooting stars will be visible in the French sky. These are the Êta Aquarides, meteors that pass through our atmosphere every year. Look up to the sky and admire the show! [Read more]
The Perseids are the most famous shooting star showers, because they are the most active. From July 16 to August 23, you can watch these meteors every night, with a peak of activity on the night of August 12, when nearly 100 shooting stars can be observed per hour! A spectacle not to be missed!
The Perseids, the most beautiful shooting star shower of the year, return in August
Throughout August, and especially on August 12, 2023, the famous Perseid shower of shooting stars will be visible in the French sky, as it is every year. Let's look up and admire the show! [Read more]
While the first lunar eclipse of the year will be invisible in Europe, a few months later, on September 18, the Moon will undergo a partial eclipse, in the direct shadow of our planet, with a portion of the Moon disappearing for a few moments from France.
The Geminids are the most famous shooting star showers after the Perseids, as they are among the most active of the year. From December 7 to 17, you can watch these meteors every night, with a peak of activity on the night of December 13, with almost 60 shooting stars per hour! An incredible spectacle not to be missed, weather permitting!
Geminids: a beautiful shower of shooting stars to be seen in the sky in December
A shower of shooting stars will be visible in the French skies before Christmas on the nights of December 4 to 20, 2024, peaking on the 14th. Get ready to admire the beauty of this starry sky! [Read more]
