Sky events
The next year in the sky
Eclipses, meteor showers, planets at their best and close meetings between them, with the time and what to expect. Add your location to see which eclipses you can watch.
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Calculating the sky for the next year…
Times are shown in UTC. Astronomical events are calculated with Astronomy Engine; meteor shower peaks follow the International Meteor Organization calendar.
About sky events
Where the dates come from and how to watch safely.
Eclipses, planet oppositions, closest approaches, equinoxes and solstices are calculated in your browser with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library based on the VSOP87 planetary theory, which its authors check against NASA JPL Horizons to about an arcminute. The eclipse times here match NASA’s published catalogue to within minutes. Meteor shower peaks come from the International Meteor Organization’s calendar.
A shower’s peak is when Earth passes through the densest part of the comet’s trail, and that can shift by a day from year to year. The page shows the usual peak night, and tells you how bright the Moon will be that night, because a bright Moon hides many meteors. You can usually see good numbers for a night or two either side of the peak.
A planet is at opposition when Earth sits between it and the Sun. It rises at sunset, is up all night, and is closest to us and brightest for the year, so it is the best time to look at Mars, Jupiter or Saturn through a telescope.
A lunar eclipse is safe to watch with your eyes, binoculars or a telescope. A solar eclipse is not: never look at the Sun, even when it is mostly covered, without certified eclipse glasses (ISO 12312-2) or a proper solar filter. Only during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Sun is completely covered, can the glasses come off.
Pick your location above and each eclipse shows whether it is visible from there. For a lunar eclipse, that depends on whether the Moon is above your horizon at the peak. For a solar eclipse, the page calculates the path from your exact location and says how much of the Sun is covered.