Poster Maker: Feng Juan
New Year, New Atmosphere. In the upcoming year of 2022, there are still many interesting or wonderful celestial phenomena waiting for us to chase and watch. Among them, in the first month of the new year, there are Leonard's comet perihelion, the quadrant meteor shower is extremely large, the moon "worships" three stars, Mercury east distance, the smallest full moon of the year and other celestial phenomena appear in turn.
C/2021 Comet A1 (known as Comet Leonard) is the "brightest comet" of 2021. The comet will pass through perihelion on January 3, 2022, and then begin its journey away from the center of the solar system, so the brightness observed on Earth is continuing to wane.
However, this comet suddenly ushered in a second explosion on December 20, 2021, and its brightness suddenly increased to a degree visible to the naked eye, which really brought a big surprise to many astronomy enthusiasts.
Tianjin astronomy enthusiast Wang Xinbao photographed Leonard's Comet on December 3, 2021 in the town of Bamen, Baodi, Tianjin. (Courtesy of me)
Xiu Lipeng, director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society and an expert in astronomical science, said that in the process of flying to the sun, if it is not torn apart by the strong gravitational force of the sun and then "incense and jade", it is estimated that the brightness in early January 2022 will be about 6th grade. In the days before the perihelion, at a low southwest altitude after sunset, interested partners can see its traces with the help of telescopes.
"But over time, it gets lower and lower at sunset and the observable time gets shorter and shorter." Xiu Lipeng said.
As the start of 2022, the Quadrant Meteor Shower, one of the three major meteor showers in the Northern Hemisphere, will be extremely large on January 4, with an estimated maximum ZHR (the number of meteors that can be seen per hour when the radiation point is directly above the head under ideal viewing conditions) can reach 120.
A quadrant meteor shower photographed in fangshan, Beijing, in the early morning of January 4, 2014. (Courtesy of Beijing Planetarium)
"With no moonlight interference and the fact that it occurs at night, the conditions for observing this meteor shower are excellent. Interested members of the public may choose to find a suitable place to observe it from the early morning of the 4th to before sunrise. Xiu Lipeng said.
Twelve months a year, every month there will be a "star and moon fairy tale" staged, this romantic celestial phenomenon will naturally not be absent in January 2022.
"After nightfall from January 4 to 6, in the southwest sky after sunset, a crescent moon will 'visit' Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter in turn, and as long as the weather is good, interested publics are expected to see this interesting celestial phenomenon with the naked eye." Xiu Lipeng said.
Beijing astronomy enthusiast Zheng Zhi photographed "Civil Engineering with the Moon" in the Corner Tower of the Forbidden City on December 17, 2020. (Courtesy of me)
Mercury will usher in the Eastern Distance on January 7, which is also the first Mercury Distance in 2022. "If the weather is sunny, interested members of the public can catch a glimpse of Mercury at dusk with the help of binoculars." Xiu Lipeng said.
Tianjin astronomy enthusiast Wang Qiang photographs Mercury a few days after Dongda on February 16, 2020. (Courtesy of me)
On December 19, many people enjoyed the last full moon of 2021, which is also the smallest full moon of the year, commonly known as the "super little moon". Interestingly, on January 18, 2022, the smallest full moon of the year will appear in the night sky again.
Tianjin astronomy enthusiast Yang Jing photographed the "smallest full moon of the year" on December 19, 2021. (Courtesy of me)
"Friends with hearts, if you have photographed the smallest full moon in 2021 at that time, this time you can use the same equipment and the same focal parameters to shoot it again when the moon is at the same horizon coordinate position, and the two are compared, which is smaller, at a glance." Xiu Lipeng said.
Producer: Hu Qinghai
Planner: Liu Xinhui
Reporter: Zhou Runjian
Edit: Chonghai
It was co-produced by Xinhua News Agency and Tianjin Branch of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Starry Sky Studios