Shooting stars on the solstice: Stargazing on the longest night of 2022
The longest night of the year will feature an extra sparkle in the sky as a celestial event aligns with the winter solstice.
The beginning of astronomical winter starts on Dec. 21, 4:48 p.m. EST. On the night of the solstice, check out the peak of the Ursid meteor shower and catch shooting stars raining down from the sky.
The longest night of the year will feature an extra sparkle in the sky as the final meteor shower of 2022 aligns with the solstice.
The December solstice marks the time in the Earth's orbit that the sun's most direct rays are focused on the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere. At this time, the North Pole is tilted away from the sun, leaving every area north of the Arctic Circle in continuous darkness.
The solstice also signifies the changing of the astronomical seasons. The December solstice takes place on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 4:48 p.m. EST, marking the official start to astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
For folks who do not like the long winter nights, the solstice does offer a glimmer of hope. After the December solstice, the days in the Northern Hemisphere will slowly grow longer while nights gradually become shorter.
This difference starts off slowly with each day featuring just a few extra seconds of sunlight than the last. For example, on Christmas Day in New York City, the sun is above the horizon about 13 seconds longer than it is on Christmas Eve.
By February, the daily difference in sunlight is more noticeable with each day being about two or three minutes longer than the day prior, while the nights become two or three minutes shorter. The daily dose of sunshine will continually become longer until the summer solstice on June 21, 2023.
Wednesday night is not only the longest night of the year, but it will also offer stargazers viewing chances for the final astronomy event of 2022 as the Ursid meteor shower reaches its peak.
According to the American Meteor Society, the Ursid meteor shower is often neglected due to the fact it peaks just before Christmas and usually produces fewer meteors per hour than its December counterpart, the Geminids, which peak a week earlier.
Between five and 10 meteors per hour are in the offing for Wednesday night, but the AMS explained that the Ursids occasionally have outbursts of around 25 meteors per hour. Even if an outburst occurs during this year's edition of the Ursids, it will be a far cry from the recent Geminids that produced over 100 meteors per hour.
A meteor streaked through the night sky over a leafless tree. (Serggucci)
The Ursids could be the last chance to view a meteor shower for months as the night sky will be devoid of meteor showers throughout most of the winter and into the start of spring.
Only one more meteor shower is on the horizon, and that is the Quadrantid meteor shower, which peaks on the night of Tuesday, Jan. 3, into the early hours of Wednesday, Jan. 4. However, this event could be a washout.
Unlike most meteor showers that peak over several nights, the culmination of the Quadrantids lasts about only six hours. Even if stargazers have cloud-free weather for the brief peak of the event, the nearly full moon will outshine all but a handful of meteors.
After the Quadrantids come and go, the next meteor shower will not take place until the Lyrids arrive in late April.
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