Year 2024 will have its share of stunning astronomical events; and people in Goa, interested in sky gazing can eagerly wait to watch them!
According to a press release by Association of Friends of Astronomy(Goa), the month of January will be packed end-to-end with conjunctions or celestial spectacles of close grouping of celestial bodies. On 9th January, the Moon, Venus and red star Antares from Scorpio will appear in a stunning equilateral triangle formation joined by Mercury at 6.00am. A breathtaking close conjunction of Saturn, Moon occurs on the day of Makar Sankranti followed by 3 planets and star Antares lining up on the dawn on the 15th . Again Moon and Jupiter come very close on the 18th and Mercury and Mars meet each other in the pre’dawn sky of 27th.
On February 5th, the stunning phenomena of the Moon eclipsing the star Antares will be visible in the dawn sky and the faint non periodic comet Pan STARRS is also scheduled for an appearance on 22nd February. 20th March and 22nd September will see the setting Equinox Sun light up the alters of the Holy Spirit Church in Margao in a stunning cosmic light show.
The months of August to November will have continuous Supermoons and the most spectacular meteor showers this year are expected to be The Leonids in November and Geminids in December. The unique factor of 2024 is that not a single eclipse will be visible in Goa for the entire year.
The Public astronomical Observatories at Panaji and Margao besides others, will be open for the general public for most of these events and special programmes will be held to mark them. A simple four-session Basic astronomy certificate course for all age groups will commence at the Panaji Observatory from 6th January. Details of all events are available on afagoa.org.
