The following are a list of the interesting astronomical events for 2026 in the PWAC region:
March 3: Total lunar eclipse: low in western sky, partial starts at
4:50 AM on a Tuesday, total at 6:04 AM, mid-eclipse at 6:33 AM. Moonset
is at 6:38 followed a few minutes later by sunrise. You’ll need a
location with a nice low western horizon for this one.
April: There may be a fairly bright (mag 3?) comet in the western sky
after sunset.
April 25: Grazing lunar occultation of Regulus: this is a little
before 9 PM on a Saturday evening, if you are on the right line, you’ll
be able to see Regulus (the brightest star in Leo) blink off/on a few
times behind mountains on the limb of the moon, as the moon skims by
it. The line goes through just west of Towanda, just south of Corning,
and just south of Dansville. Smart telescope opportunity if you are
willing to get in the car. These are pretty rare to get to see with
such a bright star.
June 17: Lunar occultation of Venus in daylight: at about 3:50 PM on a
Wednesday, the dark edge of a young crescent moon will block Venus.
Even though the sun will be well above the horizon, this will be an easy
event to see with binoculars or a telescope. Another possible
opportunity for a smart telescope to record the video if you want to try
that. The real challenge will be to see it with the unaided eye!
August 12: Perseid meteor shower at new moon: if we get a clear night
and you go to a dark site, this could be amazing–but it is after
midnight on a Wednesday (worth looking for a few days before/after).
August 12: Solar eclipse (~10% maximum here): maximum eclipse
for us around 1:30 PM on a Wednesday.
August 28: Partial lunar eclipse (93% max): maximum eclipse just after
midnight on a Friday (aka “Thursday night”).
December 14: Geminid meteor shower near new moon. The Geminids are
usually yield more meteors per hour than the Perseids, but the Perseids
get more press because they are in warmer weather (and for us, much
clearer weather). Early on a Monday morning, but worth looking for a
few days before/after.