The most brilliant of all the planets will grace the predawn morning sky, shining low in the southeast sky a couple of hours before sunrise.
April 5: The God of War meets the Lord of the Rings
Low in the east-southeast sky before sunrise we’ll be treated to a rather tight conjunction this morning, as Mars slips less than 0.4 degrees below Saturn.
Late April/early May: Possible naked-eye comet?
Comet C/2021 O3 (PanSTARRS) will pass to within 26.6 million miles (42.8 million kilometers) of the sun on April 21 and could possibly brighten to fourth magnitude — bright enough to glimpse with bare eyes — during the final week of April into early May.
April 27–30: Celestial summit meeting
During the latter half of April, watch as Jupiter begins to ascend from beyond the east-southeast horizon and approaches Venus. On April 27, a striking gathering of the three brightest objects in the nighttime sky will be visible in dawn twilight as a waning crescent moon slides below Jupiter and Venus, which will be separated by 3 degrees.
May 15-16: A total eclipse of the moon
This event is almost perfectly timed for most of the Americas. The moon will become totally eclipsed near or just after moonrise along the Pacific coast of Oregon and Washington State and across much of western and north-central Canada,
July 13: Biggest full moon of 2022
Aug. 12: Perseid meteor shower peaks
More of a low-light than a highlight; the annual summer performance of the Perseid meteor shower will be severely hindered by the light of a full moon.
Oct. 25: Partial eclipse of the sun
To produce this eclipse, the moon’s shadow falls chiefly on the north polar regions of Earth. It will be visible from an eastern slice of Greenland and all of Iceland, as well as most of Europe
Nov. 8: Total eclipse of the moon
This eclipse favors the western half of North America, the Hawaiian Islands, eastern Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the eastern half of Australia. Along the Atlantic Seaboard, the moon will set while it begins to emerge from total eclipse.
Dec. 13-14: Geminid meteor shower peaks
A Geminid fireball blazes through the sky above a campfire at Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland during the Geminid meteor shower.