List of future astronomical events
A list of future observable astronomy events. These are by no means all events, but only the notable or rare ones. In particular, it does not include solar eclipses or lunar eclipses unless otherwise notable, as they are far too numerous to list (see below for articles with lists of all these). Nor does it list astronomical events that have yet to be discovered. And some points of the list miss the last date of the events.
21st century
Date | Event |
---|---|
2061 July 28 | Halley's Comet reaches perihelion as it returns to the inner Solar System. |
2065 | Venus occults Jupiter. |
2067 | Mercury occults Neptune. |
2076 | The planetoid 90377 Sedna reaches perihelion. |
2100 March 24 | Polaris appears furthest North. Polaris's maximum apparent declination (taking account of nutation and aberration) will be 0.4526° from the celestial north pole.[1] |
22nd to 30th century
Date | Event |
---|---|
2113 August | The first time Pluto reaches aphelion since its discovery. |
2114 | Sedna overtakes Eris as the farthest known planet-like object orbiting the Sun. |
2123 June 9 | Long-duration lunar eclipse of approximately 106.1 minutes.[2] |
2123 September 14 | At 15:28 UTC, Venus eclipses Jupiter. |
2134 | Halley's Comet returns to the inner Solar System |
2150 June 25 | Long duration (7 min 14 s) total solar eclipse, Solar Saros 139.[3] The first "long" (> 7 min.) total solar eclipse since June 30, 1973.[4] |
2168 July 5 | The largest total solar eclipse of the 3rd millennium, with an eclipse magnitude of 1.08074, lasting 7 minutes and 26 seconds exactly, saros 139.[5] |
2174 | The second full orbit of Neptune around the sun since its discovery in 1846. |
2177 | "First Plutonian anniversary" of the dwarf planet's discovery, given that Pluto's orbit is just under 248 Earth years. |
2186 July 16 | The longest total solar eclipse of the century.[6] Lasting 7 min 29 s, it is very close to the theoretical maximum,[7] and is predicted to be the longest eclipse during the current 10,000 year period, from 4000 BC to AD 6000 (eclipse predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC.DEPP).[8] |
2197 September 2 | Venus occults Spica (the first time since November 10, 1783). |
2197 December 24 | The Moon occults Neptune. |
2209 | Return of Halley's Comet. |
2253 August 1 | Mercury occults Regulus (for the first time since August 13, 364 BC). |
2265 | Return to perihelion by the Great Comet of 1861. |
2281-82 | Grand Trine of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. This last occurred in 1769 and 1770. |
2309 June 9 | The longest total solar eclipse of the century, at 6 min. 30 s.[9] |
2365 | Perihelion of Comet Halley. |
2391 May 11 | Partial transit of Mercury. |
2400 November 17 | Venus occults Antares (for the first time since September 17, 525 BC). |
2426 | Pluto's second orbit, since its discovery. |
2492 May 6 | Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus asserts that the orbits of all eight planets and Pluto will be within the same 90° arc of the Solar System. The last time this is believed to have occurred was on February 1, 949.[10] |
2504 June 14 | Long (7 min. 10 s.) total solar eclipse, of saros 145.[11] |
2540 July 5 | Long (7 min. 4 s.) total Solar eclipse.[12] |
2562 | The dwarf planet Eris completes one orbit of the Sun, since its discovery in 2005. |
2600 May 5 | First total solar eclipse[13] visible from London since 2151.[14] The width of its path is predicted to be exceptionally wide at its maximum point. |
2608 May 13 | Grazing transit of Mercury. |
2650 September 3 | The distance between Mars and the Earth will arrive at a new remarkable minimum, at 55,651,582.118 km. It will be the closer encounter of perihelitic opposition slightly shorter (of next 37,000 km) than the previous one of the August 28, 2287.[15] |
2699-2700 | 3 triple conjunctions occur within a 2-year time, between Mars-Jupiter, Mars-Neptune and Jupiter-Neptune. |
2729 September 8 | The distance between Mars and the Earth will arrive at a new remarkable minimum, at 55,651,033.122 km. It will be the closer encounter of perihelitic opposition slightly shorter (of 549 km) than the previous one of the September 3, 2650.[16] |
2800-99 | The remnants of Comet Ikeya-Seki are expected to return to the inner solar system. It was last seen from Earth in 1965-1966, and broke into three pieces as it approached the Sun. |
2880 March 16 | Predicted possible impact date for asteroid (29075) 1950 DA, the near-Earth object with the highest known probability of crashing into Earth. |
3000 | Due to the precession of the equinoxes, Gamma Cephei becomes the North star. |
4th to 10th millennium
Date | Event |
---|---|
3089 December 18 | First transit of Venus which is not part of a pair since November 23, 1396. |
3412 | Expected return of Comet McNaught-Russell. |
3711-12 | Multi-triple conjunction between Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. |
3973 July 13 | At 18:54:49 UTC a long (7 min 12s) total solar eclipse. |
3991 July 25 | At 02:29:22 UTC a long (7 min 18s) total solar eclipse. |
4000-4999 | The expected return of Comet Donati. |
4009 August 4 | At 10:00:56 UTC a long (7 min 12s) total solar eclipse. |
4385 | Comet Hale–Bopp is expected to return to the inner solar system. It last dominated the skies of Earth in 1996-97. |
4520 | Hale-bopp reaches its closest to the sun since 1997 |
c. 4876 | The Great Comet of 1811 is expected to return to the inner solar system. According to calculations made at the time, the comet should return around the year 4876. |
4903 June 29 | At 8:55:01 UTC a long (7 min 0s) total solar eclipse. |
4921 August 8 | At 16:28:39 UTC a long (7 min 3s) total solar eclipse. |
c. 5200 | Iota Cephei becomes the North star. |
5366 August 27 | Venus occults Aldebaran (the first occultation of Aldebaran by a planet since July 15, 18,980 BC). |
6727 August 25 | Mars occults Regulus (for the first time since June 28, 17,619 BC). |
6757 July 5 | There is anticipated to be a simultaneous solar eclipse and transit of Mercury, the first such simultaneous eclipse and planetary transit in recorded history.[17] |
7541 February 14 | Jupiter occults Saturn (the first time since prehistoric times, and the first of a double row in a year, the only occurrence of this for perhaps at least a million years).[18] |
c. 7800 | plutoid 90377 Sedna passes its aphelion in the decades around the year 7800 AD. |
All these dates are in a uniform time scale such as Terrestrial Time. When converted to our ordinary solar time or Universal Time, which is decidedly non-uniform, via ?T, the dates would be about one day earlier. Because of this difference, these dates have no anniversary relation to historical dates and should not be linked to them. Furthermore, they are only astronomical dates, so they are given in the astronomical format of Year Month Day, which allows them to be ordered.
Date | Event |
---|---|
8059 July 20 | Simultaneous annular solar eclipse and transit of Mercury.[19] |
9361 August 4 | Simultaneous annular solar eclipse and transit of Mercury.[20] |
9622 February 4 | Simultaneous annular solar eclipse and transit of Mercury.[20] |
c. 9800 | Earth's axial precession makes Deneb the North star.[21] |
9966 August 11 | Simultaneous total solar eclipse and transit of Mercury.[20] |
Far future
Extremely rare astronomical events in the far future, here defined as the years after the beginning of the 11th millennium AD (Year 10,001).
Date / Years from now | Event |
---|---|
20 August, 10,663 AD | A simultaneous total solar eclipse and transit of Mercury.[22] |
10,720 AD | The planets Mercury and Venus will both cross the ecliptic at the same time.[22] |
25 August, 11,268 AD | A simultaneous total solar eclipse and transit of Mercury.[22] |
28 February, 11,575 AD | A simultaneous annular solar eclipse and transit of Mercury.[22] |
17 September, 13,425 AD | A near-simultaneous transit of Venus and Mercury.[22] |
13,727 AD | Vega becomes the North Star.[23][24][25][26] |
5 April, 15,232 AD | A simultaneous total solar eclipse and transit of Venus.[22] |
20 April, 15,790 AD | A simultaneous annular solar eclipse and transit of Mercury.[22] |
14,000-17,000 years | Canopus becomes the South Star, but it will only be within 10o of the south celestial pole.[27] |
20,346 AD | Thuban becomes the North Star.[28] |
27,800 AD | Polaris again is the North Star.[29] |
27,000 years | The eccentricity of Earth's orbit will reach a minimum, 0.00236 (it is now 0.01671).[30][31] |
October, 38,172 AD | A transit of Uranus from Neptune, the rarest of all planetary transits.[32] |
67,173 AD | The planets Mercury and Venus will both cross the ecliptic at the same time.[22] |
26 July, 69,163 AD | A simultaneous transit of Venus and Mercury.[22] |
70,000 years | Estimated time for Comet Hyakutake to return to the inner solar system, after having travelled in its orbit out to its aphelion 3410 A.U. from the Sun and back.[33] |
27 and 28 March, 224,508 AD | Respectively, Venus and then Mercury will transit the Sun.[22] |
571,741 AD | A simultaneous transit of Venus and the Earth as seen from Mars[22] |
6 million years | Estimated time for Comet C/1999 F1 (Catalina), one of the longest period comets known to return to the inner solar system, after having travelled in its orbit out to its aphelion 66,600 A.U. (1.05 light years) from the Sun and back.[34] |
~600 million years | Last total solar eclipse. |
Calendar and other
Date | Event |
---|---|
2038 January 19 | Computer representation of time exceeds 32 bits (Year 2038 problem) |
2240 | 7th millennium begins in the Hebrew calendar. |
4772 October 13 | The Mayan Calendar will require a sixth digit. |
4772 October 21 | The Mayan king Pacal of Palenque predicted that on this date the eightieth Calendar Round anniversary of his accession will be celebrated. |
5965 | the SNAP-10A falls back to Earth after 4000 years. |
7016 October 3 | Mean solar time and atomic time will be one day apart. |
c. 7200 | The Gregorian calendar is one day out of step with the vernal equinox.[35] |
9168 November 21 | Mean solar time and atomic time will be two days apart. |
References
- Meeus, Jean (1997). Mathematical Astronomy Morsels Ch.50. Willmann-Bell.
- "Catalog of Lunar Eclipses, 2101 to 2200". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- "Eclipse of June 25, 2150" (GIF). NASA Eclipse Web Site. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- "Solar eclipse of June 30, 1973" (GIF). NASA Eclipse Web Site.
- "Eclipse of July 5, 2168" (GIF). NASA Eclipse Web Site.
- "Eclipse of July 16, 2186". NASA Eclipse Web Site. Archived from the original (GIF) on March 7, 2008.
- "Saros 139". NASA Eclipse Web Site.
- "NASA Eclipse Web Site". NASA Eclipse Web Site. Archived from the original on 2008-02-19.
- "Eclipse of June 9, 2309" (GIF). NASA Eclipse Web Site.
- Griffith Observatory Archived 2005-01-30 at the Wayback Machine (non accessible)
- Solar eclipse of June 14, 2504
- Solar eclipse of July 5, 2540
- Solar eclipse of May 5, 2600 Archived July 15, 2012, at Archive.today
- Solar eclipse of June 14, 2151 Archived July 16, 2012, at Archive.today
- [meteorite-list] Mars Makes Closest Approach In Nearly 60,000 Years, by Ron Baalke, on Friday August 22, 2003 at 09:04:54 -0700
- [meteorite-list] Mars Makes Closest Approach In Nearly 60,000 Years, par Ron Baalke, on Friday August 22, 2003 at 09:04:54 -0700
- Simultaneous occurrence of solar eclipse and transit of Mercury 6757 July 05
- Solex - Dates of occultations of Saturn by Jupiter, from Earth Archived 2004-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
- "Simultaneous occurrence of solar eclipse and transit of Mercury 8059 Jul 20". Archived from the original on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
- "Solar eclipses during transits; One hundred millennium catalog 50 000 BC - 50 000 AD". Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
- "Deneb". University of Illinois. 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- Meeus, J. and Vitagliano, A. (2004). "Simultaneous Transits" (PDF). Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 114 (3). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-06-15. Retrieved 7 September 2011.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- "Why is Polaris the North Star?". NASA. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- Plait, Phil (2002). Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax". John Wiley and Sons. pp. 55–56.
- Falkner, David E. (2011). The Mythology of the Night Sky. Springer. p. 116.
- Calculation by the Stellarium application version 0.10.2, retrieved 2009-07-28
- Kieron Taylor (1 March 1994). "Precession". Sheffield Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
- Falkner, David E. (2011). The Mythology of the Night Sky. Springer. p. 102.
- Komzsik, Louis (2010). Wheels in the Sky: Keep on Turning. Trafford Publishing. p. 140.
- Laskar, J.; et al. (1993). "Orbital, Precessional, and Insolation Quantities for the Earth From ?20 Myr to +10 Myr". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 270: 522–533. Bibcode:1993A&A...270..522L.
- Laskar; et al. "Astronomical Solutions for Earth Paleoclimates". Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
- Aldo Vitagliano (2011). "The Solex page". Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
- James, N.D. (1998). "Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake): The Great Comet of 1996". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 108: 157. Bibcode:1998JBAA..108..157J.
- Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/1999 F1 (Catalina)". Retrieved 2011-03-07.
- John Meeus, More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels. Section 6.3. Willmann-Bell, 2002. ISBN 978-0-943396-74-3