Enjoy the first full moon of the year on January 10, 2020, This full moon will undergo a penumbral lunar eclipse. At mid-eclipse, you will find a slight shading - Earth's penumbral shadow - on one side of the moon.
The expected peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower in 2020 comes late evening January 3 until dawn January 4, with the predawn hours on January 4 being your best bet.
Think photo opportunity this weekend (December 27-29) as the brightest and 2nd-brightest sky objects - the moon and Venus - beautify the evening twilight shortly after sunset.
The 3rd and final solar eclipse of the year falls on December 26. It's 2019's only annular or "ring" eclipse, taking place when the moon is near apogee, or its farthest point in orbit around Earth. At mid-eclipse, a ring of the sun's surface will appear around the moon.
On December 16, 2019, you might catch the moon and star Regulus - Heart of the Lion in the constellation Leo - ascending in the east before your bedtime.
Friday - December 13 - comes exactly 13 weeks after the year's first Friday the 13th in September. Zoinks! By the way, a fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia.
Bruce McClure served as lead writer for EarthSky's popular Tonight pages from 2004 to 2021, when he opted for a much-deserved retirement. You can still find many articles at EarthSky.org that were originally written by Bruce, and which the EarthSky editors still update regularly. Bruce is a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also wrote and hosted public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York. Bruce he loves cycles of all kinds! You can still find many articles at EarthSky with Bruce's name on them, exploring the various, intricate cycles of the sky.