Moon missions, meteors, a solar eclipse and more: Reasons to keep your eyes on the skies in 2024 

This year, outer space is going to be a busy place.

We've got the launch of the Europa Clipper, which will orbit one of Jupiter's enigmatic moons and investigate whether it could harbour conditions suitable for life; we could cheer on the first Canadian to orbit the moon; and we're getting a total solar eclipse that will be visible across eastern Canada.

Here are just some exciting events to look forward to in 2024.

As always, the year starts off with the annual Quadrantid meteor shower, which is pretty impressive, albeit short-lived.

At its peak, and under ideal conditions, the shower can produce upward of 100 or more meteors an hour in a dark-sky site. 

Though the shower runs from Dec. 27 to Jan. 10, the peak occurs on the night of Jan. 3. 

It only lasts 12 hours — and it's expected to have some celestial competition, according to Peter Brown, Canada Research Chair in meteor astronomy and a professor at Western University in London, Ont.

"The Quadrantids have a peak which is favourable for North America [around 4 a.m. ET], but the last quarter moon will interfere," Brown said in an email. "Nevertheless, it is such a strong and sharp shower that it is worth checking out in 2024, but with modest expectations given the bad lunar conditions."

An added bonus is that the Quadrantids tend to produce bright fireballs, increasing the chances of seeing something spectacular.

The next opportunity to see a similarly impressive meteor shower won't come until August, when the Perseids arrive.

This shower is often described as the best of the year, and with good reason. It's the summer, the night skies tend to be clear and the weather is warmer, making for a comfortable night of viewing under the stars. 

"The Perseids have better lunar conditions, and this year there are several old trails which may be encountered … so the night of Aug 11-12 might be particularly interesting to follow this year," Brown said. " However, the rates won't be super high — maybe a few tens of per cent above normal levels if these filaments are encountered in that time."

This tends to be a dependable shower, capable in ideal conditions of producing 100 meteors an hour at its peak, which falls on the night of Aug. 11. And the great news about this year's shower is that there will be no moon to interfere with capturing some of the fainter meteors. 

Finally, there is the Geminid meteor shower.