Upwards of 1 million people traveled to see the great solar eclipse of 2024. And just because the sun won’t go dark over North America again until 2044 doesn’t mean you missed out until then.
There are lots of opportunities for astro-tourism each and every year!
As you might expect, Mackinac Island is an awe-inspiring place to go stargazing. It’s a small island, after all, surrounded by water with little light pollution, especially as you head out of town and up into the woods of Mackinac Island State Park.
If you can make it to Fort Holmes at Mackinac Island’s highest point, then you’re in for a treat. The views of the night sky from up there are amazing, whether you’re watching a solar eclipse, a full moon, a meteor shower or some other celestial event.
Here’s a look at five astronomical activities that take place most every year on Mackinac Island:
Full Moons Over Mackinac Island
Full moons happen every month. But seeing one rise over Lake Huron from up at Fort Holmes is a special experience. So is catching a glimpse of the full moon through the window of Mackinac Island’s Arch Rock!
Some full moons look a little bigger than others depending on their distance from earth as they orbit. Those are called supermoons. And every so often on Mackinac Island you can see a blood moon, which is really a lunar eclipse that gives off a reddish glow as it passes through Earth’s shadow.
There’s even a blue moon on Mackinac Island that happens, well, once in a blue moon (which is really just a regular full moon except that it’s the second full moon in a given calendar month, and that only happens every two or three years).
Meteor Showers Over Mackinac Island
Every August, Earth passes through a field of debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle, which comes around every 133 years. Some of those rocky objects floating through space get pulled into Earth’s atmosphere, where they burn up as meteors known as the Perseids.
Also known as shooting stars, these meteors create streaks of light that are fun to spot. And in some years, there can be several dozen meteors every hour while the Perseids are at their peak.
While the Perseids often produce the most shooting stars on Mackinac Island, they’re not the only meteor shower on the calendar. Another of the best displays comes in October with the Orionids, which are icy rocks and dust shed by the famous Halley’s Comet.
Planetary Conjunctions Over Mackinac Island
A handful of planets are visible to the naked eye and most every year you can see some of them in conjunction, which means they appear to be very close to each other. For example, Mercury and Venus buddy up quite often. On the other hand, it’s about 20 years between one “Great Conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn and the next.
Not all planetary conjunctions are created equal. Sometimes they appear to be within a pinkie-finger width. Other times, they appear to be even closer – almost as if they were one. Jupiter and Saturn came so close together in December 2020 that they appeared as a double planet, for example.
In 2025, the closest planetary conjunction visible from Mackinac Island will involve Venus and Jupiter on Aug. 12.
Northern Lights On Mackinac Island
The appearance of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is difficult to predict and can be hit or miss. The intensity of the display tends to be related to solar activity, which flares up in 11-year cycles. When the sun is more active, there are more particles smashing into Earth’s atmosphere and causing the lights.
The solar maximum of the current cycle could generate conditions ripe for spectacular sightings of the Northern Lights on Mackinac Island through much of the 2020s.
Good Old Fashioned Wishing On A Star Over Mackinac Island
Even when there’s nothing unusual afoot in the heavens, the view from Mackinac Island is still pretty impressive. Dark skies without much light pollution mean stars are brighter.
From Fort Holmes up at the island’s highest point to the Adirondack chairs at Mission Point Resort on the southeast corner of the island and the beach at British Landing on the northwest corner, there are several great spots for stargazing on Mackinac Island.
Mackinac State Historic Parks typically hosts special celestial events such as full moon hikes to some of those top stargazing spots.
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