Few species have their sex determined by temperatures, but for sea turtles it’s almost a certainty.
However, this natural occurrence could become a biological disadvantage as global temperatures continue to rise, leading to larger gender disparities.
What You Need To Know
A sea turtle’s gender is determined by the temperatures in its surrounding environment
Higher nest temperatures produce females, while cooler temperatures yield males
A warming planet will likely upset gender diversity in the sea turtle population
Temperature-driven gender reveals
The differences in reproduction between humans and sea turtles extend beyond the obvious ‘one lays eggs while the other does not.’ One key difference between the two is how sex is determined.
For humans and many other species, gender is determined from the by sex chromosomes when fertilization occurs. But this is not the case with sea turtles and other reptiles, given that they lack sex chromosomes.
For them, the gender of their offspring is determined after fertilization, and the deciding factor all depends on temperature. This kind of sexual determination is called temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD).
Building their nest onshore, a female will lay their eggs in the sand, where they will continue to develop before hatching about two months later.
A baby Olive Ridley sea turtle crawls to the sea past discarded turtle eggs at Ostional beach on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Kent Gilbert)
Higher temperatures stimulate more aromatase activity. This yields an increase in female hormones and thus, the baby sea turtle will hatch as a female.
On the contrary, cooler temperatures limits aromatase activity. This promotes male hormones to dominate, and so the sea turtles that hatch will be male.
(AP Photo/Cody Jackson)
According to NOAA, sand temperatures of 88.8 degrees or more will yield female sea turtles, while sand temperatures of 81.86 degrees or less will produce males.
Eggs incubated in sand temperatures falling between these two thresholds will cause a mix of male and female sea turtles.
As the male sea turtle populations continue to decrease, growing disparities in gender could ultimately endanger the species’ existence in the future.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
Have you ever wondered where all the rain goes? It goes to the same place as snowmelt when temperatures thaw out in the spring.
It’s called a river basin, or a watershed, and whether you know it, all the land we stand on is part of a river basin.
What You Need To Know
Rain and snowmelt goes into river basins
A river basin channels runoff into larger bodies of water
Some water soaks into the ground
Some water will seep into the shallow ground, moving through the soil and helping keep grass, trees and plants healthy. It can even travel deeper down, recharging groundwater aquifers.
Once the ground becomes saturated, a river basin collects runoff and excess water and drains it into a larger body of water.
Depending on where in the basin, it can move into small bodies of water like creeks, streams and rivers, and eventually to outflow points into larger bodies of water like a reservoir, bay or the ocean.
In the U.S., most rain runoff eventually finds its way into the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, or the Great Lakes.
This map below from Grasshopper Geography shows all the permanent and temporary streams and rivers of the Lower 48 in the U.S., divided into catchment areas.
River basins of the United States. (Robert Szucs/www.grasshoppergeography.com)
The Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin (highlighted in pink) is one of the largest in the world. It includes parts or all of 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, collecting precipitation for 41% of the contiguous United States.
The Mississippi River’s water level closely correlates to precipitation totals across the basin. Persistent, heavy rainfall or excessive snowmelt can cause high water levels and put sections of the river into flood stage, threatening communities along the river.
Conversely, severe drought across the Mississippi River basin can lead to low water levels, which can disrupt the shipping industry and expose some oddities from the bottom of the river.
Snowmelt
When snow melts, the water goes to the same place that rain would go. Generally, 10 to 12 inches of snowfall produces 1 inch of liquid water.
In the western U.S. mountains, environmental and utility experts work to conserve that water and replenish lakes and reservoirs that shrink or dry up during times of drought. In the Central U.S., most of the snowmelt ends up in the Mississippi River.
The annual snowpack in mountain ranges can help forecast potential flooding concerns when temperatures warm up. If there’s a large snowpack, rapid snowmelt can cause flooding.
Below, you can see a video from Dec. 2023, after heavy rainfall and snowmelt from warm temperatures combined and led to significant flooding and high waters in Fairfax, Vt.
It’s more common during the spring, but also possible if temperatures climb well above normal during winter.
Snowmelt can be just as important as rain for areas when it comes to recharging groundwater and supplying freshwater for people and animals. Less snowfall means less snowmelt and less water that could be resourceful for us.
Our team of meteorologists dive deep into the science of weather and break down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
We have one more day of this arctic chill across the parts of the United States.
The jackets, scarves, and beanies won’t be needed from Midwest to the Northeast after Sunday.
What You Need To Know
Cold air covers the central and eastern U.S. through the weekend
Dozens of record cold temperatures have been broken
This kind of cold can be dangerous
The arctic air wraps up from the Northeast and Southeast Sunday morning.
Parts of Florida will wake up to freezing temperatures on Sunday.
Highs will reach 15 to 25 degrees below the average for numerous spots, although this arctic surge won’t be as powerful as the previous one.
And by Monday, temperatures should be closer to normal for this time of the year.
What we saw
The arctic air has been enough to tie or break dozens of record cold temperatures over the past few days–not just morning lows, but afternoon highs.
Sunday morning saw temperatures as low as -20 to -40 degrees in northern and northeast Montana. Saco, Mont., dropped to -51 degrees, and subzero lows reached as far south as Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and parts of Indiana, according to Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
The Associated Press reports the winter weather over the past two weeks is blamed for at least 45 deaths. That includes 14 in Tennessee alone, where 9 inches of snow fell around Nashville. Three people in Oregon were electrocuted by a live power line that fell on a car, and five people in Seattle died from exposure to cold.
Brutal cold earlier in the week made Monday’s Iowa caucuses the coldest ever, and heavy lake-effect snow and intense wind gusts forced the Steelers-Bills NFL game to be postponed from its original kickoff. A storm system on the leading edge of the cold dropped accumulating snow as far south as Arkansas and northern Mississippi, whereas much as six inches fell.
This week’s arctic waves have easily been the coldest of the season so far. Check your local forecast to see how cold you’ll get, and take a look at the stories below to be ready for the bitter blast.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
As winter progresses across the Northern Hemisphere, cold outbreaks are becoming more common. And for many across the nation, the coldest day of the year is likely on the way to your city.
What You Need To Know
The coldest day of the year largely varies if you live east or west of the Rocky Mountains
Most across the eastern United States find their coldest time of the year in late January
The western United States typically is coldest in December
NOAA has found that the coldest day has been shifting later into winter
As we move deeper into the heart of winter, the coldest part of the year is upon us across the Midwest and Northeast. Back in 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an interactive map that details when the coldest day of the year is for your city.
In the analysis conducted by NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI), climate experts found that this chilly milestone is now happening later than it used to.
Check out the map below. It reveals when, on average, the coldest day of the year hits based on data from 1991 to 2020. From the Mississippi Valley to the East Coast, temperatures hit rock bottom around mid-to-late January.
According to their report, the study found several interesting regional differences across the nation. But the most notable observation was the separation between dates the Rocky Mountains bring forth.
That’s because temperatures out west of the Rockies are largely influenced by the parade of storm systems moving ashore from the Pacific Ocean. These storm systems determine the temperature influences, and thus temperatures more closely align with the seasonal solar cycle if you live west of the Rocky Mountains.
While a few pockets out west have seen their date for the coldest day of the year slide later into the season, these locations are typically found in deep valleys, where calm winds and the bountiful snow cover can cause a temperature inversion—where the temperature at the surface is colder than the temperature above the ground.
But for those located east of the Rockies, the analysis found that the date for the coldest day of the year has slid later into the season.
While the West largely finds their temperature fluctuations based on storm systems, the eastern U.S. finds their temperature regime largely dictated by modified snow cover to the north.
Believe it or not, snowfall in Canada drives the temperature forecast for the eastern half of the country. That’s because as snow falls and blankets the ground in Canada, that snowfall at the surface helps cool temperatures.
As Canada’s snow cover grows, it reflects more and more solar radiation away from the ground and back out to space, keeping temperatures colder than they could be.
As storm systems develop and move eastward across Canada, the wind flow can then push this colder air mass at the surface southward into the United States. This is what’s responsible for those cold air outbreaks across the northern tier of the country.
Now, keep in mind, these dates are calculated by averaging temperatures over a 30-year period, from 1991 to 2020. The actual coldest day may happen in your area earlier or later than what the map above suggests.
NOAA’s analysis points out an interesting shift, however: Compared to climatological averages from 1981 to 2010, the coldest day is now occurring three to six days later or more in many places east of the Rockies.
The newer 30-year averages ending in 2020 also show more warming early in the winter in the eastern U.S., according to NOAA. This lines up with findings from Climate Central, which revealed that winters in the United States are warming faster than any other season east of the Rockies and in Alaska.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
The Uvalde County district attorney has convened a grand jury to consider whether criminal charges should be brought in connection with the 2022 Uvalde school massacre which killed 19 elementary students and two teachers. It comes one day after the Justice Department released a nearly 600-page report that found numerous mistakes in the law enforcement response.
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You’ve almost certainly heard of the polar vortex. But what about “sudden stratospheric warming,” a weather term that’s started making the rounds on social media? They’re related to one another, and they can play a big role in winter weather.
What You Need To Know
Not all our weather happens near the ground
Atmospheric waves sometimes break on the polar vortex, making it weaken
A weaker polar vortex sometimes makes air far aloft descend and quickly warm
These events can cause arctic outbreaks
The polar vortex
First, a quick review of the polar vortex. The one we care about lives in the stratosphere, the second-lowest layer of the atmosphere. The stratosphere is above where most of our weather happens, starting about 6 miles above the ground and reaching up about 31 miles.
That polar vortex forms in the fall as polar nights get longer and temperatures turn colder. In the spring, it breaks down as daylight returns and temperatures become more balanced.
Polar temperatures in the stratosphere are very cold in the winter, but turn relatively warm in the summer. (NOAA)
But something else can make it break down during the winter, waves in the atmosphere. That’s where sudden stratospheric warming comes in.
Sudden stratospheric warming
The atmosphere has waves, just like the ocean. After all, it pretty much is an ocean… just made of air, not salt water. These waves rise up and down, and sometimes they’ll break and crash on the polar vortex, weakening it.
What happens if the vortex weakens enough? Its winds can reverse direction, causing cold air in the stratosphere to descend and quickly warm. And that’s where the name “sudden stratospheric warming” comes from.
“Sudden” doesn’t mean it happens out of the blue, completely unexpectedly. And “warming” is relative, since we’re still talking temperatures that are way below zero.
Polar vortex temperature centered on 2022, when a sudden stratospheric warming event happened. (NOAA)
Instead of a stable swirl keeping the arctic air bottled up, the polar vortex is knocked off-kilter, coming off the North Pole or splitting into a couple pieces. The frigid air mass sometimes spills southward, although it doesn’t always dump into North America. It can just as easily hit Europe or Russia.
Major sudden stratospheric warming events happen once every winter or two on average, according to NOAA. These can cause big cold air outbreaks, although not every cold wave can lead to sudden stratospheric warming.
It also turns out that El Niño can cause sudden stratospheric warming events–and polar vortex breakdowns–because of how it influences the pattern of waves in the jet stream in the late winter.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
AUSTIN, Texas — After the Longhorns blew a 15-point lead, losing to the UCF Knights 77-71 at the Moody Center on Wednesday night, seeing a “horns down” is just salt in the wound.
That didn’t stop a few UCF players from performing the gesture in the handshake line after the game. But Texas coach Rodney Terry wasn’t letting it slide without having a few choice words for the visiting team.
Some UCF players were putting the horns down after taking down Texas on the road.
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) January 18, 2024
In a video shared by CBS Sports, Terry can be heard saying “You don’t do that!” and “That’s classless!” in response to the players’ actions. The “horns down” is seen as a gesture of disrespect toward the Longhorns.
In the postgame interview, Terry doubled down on his stance.
“You don’t go into the handshake line and have about six or seven guys putting the horns down. We don’t do that. Because when you do those kinds of things, it looks very classless,” Terry said in the interview. “So that’s what I was angry about, and I was letting those guys know you don’t do that.”
Police officers in Corpus Christi, Texas, have raided an illegal gambling venue, seizing a variety of items and making multiple arrests.
According to a report by KRIS, a local TV station, the property, which was officially a video arcade, doubled as an illegal casino. A raid was greenlit and carried out by officers on Thursday, leading to a crackdown on the operation.
The raid, KRIS pointed out, followed a month-long investigation.
In total, the police seized multiple gambling devices, over $85,000 in cash, a vehicle and some marijuana. In addition, the police arrested three people believed to have run the operation.
These include Brandon Roe, 23, Mallory Villarreal, 30, and Jillian Dunnahoo, 22, who were accused of promoting gambling, keeping a gambling place, possessing gambling devices, engaging in organized crime and laundering money.
KRIS pointed out that both money laundering and engagement in organized crime are state felonies and are punishable by up to two years in jail. The three people also risk a maximum fine of $10,000 each. The remaining charges, KRIS added, are Class A misdemeanors.
The TV station also pointed out that five adults in the game room were cited for gambling, which is a Class C misdemeanor in the state.
The Corpus Christi Police Department asked citizens to be vigilant, reminding them that game rooms that offer games with cash rewards are illegal. The CCPD added that patrons of such establishments also risk criminal charges.
Not the First Illegal Gambling Venue
This game room was not the first instance of an illegal gambling operation in the state. Back in March 2023, Nathan Nichols, a 46-year-old Corpus Christi resident, admitted to running an illegal gambling business. Nichols was also previously involved in the theft of US Army property in a separate case.
For reference, Nichols owned and operated Lady Luck and Theo’s Bar. Both of these businesses offered illegal gambling entertainment to their patrons, earlier reports say. The operations ran from March 2018 to August 2019.
Every spring, the World Meteorological Organization releases a list of names for hurricanes that season.
But why don’t we name any other storm, particularly winter storms?
What You Need To Know
The U.S. does not officially name winter storms
Other countries name non-tropical storms year round
The National Weather Service has no plans for naming winter storms
History of naming storms
We have unofficially named winter storms throughout history.
Storms such as The Great Blizzard of 1888, a storm that brought feet of snow to the Northeast and killed over 400 people, or a more recent storm in 2010, Snowmageddon, that crippled the mid-Atlantic with snow.
But naming winter storms didn’t become regular until 2012, when a television weather company did so. At the time, this decision divided the weather community. Some saw the practice as more of a publicity stunt than a way to save lives, as they did not consult any official weather agency.
After 5 years of The Weather Channel naming winter storms, an ad hoc committee of the American Meteorological Society conducted a study and agreed that there was no evidence to support that the naming of storms increases the safety of the public.
The flip side
Even though the U.S. does not name storms other than tropical cyclones, the UK Met Office started officially naming storms in 2015. They not only name winter storms, but powerful storms that form throughout the year that cause substantial impact.
Each area in the UK has different criteria for naming storms, but the fun part is that the public can suggest names for the upcoming year.
Taking a stand
However, the National Weather Service still stands on the side of not naming winter storms, but what is the reason?
I talked to Maureen O’Leary, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service, and she said, “unlike tropical storms, winter storms are diverse with conditions that evolve throughout the storm’s life. That is why our forecasts, watches and warnings focus on specific impacts such as wind conditions, snowfall, ice, temperature, visibility and other impacts.
“Winter storm conditions can vary widely and over a very large area, from community to community. It’s critical that people understand how a storm will impact them, in their area, or where they are going.”
She also said there are no plans to consider naming winter storms.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
Iowans are used to cold weather, but the arctic blast that’s spread across much of the country is the biggest one to happen at the same time as the caucuses.
What You Need To Know
The coldest Iowa caucuses before this year were in 2004
Most have had highs in the 30s and 40s
This year, wind chills will be in the -20s throughout Iowa on caucus night
The Iowa caucuses began in 1972. That year, the high in Des Moines was 25 degrees and scattered snow fell around the state.
Since then, the warmest caucus day was 49 degrees on Feb. 20, 1984. The coldest, in 2004, had a high of just 16 degrees with wind chills in the single digits.
That’ll seem almost tropical compared to what’s coming on Monday.
Highs throughout Iowa will struggle to even get close to 0 degrees–and that’s just the actual temperature. Caucus-goers are going to face frigid wind chills in the -20s while they’re heading to and from their local precincts in the evening.
Here’s a snapshot of the conditions people had to brave through to caucus.
If there’s any good weather news in the Hawkeye State, it’s that they’ll have dry weather on Monday. That’ll be a welcome change after two powerful winter storms socked parts of the state with heavy snow in the days before. The bad weather forced Republican candidates to cancel some events.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Homeland Security Department said Saturday that Texas denied federal agents access to a stretch of border when they were trying to rescue three migrants who drowned.
The federal government’s account came hours after U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said the Texas Military Department and Texas National Guard “did not grant access to Border Patrol agents to save the migrants” Friday night. Mexican authorities recovered the bodies of a woman and two children Saturday across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas.
“This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility,” said Cuellar, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee for homeland security, in a statement.
The drownings come amid escalating tensions between Texas and the U.S. government over immigration enforcement. On Friday, the Justice Department told the U.S. Supreme Court that Texas had taken control of an area in Eagle Pass known as Shelby Park and were not letting Border Patrol agents enter.
The Texas Military Department said in a statement Saturday night that one of its units had searched the river after Border Patrol alerted them of the situation but did not find any migrants. The statement did not address the U.S. government’s claims that Texas authorities had “physically barred” Border Patrol agents from entering the park at the time.
Homeland Security echoed Cuellar’s account of the distress call. In a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday, Texas acknowledged seizing the city park on the border but said the federal government had mischaracterized its actions and it was trying to resolve any disputes over access.
“In responding to a distress call from the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the park,” Homeland Security said in a statement. “The Texas governor’s policies are cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas’s blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks.”
Migrants cross the Rio Grande into the U.S. from Mexico behind concertina wire and a sign warning that it is dangerous and illegal to cross, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. U.S. officials have accused Texas of blocking border agents from being able to try and help save three drowning migrants.
Eric Gay via Associated Press
The park lies in a major corridor for migrants entering illegally from Mexico and is the center of Abbott’s aggressive attempts to stop them, known as Operation Lone Star. Migrants are periodically swept away to their deaths by the current of the Rio Grande.
Abbott’s office referred questions about the drownings to the Texas Military Department, which said its security personnel saw Mexican authorities responding to an incident across the river about 45 minutes after Border Patrol made the state aware of the situation. The department said it maintains water rescue equipment and works with local paramedics to assist migrants needing medical care.
“At no time did TMD security personnel along the river observe any distressed migrants, nor did TMD turn back any illegal immigrants from the US during this period,” the department said in the statement.
Cuellar, who represents a Texas border district, said Mexican authorities alerted the Border Patrol to the distressed migrants struggling in the river late Friday. He said federal agents attempted to call and relay the information to Texas National Guard members at Shelby Park, without success. Agents then visited the entrance to the park but were turned away, according to the congressman, who said they were told a Guard member would be sent to investigate the situation.
Migrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico, Oct. 19, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. U.S. officials have accused Texas of blocking border agents from being able to access Eagle Pass in order to try and save three migrants drowning in the Rio Grande.
Eric Gay via Associated Press
The 50-acre park is owned by the city, but it is used by the state Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department to patrol border crossings. Although daily crossings diminished from the thousands to about 500, state authorities put up fences and stationed military vehicles by the entry to deny access to the public and Border Patrol agents this week, according to a court filing.
In its Supreme Court filing, Texas challenged claims that Border Patrol agents were denied access. They said the Border Patrol has scaled down its presence since summer, when the state moved its resources and manpower to the park.
Federal agents were also granted access to the area to secure supplies, the state said.
Cuellar said there was no immediate information available about the victims’ nationalities, relationship and ages. The Mexican government made no public statements.
On Saturday members of the public held a ceremony at the park to mark the deaths of migrants in their region. Julio Vasquez, a pastor, said access was granted after making requests with the city and sharing pictures showing the entry still fenced up and guarded by members of the National Guard and military vehicles.
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Winter means cold, and winter plus wind equals colder! The term to describe the combination of wind and cold is “wind chill.”
What You Need To Know
The “feels-like” temperature in winter is known as the wind chill
Wind chill is calculated based on the air temperature and wind speed
Frostbite is a danger when we have extremely cold wind chills
How does wind chill work?
First, understand that our bodies lose heat through convection.
When we are outside and there is little to no wind, the air temperature is the same temperature we feel. There’s little to no difference between the two.
In the example below, the outside temperature is 20 degrees, and it feels like it because a layer of that heat remains around our body to help us stay warm.
When it is windy, the moving air breaks up the insulating warm layer. This wind helps to speed up the heat loss and makes the body feel much colder outside.
Add in a 20 mile per hour wind to an outside temperature of 20 degrees, and it doesn’t feel like 20 degrees anymore. Instead, the wind chill is only 4 degrees!
Calculating the wind chill
The wind chill temperature is calculated based on the temperature and wind speed. Check the chart below to determine the wind chill and how long it takes to get frostbite.
At the top of the chart you’ll find the air temperature, and on the left is the wind speed. When you line up those two factors, where they meet is the wind chill.
Ways to stay warm
Frostbite happens when body tissue freezes; your hands, feet, and nose usually freeze first. Your body protects your vital organs by cutting circulation to those extremities and focusing it on the most important places.
We’ve fought wearing jackets since we were kids, but one of the easiest ways to keep yourself safe from frostbite or hypothermia is by dressing appropriately. Wearing layers and cover all exposed skin (including fingers, toes, ears, nose and so on).
How you fuel your body can also help you stay safe. Stay hydrated because that increases your blood volume, which in turn helps prevent frostbite.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine constricts your blood vessels, which prevents the warming of your extremities. Alcohol reduces shivering, which is the body’s attempt to keep you warm.
When wealthy Austin jewelers Corey and Ted Shaughnessy are attacked by intruders in their own home, investigators initially wondered if it was a robbery gone wrong. The answer was more sinister than anyone could have expected.
March 2, 2018: A shootout in the dead of night
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
In a sprawling suburban home in Austin, Texas, 55-year-old Ted Shaughnessy, and his wife Corey were asleep, when in the middle of the night, they were awoken by home invaders. When Ted went to check out the scene, he was faced with a barrage of gunfire.
Corey Shaughnessy fights back
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
As shooters continued to fire in the Shaughnessy home, Corey used her own handgun to shoot back. When Corey ran out of ammunition, she hid in a closet and called the police, frantically pleading for help. Ted, her husband of 30 years, lay dead near their kitchen table.
Bart, one of the family’s beloved Rottweilers also shot dead
Bart, one of Ted and Corey’s two Rottweilers, was killed in the shootout.
Corey Shaughnessy
Investigators arrive on the scene
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
Paul Salo and James Moore of the Travis County Sheriff’s Office arrived to investigate the shooting. Moore described the crime scene as, “a hail of gunfire.”
The Shaughnessy home was in a state of chaos with broken glass everywhere and bullets lodged in the walls. Investigators found different types of bullet casings on the floor. This led them to believe that there was more than one shooter responsible for the attack.
An open window raises suspicion
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
While inspecting the scene, investigators noticed an open window on the side of the house, and they wondered if the intruders had used it to get into the Shaughnessy residence. The window led to an unoccupied bedroom that had once belonged to their son, Nick Shaughnessy.
Inside a drawer in that room, police discovered an empty gun box and wondered if the missing gun, a .40 caliber gun, could have been used in the shooting.
Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison arrive
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
Corey broke the news of her husband’s death to Nick, then 19, who lived two hours away with his girlfriend Jackie Edison in College Station, Texas. They immediately drove to Austin. At the scene, Nick did something investigators thought was odd. The open side window was not visible from the street. Without being told it was open or that investigators thought it might have been the entry point, Nick walked right over to it.
Why was the couple targeted?
Ted and Corey Shaughnessy owned a jewelry store in Austin, Texas. Corey thought that being jewelers might have made them targets. But Amy Meredith, the former assistant district attorney, noted that nothing from the home was stolen, and began to believe it was an inside job.
Police question Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison
Nick Shaughnessy being questioned by Travis County detectives.
Travis County DA’s Office
Nick and Edison were taken to the station for questioning later that day. They told detectives they had been at their apartment in College Station at the time of the attack. Nick also told detectives that he had not been in Austin for a month.
A search warrant reveals more clues
Ammunition found during a search of Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison’s College Station, Texas, home.
Travis County DA’s Office
A few days later, investigators executed a search warrant for Nick and Edison’s apartment. In their search, investigators found ammunition. Though common among gun owners, they discovered that the ammunition was the same brand and caliber that was found at the crime scene.
Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison are married and move in with Corey
Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison’s marriage certificate.
Travis County DA’s Office
Through their search, investigators also learned that Nick and Jackie were secretly married. This was news to Corey, as well. Despite feeling they were too young, she offered to help them plan a proper wedding. And she had ample opportunity because in the days after Ted’s death, the young couple moved in with Corey.
At this point, investigators suspected Nick and Edison may have planned the attack on the Ted and Corey. Since it was still just a working theory, they could not tell Corey.
Corey Shaughnessy stands by her son as investigators close in
Nicolas Shaughnessy
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
Regardless of the suspicions surrounding her son, Corey stood by him, hiring him a defense attorney and maintaining his innocence.
Nick Shaughnessy’s whereabouts are questioned
A map of Nick Shaughnessy’s cellphone usage on Feb. 28, 2018.
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
As authorities continued to investigate, incriminating information arose. Although phone records showed Nick had been more than 100 miles away at the time of his father’s murder, they also showed evidence of a lie. Nick told authorities he hadn’t been to Austin for a month, but phone records proved otherwise. Phone usage showed Nick in Austin on Feb. 28, just two days before Ted’s death.
Jackie Edison withdraws money from the bank
Investigators also say they found text messages between Nick and Edison that show suspicious correspondence. In one text, Nick asks Edison to make a cash withdrawal. Detectives say that Jackie did in fact make this withdrawal, taking out $1,000 from the bank, just days before the murder.
A key witness
In May of 2018, investigators talked to a high school friend of Nick’s named Spencer Patterson. Patterson proved to be an important witness. He told investigators that Nick had approached him, letting him know that he expected to come into $8 million once his parents died.
Surveillance video shows Nick Shaughnessy, left, greeting two men at his front door.
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
Security footage from Nick and Jackie’s front porch proved to be a major turn in the case. Recorded just two days before the attack, it shows Nick greeting two men at the front door.
One of the men in the video is wearing a T-shirt with a logo, which led detectives to a nearby window company. An employee’s daughter told detectives she had met the man in the surveillance footage. His name was Cameron Vosmek.
Cameron Vosmek’s wife tells all
Detectives went to Vosmek’s home, and he wasn’t there. But his wife seemed to know exactly why they had shown up.
She told them a man named Johnny Leon had asked her husband to commit murder for money. Vosmek declined to help Leon and was ruled out as a suspect. But detectives now knew who the other man in the surveillance video was.
A third arrest
Johnny Leon
Travis County DA’s Office
Johnny Leon was questioned by police and arrested for capital murder. And police were able to find evidence that Leon did not act alone. On Leon’s phone investigators found a flurry of contacts around the time of the murder with a man named Arieon Smith.
A confession
Arieon Smith
Travis County DA’s Office
Police brought Smith in for questioning and later arrested him for capital murder. Smith opened up about the events of that night. He not only confessed to being there for the murder, he also admitted to killing Ted. And he led investigators to the missing murder weapon. It was the .40 caliber pistol, missing from the gun box in Nick’s childhood bedroom.
Jackie Edison cooperates and turns on Nick
Detectives question Jackie Edison.
Travis County DA’s Office
After Edison’s arrest, she decided to cooperate with police. She confirmed that Nick had hired somebody to kill his parents.
Capital murder charges
From left, Johnny Leon, Nicolas Shaughnessy and Arieon Smith
Travis County DA’s Office
Nick Shaughnessy and the two alleged hit men were charged with capital murder. All three men took a plea: plead guilty to a reduced charge of murder in return for a sentence of 35 years, with the possibility of parole
Jackie Edison’s plea deal
Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison with the family’s Rottweilers.
Corey Shaughnessy
For her cooperation, Jackie Edison was offered a different deal. She agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit capital murder by terror threat or other felony, and serve 120 days and 10 years probation. Additionally, for the next 10 years, on the anniversary of Ted Shaughnessy’s murder, Edison must spend the night in jail.
In October 2023, on the day Edison was released from jail after serving her four-month sentence, “48 Hours” producer Jenna Jackson was there with questions and a camera. When asked, Edison denied being in on the murder plot and claimed she tried to stop Nick. Investigators say there is no evidence that Jackie ever tried to stop the murder.
Remembering Ted Shaughnessy
Corey and Ted Shaughnessy in happier times.
Corey Shaughnessy
Corey says her husband Ted treasured making people feel special through his passion for gems. His absence is felt deeply by those who knew and loved him. Talking about her survival from the deadly attack, Corey says she knows she’s “been given life” and intends to make the most of it.
When Travis County Sheriff’s detectives Paul Salo and James Moore arrived to investigate a shooting at Ted and Corey Shaughnessy‘s Austin, Texas, home early on March 2, 2018, they first thought it might be a robbery gone wrong.
Det. Paul Salo: It looked as though there was a home invasion … and a homeowner was … killed.
Inside the sprawling, suburban home it looked like a battlefield. Ted Shaughnessy, 55, lay dead in a pool of blood near the kitchen table.
Det. James Moore: He was shot in the head, the back, the thigh, and the buttocks…
One of the family’s two pet Rottweilers, Bart, had been shot to death, as well. There was broken window glass everywhere, bullets lodged in the walls and casings all over the floor. Authorities noticed they were not all the same type.
Det. Paul Salo: We had .40 caliber and .380 … so that told us that we had two shooters …
“Ted sits up in bed … and he grabbed his gun … to go see what it was,” said Corey Shaughnessy. “I hadn’t even gotten my head back on the pillow … before I heard the first gunshot … And then there was a barrage of gunfire.”
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
Corey would tell police she and Ted kept about 20 guns in the home, and said she’d used her .357 revolver to shoot back at the attackers.
Det. James Moore: It was a hail of gunfire.
Investigators had noticed a single, wide-open ground floor window around the side of the house and wondered if the intruders had used it to get in.
Det. Paul Salo: Somebody took the screen off and set it next to the window outside.
That open window led into an unoccupied bedroom where, inside a drawer, police found what seemed like anunlikely coincidence.
Det. Paul Salo: There’s a .40 caliber gun box in that drawer.
Det. James Moore: It’s missing out of the box.
Jim Axelrod: Well, hang on, .40 caliber is one of the calibers that you were just describing.
Det. Paul Salo: Yes.
It meant the Shaughnessy’s empty gun box could have held a pistol that one of the intruders used and had ejected bullet casings near the victim.
Det. James Moore: That information gets passed to me while I’m outside.
Outside, near Moore, first responders were looking after Corey Shaughnessy.
Det. James Moore: Corey’s hysterical.
Ted and Corey Shaughnessy
Corey Shaughnessy
Corey would tell police she had not seen the attackers’ faces. But she did have a hunch about why they’d come.
Corey Shaughnessy: Being a jeweler … you might someday be a target.
Jim Axelrod: When you hear they own a jewelry store, what does that prompt in your minds?
Det. James Moore: Automatically a motive.
Jim Axelrod: Someone … figuring there was some safe with a bunch of jewelry.
Det. James Moore: Absolutely. That’s right.
Corey broke the news by phone to the Shaughnessys’ son Nick, then 19, who lived two hours away with his girlfriend Jackie in College Station, Texas. They immediately drove to Austin, arriving about 8 a.m.
Det. Paul Salo: Nick comes over and he’s — he’s emotional … he asks me what happened.
Nick, Jackie and Corey all agreed to help the investigation in any way possible. Corey allowed police to search her phone and, though Nick said he hadn’t been in Austin for about a month, he and Jackie did the same. All three also agreed to answer questions at the station.
NICK SHAUGHNESSY (police interview): I’m trying to think of anything that could be helpful.
Det. Paul Salo: Our goal was to just try to get as much information as possible.
COREY SHAUGHNESSY (police interview): I — I didn’t hear anything until the dog started barking.
But Corey says the more police questioned her in the coming days … the more a traumatic situation went from bad to worse.
COREY SHAUGHNESSY (police interview): I’m trying to do anything I can to — to help.
She says they were not treating her like a victim.
Corey Shaughnessy: I was extremely angry at the sheriff’s department.
Investigators still weren’t sure if the murder was part of a random attack, a jewel heist gone bad, or whether it was a targeted assassination. They weren’t finding any relevant unidentified prints at the scene, so they had to wonder if their sole surviving victim, Corey Shaughnessy, was actually a suspect.
Det. James Moore: She’s the only person in the house. And we have her husband who has been shot to death … we know that she owns firearms. … So it’s obviously an option for us.
They called her in for a series of interviews. For the last one, she brought a lawyer.
DET. SALO (police interview): You know, I didn’t know Ted. It’s not right that somebody killed him.
COREY SHAUGHNESSY: No it’s not.
DET. SALO: And I want to find him.
COREY SHAUGHNESSY: Me too.
Jim Axelrod: You got a distraught wife. You got a dead husband. You have to ask about the marriage, don’t you?
Det. James Moore: Yes.
COREY SHAUGHNESSY (police interview): Ted was the people person. He was the front part of the store.
Investigators learned Corey and Ted had met in the early 80s at a video arcade in Phoenix. They’d quickly discovered they had a lot in common, including a love of jewelry and, eventually, of each other. They married and opened Gallerie Jewelers.
Corey Shaughnessy: Everything seemed to be just about perfect.
As the jewelry business grew, Ted and Corey had decided to grow their family too. In 2000, they adopted Nick at 16 months old from an orphanage in Ukraine.
Corey Shaughnessy: It was just instant love.
Jim Axelrod: It was?
Corey Shaughnessy: Yeah. Instant.
Corey says they all bonded even before bringing him home.
Corey Shaughnessy: There were animal crackers involved.
Jim Axelrod: Skillful distribution of animal crackers?
Corey Shaughnessy (laughs) Yes, yes … and by the time we left, we were a family.
She says Ted had a knack for helping people express their love with a sparkle.
Det. James Moore: Everybody loved Ted. Didn’t have any enemies.
By the time of the murder, the Shaughnessy’s were worth millions. But maybe even more valuable to them, they counted some of their customers as close friends.
Corey Shaughnessy: We were very happy.
Nick and Corey Shaughnessy
Corey Shaughnessy
For Corey, being a parent was worth its weight in gold.
Jim Axelrod: Nicholas had … everything a kid could want.
Corey Shaughnessy: Yes.
Jim Axelrod: What was he into?
Corey Shaughnessy: He liked animals, and he loved cars.
Especially, fast ones. His father drove race cars for fun and often took him to the track.
Corey Shaughnessy: He loved putting on Ted’s helmet and his racing gloves and — and all of those things.
In high school, she says her son found another love — her name was Jackie Edison. After her parents divorced, she had moved from New Jersey to Austin to live with her father. Nick brought her to meet his parents in 2016.
Corey Shaughnessy: It was an awkward dinner.
But Corey says Jackie eventually won them over, and before long, she was spending so much time in the Shaughnessys’ house, they actually let her move in.
Jim Axelrod: Did you … settle into a — OK, a serious girlfriend seems to be part of Nick’s life and she’s OK?
Corey Shaughnessy: I did. She was alright.
Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison.
Corey Shaughnessy
In August 2017, Nick and Jackie moved out to start a new life in College Station — she in school, he as a day trader, with his parents’ financial backing. Ted and Corey would have less than a year to enjoy their empty nest before that horrible night in March. Police stayed on the scene for hours trying to process all the evidence.
Amy Meredith: I was actually on call … when the murder occurred.
Amy Meredith was an assistant district attorney and says police asked her to come help them process and preserve the scene…an unusual request. She arrived around 11 am…and after looking around, began to believe as they did… that Ted Shaughnessy probably knew whoever had attacked him.
Amy Meredith: This was not a stranger. This was not a stranger killing.
Meredith was sure the home was just too big and too dark for a pair of random robbers or jewel thief wannabees to find their way around. Maybe even more importantly.
Amy Meredith: There was nothing stolen.
Nothing from that safe — and no valuables missing from the rest of the house.
Jim Axelrod: So everything for you pointed to inside job?
Amy Meredith: Yes. Without a doubt.
RAISING SUSPICIONS
Corey Shaughnessy’s frustration with investigators was growing.
She says she’d known from the start that she was a suspect in her husband’s murder. She says she needed money for the business in the following weeks, and it didn’t help when she tried to cash in his million-dollar life insurance policy.
Corey Shaughnessy: I was the only beneficiary. That could only mean that they suspected me.
Jim Axelrod: Let me just ask, did you have anything to do with this?
Corey Shaughnessy:Absolutely not.
But Meredith says Corey had started raising red flags immediately after leaving the scene. Within hours of the murder, she reportedly stated there would be no funeral and inquired about having the house cleaned.
Amy Meredith: We had to make sure that she did not have any involvement.
But Corey wasn’t the only member of Ted’s family who was raising suspicion. The Shaughnessy’s son Nick had been more than 100 miles away at the time of the murder. At the scene that morning, he’d been emotional. But what struck detective Salo was one of Nick’s first questions.
Det. Paul Salo: I tell him, it looks like somebody came into the home, and shot your dad to death.
Jim Axelrod: And how did he absorb that news?
Det. Paul Salo: He asked me, did he suffer?
Jim Axelrod: Was that an odd question?
Det. Paul Salo: It definitely struck me as odd, yes.
Even more so, police say, because, as the morning wore on, Nick became much less interested in speaking with police than with the reporters who had started showing up.
Det. James Moore: Nick and Jackie continuously tried to talk to the media … we asked him to — to stop and to stay in the scene.
At the scene, Nick Shaughnessy did something investigators thought was odd. The open side window was not visible from the street. Without being told it was open or that investigators thought it might have been the entry point, Nick walked right over to it.
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
And then Nick did something really odd, says Moore. He walked directly over to examine that ground floor, wide open side window. The room it led to had once been his.
Det. James Moore: Him going to that side of the house to look specifically at that window which you can’t see from just the front of the house, so for him to know that that was even involved, he did not have that information.
Jim Axelrod: How does he know the entry point unless he was involved in creating the entry point?
Det. James Moore: Sometimes people will get information from crosstalk with detectives or law enforcement and … so I — I didn’t automatically get super suspicious, but it was catching my attention.
Something on Nick’s phone had caught their attention as well: an app that gave him access over his parents’ alarm. Corey told them the family often chose not to arm the system, and that it had been switched off that night. But authorities noticed something in the account history.
Det. James Moore: There was an activation for an open window…
Det. Paul Salo: The time of the window being opened … was 4:27 that morning.
Det. James Moore: Following that was glass break activations. We believe that’s when the bullets started breaking the glass in the house.
Amy Meredith: That’s when Ted died, that’s when the shots were being fired.
Jim Axelrod: Was this important to have?
Det. James Moore: Extremely.
Police also saw something that seemed important in Jackie Edison’s behavior.
Det. James Moore: We were gonna do a gunshot residue test on their hands … we then separated them and at that time Jackie broke down, hysterically.
Jim Axelrod: And what’d you make of it?
Det. James Moore: That was a major red flag for me. … we knew there was something more to this at that point.
Nick Shaughnessy being questioned by Travis County detectives.
Travis County DA’s Office
DETECTIVE: A woman officer put your mom on the phone and then your mom told you what happened?
NICK SHAUGHNESSY: Yeah. … she is like, “someone came in the house. There was an exchange of gunfire.” I believe she fired a shot and then she ran to the closet.
In questioning later that day, Nick and Jackie reminded police they’d been at their home in College Station when the shooting happened.
JACKIE EDISON (police interview): We both moved to College Station, and he just works from home.
A few days later, investigators got a search warrant.
Det. James Moore: Once we get into the apartment we’re going through it, we’re finding ammunition…
Though common among gun owners, the ammunition was the same brand and caliber that was found at the crime scene. And investigators were about to find proof the couple was keeping secrets.
Det. James Moore: We find a marriage certificate for Nick and Jaclyn.
Jim Axelrod: You discovered that Nick and Jackie were married by searching Nick’s apartment?
Det. James Moore: Yep.
Jim Axelrod: In all of the conversation you were having … they never said that they were married?
Det. James Moore: No.
A teenage friend of Nick’s named Spencer Patterson, who’d been certified as a minister online, had married them eight months earlier. Police weren’t the only ones surprised.
Jim Axelrod: You and Ted never knew?
Corey Shaughnessy: No.
Corey Shaughnessy says Nick and Jackie didn’t tell her about their clandestine marriage until after the murder.
Corey Shaughnessy: And I told them, I said … “this is not — you shouldn’t have done this. You’re too young.
Trying to be a good mom, she says she promised to help them plan a proper wedding.
Corey Shaughnessy: I said … “you need to do it the right way.”
Corey had ample opportunity to make sure it happened, because, over the next few days, Nick and Jackie moved back into her house.
Corey Shaughnessy: We were planning the engagement party. We had the guest list. Jackie was picking out invitations.
That’s especially chilling, because while police initially had looked at all three for the murder, they now suspected just two — and that Nick and Jackie had also targeted Corey. But it was still only a working theory.
Jim Axelrod: You can’t say anything to Corey?
Det. Paul Salo: No.
Det. James Moore: That — that’s a hard line to walk.
Jim Axelrod: If you have two people who planned her killing now living with her, are you worried about Corey’s safety?
Det. James Moore: Of course, of course.
Corey Shaughnessy
CBS News
But Corey Shaughnessy says what worried her was the possibility authorities were trying to frame her son, who by now was working in his father’s place at the jewelry store.
Corey Shaughnessy: There’s a set of circumstances that the police are trying to — to — to make work in … the easiest way that they can.
On March 10, 2018, she hired her son the best defense attorney she could find.
Corey Shaughnessy: You could have told me aliens landed on the front yard, and … I would have believed that before I would’ve believed that Nicholas and Jackie planned to have us killed.
STARTLING CLUES CONFIRM AND EXPAND INVESTIGATORS’ SUSPICIONS
Corey Shaughnessy knew police were suspicious of Nick and Jackie, but she says she had no reason to think they were right. After all, she says they’d been wrong about her.
Corey Shaughnessy: The last thing that I would ever do would be kill my husband … and … I thought, well, if they think I did it … it’s not a stretch for them to think Nicolas did it.
But the closer police looked, the more incriminating evidence they seemed to find that Nick and Jackie had planned to have both Shaughnessys killed. While phone records showed Nick had been more than 100 miles away at the time of the murder, they also showed he was lying when he said he hadn’t been to Austin for a month.
Det. Paul Salo: We ultimately see … cellphone usage in Austin on February 28th, which is just two days before Ted ends up getting killed.
Investigators wondered if he had been in town making final preparations. There were text messages on Nick and Jackie’s phones that police say showed a suspicious conversation.
Jim Axelrod: How important was the text message that he had sent out February 23, 24? … Nick is saying he’s “working on it.”
Det. Paul Salo: And Jackie’s response to the text message was, “do they want 50K or not?” And she says, “we can’t afford to pay half before.”
In another exchange, Nick asks her to withdraw money from her account: “so if it happens … cash in hand.”
Det. Paul Salo: They do make this withdrawal.
Jackie withdrew $1,000 from the bank just days before the murder. Authorities suspected it was no coincidence. Then, in May 2018 , they talked to the man who had officiated Nick and Jackie’s wedding – that high school friend, Spencer Patterson.
Det. James Moore: Trying to get ahold of Spencer was kind of difficult.
At first, investigators believed Patterson might be a suspect. But when they finally reached him, he proved to be a critical witness instead. He told them just before the murder, Nick had talked about coming into $8 million with Ted and Corey gone.
Jim Axelrod: Nick had put a dollar sign on the lives of his parents.
Det. Paul Salo: Yes.
Det. James Moore: Yep.
Jim Axelrod: That’s chilling.
Det. Paul Salo: It is.
Patterson showed them text messages that were even more chilling.
Det. James Moore: There’s also communication between Spencer and Nicolas, where Nicolas was trying to hire him to kill a family.
“Just walk in and shoot a family,” writes Nick. “Steal all their s—-, no mask needed cuz they’ll all be dead.”
Det. James Moore: Spencer didn’t want to go along with it. But Nick still pitched the idea.
Police would come to believe Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison had masterminded the attack and on May 29, 2018, authorities arrested them for criminal solicitation in the murder of Ted Shaughnessy.
Corey Shaughnessy: I’m still under the assumption that … he’s being wrongly accused.
For months, Corey had stood by Nick. But she told us that when she read the arrest affidavits and saw the evidence, her rock-solid belief in his innocence began to crumble.
Corey Shaughnessy: I got to where I understood that yes, they were involved in some way.
But as a mother, she says she still couldn’t convince herself they’d deliberately tried to kill anyone.
Corey Shaughnessy: I was then hoping that they had maybe gotten caught up in something in College Station where maybe Nicolas owed someone money or maybe there was some sort of a strange drug thing or maybe he told the wrong person that we were jewelers.
Confident Nick and Jackie were behind the attack, police hoped some time in jail might make them come clean about who had actually pulled the trigger. For the moment though, neither one was talking.
Amy Meredith: The next step was … who were the actual shooters and how do we figure this out?
The evidence trail had essentially run cold.
Det. James Moore: So we kinda hit a stall point.
In early July, four months after the murder, Moore decided to review some security video from Nick and Jackie’s porch, recorded just two days before the attack.
Det. James Moore: I see two individuals show up to his front door.
Security footage from Nick and Jackie’s front porch proved to be a major turn in the case. Recorded just two days before the attack, it shows Nick Shaughnessy, left, greeting two men at the front door.
Travis County Sheriff’s Office
Moore says he noticed something about one of the men that made him freeze the video — something he was wearing.
Det. James Moore: A green … Andersen T-shirt.
Jim Axelrod: Window company.
Det. James Moore: A window company.
Jim Axelrod: This feels like a break, and it only happens because you isolated a frame of the video from the security camera?
Det. James Moore: Yeah.
Moore and Salo drove to the window company where their hard work ran into more good luck. By sheer coincidence, an employee’s daughter said she’d actually met the man in the freeze frame. Apparently, he’d only worked there for a few days — four years earlier.
Det. Paul Salo: And this woman still remembered his name.
Jim Axelrod: Sergeant, what are the odds of a hit like this on the identity?
Det. James Moore: It was … crazy that we got that break.
His name was Cameron Vosmek and he wasn’t home that day. But his wife answered the door — and quickly got their attention.
Det. Paul Salo: “I know why you’re here.”
Det. Paul Salo: “That, kid who … hired somebody to — to kill his jewelry store parents.”
Jim Axelrod: Hang on. She doesn’t know who you guys are. You identify yourselves as detectives and she says, “I know why you’re here?”
Det. Paul Salo: Yes.
She said a few months earlier, a man named Johnny Leon had asked her husband to commit murder for money. But he turned him down. Police ruled out Vosmek as a suspect. But Leon turned out to be the other person in the security video from Nick and Jackie’s porch. When they brought him in for questioning, he told them he was no murderer. But he admitted Nick had tried to hire him.
JOHNNY LEON: (police interview) I’m not gonna lie to you, when someone offers you 100K, you’re gonna think about it …
DET. MOORE: He’s luring you into this to commit murder.
JOHNNY LEON Yeah …
But police were convinced that Leon had taken the bait.
DET. MOORE (police interview): I’m just telling you; we know you’re involved in this. We know what happened …
JOHNNY LEON: You know I’m involved?
DET. MOORE: Absolutely. There is no doubt.
Leon was arrested for capital murder, and on his phone, police found evidence he may not have acted alone. There was a flurry of contacts around the time of the killing with a Fort Worth man named Arieon Smith. They also discovered both men had arrest records. In fact, the two had been arrested together for drugs a year earlier.
Det. Paul Salo: Detective Moore and I interviewed him. …he did admit that he had met Nick.
Det. Paul Salo: He gave us a lot of good information.
Smith opened up about the details of that night and broke down in the process.
DET. MOORE (police interview): You’re the only person that’s showing regret.
ARIEON SMITH: I don’t understand how, how could you kill somebody and not have any emotion about it? And you actually killed them. I was just in the situation. … I’m — I’m — I’m devastated. I cannot sleep at night.
Prosecutors were closer than ever to having everything they needed to make their case.
Amy Meredith: We’ve got enough. … Now, let’s go to trial.
That’s something Nick Shaughnessy told “48 Hours” he’d wanted to avoid.
A BELOVED SON’S BETRAYAL
After police arrested the last of their four suspects, Arieon Smith, Det. Salo says Smith told them he wasn’t just there for Ted’s murder.
ARIEON SMITH (police interview): Yes, I was there.
Smith acknowledged firing the fatal shot, and then made a stunning request —
ARIEON SMITH (police interview): I request the death penalty.
— the death penalty.
ARIEON SMITH (police interview): I killed somebody, I deserve to die. Simple as that.
He also told police where to find the murder weapon. It was the .40 caliber pistol missing from that box they’d found in Nick’s old bedroom.
Jim Axelrod: The .40 caliber gun that killed Ted was Ted’s.
Corey Shaughnessy: Yes.
For a mother who’d struggled for months to keep faith in her son, it felt like the last straw.
Corey Shaughnessy: Too much had happened … that pointed to Nicolas and Jackie having involvement.
And Corey was horrified to realize she’d spent months sheltering the very people who’d planned to have Ted and her murdered that night.
Jim Axelrod: What a chilling thought — two people who tried to have you killed and they’re living in your home.
Corey Shaughnessy: Very. It’s … very chilling.
Corey Shaughnessy: I bought all the groceries. I paid all the bills. I bought her clothing.
Jim Axelrod: This is diabolical.
Corey Shaughnessy: Absolutely … they thought they had gotten away with it.
Jaclyn Edison bring questioned by detectives.
Travis County DA’s Office
DETECTIVE (police interview): Do you prefer Jackie or Jaclyn?
JACKIE EDISON: Jackie.
After their arrest, it took just a couple of weeks for Jackie to blame Nick.
DETECTIVE: Did Nicolas hire somebody… to kill his parents?
JACKIE EDISON: Yeah.
And Jackie seemed to know why he’d done it. She says Nick was in desperate financial straits, with a failing day trading business and thousands in overdue loans including at least one from Corey.
JACKIE EDISON (police interview): I think his mom gave him $30,000 … and she expected money in return, but he wasn’t paying her.
After her cooperation, authorities released Jackie on a reduced bond. And prosecutor Amy Meredith resolved to go after Nick for the maximum.
Amy Meredith: We’re going to try Nick Shaughnessy for capital murder.
Jim Axelrod: At this point, were you prepared to testify against Nick?
Corey Shaughnessy: Yes.
From left, Johnny Leon, Nicolas Shaughnessy and Aerion Smith were charged with capital murder.
Travis County DA’s Office
Nick Shaughnessy and the two alleged hit men were charged with capital murder. But by the spring of 2021, Amy Meredith had left her job as assistant district attorney. And there was a new DA, José Garza, whose office made the men an offer: avoid a possible death sentence by pleading guilty to a reduced charge of murder and serve 35 years with the possibility of parole. Leon and Smith agreed, and Corey wrote to Nick to suggest he do the same.
Corey Shaughnessy:If I could speak to Ted, I think that would have been his choice.
Nick Shaughnessy accepted the deal. He could be released when he is 36. In the summer of 2023, “48 Hours” visited him in prison near Houston.
Jim Axelrod: Did you hire people to go kill your parents?
Nick Shaughnessy: Yes, Jackie and I participated in multiple aspects to kill my …
Jim Axelrod: Never mind participated in multiple aspects. Did you pay these two men to go kill your parents?
Nick Shaughnessy: I know … that I’m here because of those actions.
Jim Axelrod: Nick at the end of the day, are you sorry for what you did or are you sorry that you got caught?
Nick Shaughnessy: I’m most truly, passionately sorry, for what I did.
And Nick told us he never would have done it – if not for Jackie.
Jim Axelrod: It was a very toxic relationship.
Although he stood to inherit his parents’ money eventually, he told us he wasn’t prepared to wait.
Jim Axelrod: Were you at all thinking … “what am I doing?:
Nick Shaughnessy: Of course. … it was always in the back of my head. like red flags — like stop, don’t go.
Jim Axelrod: The back of your head. Why not the front of your head?
Nick Shaughnessy: I guess the validation or approval from Jackie.
It is hard to know how much Jackie Edison should be blamed or what punishment she deserves. And jurors won’t get to decide. She too got a deal from the office of the new DA. For pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit capital murder by terror threat or other felony — a jail sentence of 120 days and 10 years’ probation.
Corey Shaughnessy: It is an outright dismissal of everything that I went through as a victim. And it’s a dismissal of Ted’s life.
Jim Axelrod: Three are doing 35 years, one is doing 120 days. Corey says that’s outrageous. … What are your thoughts?
Amy Meredith: I … had no involvement once I left the district attorney’s office on Jackie’s case.
Amy Meredith was working elsewhere before prosecutors offered the plea deals. Corey’s feelings aren’t lost on her.
Jim Axelrod: Do you understand her rage?
Amy Meredith: I … absolutely understand that she is upset.
Corey is so upset that when the new prosecutors asked her to appear at Jackie’s 2023 plea hearing, she refused – instead, recording a video at home to be played in court:
COREY SHAUGHNESSY (video court statement: I’m alive because your plan to have me murdered … didn’t succeed.
COREY SHAUGHNESSY (video court statement): You are a monster. You are evil and everyone needs to know it.
COREY SHAUGHNESSY (video court statement): You knew what was about to happen, and yet you sat home and did nothing because you wanted it to happen …
We wanted to ask Jackie Edison about that and other things, but she declined our request for an interview. On the day she was released from jail, our producer Jenna Jackson approached her.
JACKIE EDISON SPEAKS TO 48 HOURS
Corey and Nick Shaughnessy haven’t spoken directly since his 2018 arrest.
Jim Axelrod: When you look in the mirror, do you see evil?
Nick Shaughnessy: My mom stated that. Me being evil. … I don’t see evil in me.
These days, it’s safe to say they don’t see eye to eye. In fact, there may be only one thing they do agree on.
Corey Shaughnessy: Jackie is not a victim.
Jim Axelrod: This is a fifty-fifty thing?
Nick Shaughnessy: Most definitely
Jim Axelrod: Did Jaclyn Edison get away with murder?
Corey Shaughnessy: Absolutely.
On Oct. 17, 2023, Jackie Edison walked out of an Austin-area jail after serving her four-month sentence.
Jenna Jackson: Hey, Jaclyn.
We’d been asking for an interview for months.
Jackie Edison: I don’t wanna do any interviews.
But “48 Hours” producer Jenna Jackson had some questions for her anyway.
Jenna Jackson: Nick got 35 years, the hit men got the same. You got 120 days. … Are you getting away with murder?
Jackie Edison: No. I think that — I think that it’s fair. I think it accurately reflects the level of involvement.
Jenna Jackson: Corey and Nick have both told us is that … you are a partner in this murder plot.
Jackie Edison Yeah … I think Nick is — is saying whatever he has to say to kind of clear his name. Um, and Corey is very much in denial about what really happened.
Jenna Jackson: You weren’t in on this plot?
Jackie Edison: I was not in on it. No.
Jenna Jackson :Didn’t get money out to pay the hit men?
Jackie Edison: No. No ma’am.
Det. James Moore: Is she innocent? Absolutely not.
Amy Meredith: No … She knew. She knew what he was trying to do.
Det. James Moore: She could have stopped this at any time.
JACKIE EDISON (police interview: I tried to stop him.
But investigators say there is no evidence Jackie ever tried to stop the murder.
Det. James Moore: She’s no princess in this.
And according to what Nick told authorities, Jackie had been making plans for spending the Shaughnessys’ money.
Corey Shaughnessy: I found out that Jackie … already picked out the car she was going to buy her mother with the money that they made.
Jim Axelrod: Off of the murder of you and Ted?
Corey Shaughnessy: Yes.
Det. James Moore: I’m not defending her by any degree.
Though she did eventually help them make their case against the person they identified as the key culprit.
Det. James Moore: They’re both to blame. Who took more action? … it’s Nick.
Det. Paul Salo: You take Nick out of this you don’t have the incident.
Jim Axelrod: You take Jackie out?
Det. James Moore: It still happens.
Jim Axelrod: Do you understand Corey’s frustration?
Det. James Moore: I do.
Det. Paul Salo: Absolutely.
Det. James Moore: We empathize with her.
But Moore and Salo say Jackie’s plea deal wasn’t their call.
Det. James Moore: Our job ended at the arrest and there’s not a single step further that we can take it.
We wanted to ask DA Jose Garza exactly why Edison got 120 days, after the other three got 35 years, but he wouldn’t agree to an interview. A spokesperson for the district attorney sent “48 Hours” a statement saying, “Our office takes acts of violence seriously and is committed to holding people who commit violent crimes accountable.” The statement also said Edison is on 10 years’ probation and if she violates the terms, she could face 20 years in prison.
Corey Shaughnessy says a full explanation from authorities would have helped her make sense of something that has always struck her as impossibly wrong.
Jim Axelrod: So no one’s ever explained to you why this enormous disparity … in sentence?
Corey Shaughnessy: No, absolutely not.
Nick Shaughnessy: It’s a … slap in the face to my mother.
Jim Axelrod: Now you’re concerned about your mother?
Nick Shaughnessy: Most definitely.
True or not, Nick Shaughnessy told us he hopes someday Corey will agree to speak with him.
Jim Axelrod: What would you say to her?
Nick Shaughnessy: I wish I could tell my mom how truly sorry I am, that this is not something I’m proud of and I failed her as a son.
Corey Shaughnessy (watching video of Nick’s apology): It means nothing to me.
Jim Axelrod: Do you think he believes it? What he’s saying?
Corey Shaughnessy: I don’t know that person. I have no idea who Nicolas Shaughnessy is.
And Corey says there is no point responding to an apology she was never meant to hear.
Corey Shaughnessy: In my mind, I am supposed to be dead. And so, I’m a ghost and ghosts can’t speak.
But even after a betrayal no mother should ever have to see…Corey still can’t bring herself to condemn her son altogether.
Nick, Corey and Terd Shaughnessy
Corey Shaughnessy
Jim Axelrod: Do you still love your son?
Corey Shaughnessy: I love the person I knew to be my son before this happened.
Jim Axelrod: You love that 8-year-old boy racing cars with his dad.
Corey Shaughnessy: Yes.
She knows that boy is gone forever and so is the life she and Ted tried to build around him.
Corey Shaughnessy: Nicolas and Jackie destroyed my entire world. … They took my husband … They took memories, they took my business … they took everything I had that I cared about.
But, now living out of state under a different name, Corey is determined to make the most of every day.
Corey Shaughnessy: It’ll always be there. It’ll always be a part of who I am. But I’ve been given life. And I need to do something with it.
As a parole requirement, for the next 10 years, on the anniversary of Ted Shaughnessy’s murder, Jaclyn Edison must spend the night in jail.
Produced by Josh Yager. Jenna Jackson and Ryan N. Smith are the development producers. Shaheen Tokhi is the associate producer. Anthony Venditti is the content research manager. Atticus Brady and Diana Modica are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
Jim Axelrod is the chief investigative correspondent and senior national correspondent for CBS News, reporting for “CBS This Morning,” “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Sunday Morning” and other CBS News broadcasts.
A woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande on Friday while trying to enter the U.S. near a section of the southern border where Texas National Guard soldiers have prevented federal Border Patrol agents from processing and rescuing migrants.
Federal officials and a Texas congressman said National Guard soldiers deployed by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott did not allow Border Patrol agents to attempt to rescue the migrants. Earlier this week, Texas National Guard soldiers abruptly seized control of a public park in Eagle Pass that Border Patrol had been using to hold migrants, marking the latest escalation in an intensifying political and legal feud between Abbott and President Biden over U.S. border policy.
On Friday night, Border Patrol identified six migrants in the Rio Grande who were in distress near the park, known as Shelby Park, Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar said in a statement Saturday. Federal agents, Cuellar added, unsuccessfully attempted to contact Texas state officials about the emergency by phone. Then, when Border Patrol agents went to the park and asked to be allowed to render aid to the migrants, they were denied entry, according to Cuellar.
“Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant access to the migrants — even in the event of an emergency — and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation,” Cuellar said, noting that Mexican officials recovered three bodies on Saturday.
“This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility,” he added.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press, said Cuellar’s description of the events was accurate. In a statement Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Texas officials obstructed Border Patrol’s attempts to rescue the migrants on Friday.
“Tragically, a woman and two children drowned last night in the Shelby Park area of Eagle Pass, which was commandeered by the State of Texas earlier this week,” the department said. “In responding to a distress call from the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area.”
White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said Texas soldiers “blocked U.S. Border Patrol from attempting to provide emergency assistance” to the migrants.
“While we continue to gather facts about the circumstances of these tragic deaths, one thing is clear: Governor Abbott’s political stunts are cruel, inhumane, and dangerous,” Fernández Hernández added.
The Texas Military Department, which oversees the state National Guard, confirmed it was contacted by Border Patrol on Friday night “in reference to a migrant distress situation.” It said one of its units “actively searched the river with lights and night vision goggles” but found no migrants in distress or bodies.
The state National Guard soldiers ended their search after detecting Mexican officials “responding to an incident on the Mexico side of the river bank,” the Texas Military Department added. According to the department, Border Patrol said Mexican authorities did not need help.
“(The Texas Military Department) maintains water rescue equipment and actively works with local EMS to aid migrants needing medical care,” the department said in its statement late Saturday.
The Texas National Guard took control of Shelby Park late Wednesday, saying it was an operation designed to deter illegal crossings by migrants. The drastic move alarmed local officials in Eagle Pass, who said they did not approve it, as well as the federal government, which alerted the Supreme Court of Texas’ actions overnight on Thursday.
Federal officials said Texas has used armed soldiers, vehicles and fences to physically block Border Patrol agents and at least one federal National Guard soldier from accessing roughly 2.5 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. One of the concerns raised by federal officials in a filing before the Supreme Court was that Texas’ actions would prevent Border Patrol from helping migrants in distress.
On Saturday, DHS called on Texas officials to relent.
“Texas’s blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks,” the department said. “The State of Texas should stop interfering with the U.S. Border Patrol’s enforcement of U.S. law.”
Most people would think shooting and killing other humans is a very serious matter and not something that we want to do under any circumstance. And I would hope that we would hold our elected officials to an even higherstandard. Though apparently, that’s ideal thinking. Texas Governor Abbott is once again proving why he’s totally cruel and honestly unfit for office.
Republicans use migrants as a political prop to stoke fear all the time, as a way to push their political agenda. We know this. But Abbott has been particularly egregious on this issue, coming from a border state. His latest comments show just how disturbing his views really are. On a podcast with National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch, Abbott said his administration has been using “every tool” to limit migration into Texas.
“The only thing that we’re not doing,” he went on to say, “is we’re not shooting people who come across the border, because of course the Biden administration would charge us with murder.” Um … WHAT?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) tells Dana Loesch the “only thing we’re not doing is shooting people” crossing the border because “the Biden Administration would charge us with murder.” pic.twitter.com/8rDmdW9AUC
So I am glad that Biden, painted here as some kind of killjoy, and the potential for charges is holding back a sitting governor’s desire to shoot people en masse but … does Abbott know that we can hear him? Or maybe he doesn’t genuinely see anything wrong with this. Fortunately, there is still a Democratic party in the state, and they quickly condemned his remarks. The chair of the party gave a blistering statement, saying, “Time and time again, Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans have made it abundantly clear they have no morality or humanity.”
Republicans are constantly trying to convince American voters that migrants pose a direct threat to them and their safety. This is fear-mongering and it’s straight-forwardly false. Stanford economist Ran Abramitzky recently revealed substantial research on the crime myths associated with immigrants. One of the most important overarching findings refutes the right-wing talking point that immigration causes crime spikes. That hasn’t been true in this country for 140 years. Oops!
Abramitzky’s study also found that in today’s America, immigrants are 30 percent less likelyto be incarcerated than American-born white people—a.k.a. Republicans’ favorite kind of person. An important note is that the rates have increased since 2005 for Mexican and Central American immigrants, BUT that is mostly attributed to census data, including detentions as part of overall crime and incarceration stats.
Either way, Abbott’s disgusting rhetoric cannot be overstated. Democrats sometimes say “cruelty is the point” when they refer to Trump and his policies and we have to extend that to most Republicans at this point. They don’t want to focus on policies that have the highest positive utility, they want to drive wedges between Americans that are stoked in hate because they are counting on the worst within the American, not the best. And that is a real shame.
(via HuffPost, featured image: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzkerissued an unusually blunt letter Friday to his Texas counterpart, Republican Governor Greg Abbott, asking him to halt the transport of asylum seekers to Illinois, as the state — and much of the US — is encased in an Arctic blast resulting in subzero temperatures. “I plead with you for mercy for the thousands of people who are powerless to speak for themselves,” Pritzker wrote.
The humanitarian plea comes as Chicago was hit by a significant winter storm on Friday, with some parts of the city experiencing up to eight inches of snow. Plummeting temperatures have already descended upon Chicago, with the National Weather Service forecasting wind chill numbers as low as negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit. On Friday, the city was using idling buses to warm newly arrived migrants.
“Please, while winter is threatening vulnerable people’s lives, suspend your transports and do not send more people to our state,” Pritzker wrote in his “appeal to [Abbott’s] humanity,” adding that many asylum seekers have been arriving “without coats, without shoes to protect them from the snow. The Illinois Governor also accused Abbott of “dropping off asylum seekers without alerting us to their arrivals, at improper locations at all hours of the night.”
Since April of 2022, Abbott, one of the most staunchly anti-immigrant governors in the GOP, has been sending buses of immigrants to Democratic cities and states. As of December, Texas had sent over 30,000 people to Chicago.
The Democratic Illinois governor acknowledged the need for “bipartisan solutions to the border crisis” in his letter Friday, but wrote that Abbott had instead “chosen to sow chaos in an attempt to score political points.”
“Your callousness, sending buses and planes full of migrants in this weather, is now life-threatening to every one of the arrivals,” Pritzker added. “Hundreds of children’s and families’ health and survival are at risk due to your actions.
Abbott’s office responded to Pritzker Friday, saying it would not halt the transfers unless President Joe Biden secures the southern border. The office added that Texas expects to experience frigid weather during this weekend’s “arctic blast.”
“Instead of complaining about migrants sent from Texas, where we are also preparing to experience severe winter weather across the state, Governor Pritzker should call on his party leader to finally do his job and secure the border — something he continues refusing to do,” Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleriswrote in an email to the Chicago Sun-Times. “Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue transporting migrants to sanctuary cities to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis.”
Pritzker isn’t the only Democratic politician who has gone after Abbott recently. Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Eric Adamssued 17 Texas charter bus companies, seeking to recoup over $700 million in costs associated with “providing emergency shelter and services” to migrants brought up from Texas.
Announcing the suit, Adams argued that “Governor Abbott’s continued use of migrants as political pawns is not only chaotic and inhumane, but makes clear he puts politics over people.”
We’re heading into another year, and there are so many astronomical events we can look forward to.
What You Need To Know
A rare total solar eclipse will occur in April
We have many meteor showers happening throughout the year
Mercury will be our most-viewed planet
We’ll also see Neptune, Jupiter and Saturn
Check out what to expect for each month. The second half of the year will bring plenty of fun shows.
January
Quadrantids meteor shower: We started the year with a bang. This meteor shower produced 40 meteors per hour at its peak on the night of the 3rd. Don’t worry if you missed it. We have plenty more meteor showers this year.
(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
View of Mercury: Our first 2024 view of Mercury occurred on the 12th. We’ll be able to view this planet six more times this year!
February
February is quiet, only offering a new moon on the 9th and a full moon on the 24th.
March
First day of spring, also called the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere (the autumnal equinox in the southern hemisphere) will occur on the 19th this year at 11:06 p.m. ET. The Sun will pass directly over the equator, and we’ll have nearly equal amounts of day and night across the planet.
(Spectrum News/Lacy Leonardi)
Mercury in sight: our second view of Mercury will happen on the 24th. Look for it low in the western sky just after sunset.
Penumbral lunar eclipse: occurring when the moon passes through Earth’s penumbra. This eclipse will take place on the 25th and be visible through all the U.S.
April
Total solar eclipse: this rare event will occur on the 8th and be visible in the eastern U.S. The Moon will completely block the Sun, letting us see the outer ring of the Sun. You don’t want to miss it because it won’t happen again until 2045.
(Pixabay)
Lyrids meteor shower: this is a decent shower that produces about 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It will run from the 16th to the 25th but will peak on the night of the 22nd. Unfortunately, the full moon will block out many meteors, but you should still be able to catch a glimpse of the brightest ones.
May
Eta Aquarids meteor shower: this decent meteor shower will produce 30 meteors per hour in the Northern Hemisphere at its peak on the 6th. The new moon means we’ll have a dark sky and an excellent show.
Mercury returns: our third viewing of Mercury this year will occur on the 9th. You can see it in the eastern sky just before sunrise.
June
First day of summer: this year, the summer solstice will occur at 4:50 p.m. ET on June 20, marking the first day of summer for the northern hemisphere. The North Pole will tilt toward the Sun, and the Sun will travel over the Tropic of Cancer.
July
Another view of Mercury: our fourth view of Mercury will happen on the 22nd. Look for it low in the western sky just after sunset.
(Pixabay)
Delta Aquarids meteor shower: this shower will produce 20 meteors per hour at its peak on the night of the 28th. The moon will block out a lot of the meteors, but you will still catch a few bright ones.
August
Perseids meteor shower: one of the best meteor showers of the year, you’ll see 60 meteors per hour at its peak on the night of the 12th. The good news is the Moon will set shortly after midnight, leaving us with dark skies for the show.
Full moon and blue moon: we’ll get this full moon and blue moon on the 19th. It’s called a blue moon because it’s the third of four full moons of the season.
September
View of Mercury: our fifth view of Mercury will be on the 5th. Look for it low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.
See Saturn’s rings: Saturn should be visible all night on the 8th. You’ll see a glimpse of its rings and brightest moons with a medium or large telescope.
Full moon and supermoon: this full moon and supermoon will occur on the 18th. Don’t miss it, as the moon will look larger and brighter.
Partial lunar eclipse: occurring when the Moon passes through the penumbra and partially through the umbra. We’ll see this partial lunar eclipse on the 18th, and most of the U.S. will be able to view it.
(Photo by Anthony Leone)
The Blue Giant: we’ll get a view of Neptune all night on the 20th. Unfortunately, because of its distance, it’ll only look like a tiny blue dot in the sky unless you have an extremely powerful telescope.
First day of fall: the autumnal equinox will occur at 8:43 a.m. ET on the 22nd. We’ll have nearly equal amounts of day and night across the world as the Sun shines over the equator, marking the first day of fall in the northern hemisphere.
October
Draconids meteor shower: practice patient with this shower on the 7th, as it only produces 10 meteors per hour. Unlike other showers, you’ll want to view this one in the early evening.
Another full moon and supermoon: this full moon and supermoon will happen on the 17th. It’ll be the second supermoon of three in 2024.
Orionids meteor shower: this shower will peak on the night of the 21st, bringing us 20 meteors per hour. The waning gibbous moon will block fainter meteors, but you should still be able to catch some brighter ones.
November
Taurids meteor shower: a very minor shower. This show will only produce 5-10 meteors per hour at its peak on the night of the 4h. The first quarter moon will block most of the meteors, but you’ll still see a few after midnight.
Full moon and supermoon: the last of the supermoons of 2024, you can catch this full, big and bright moon on the 15th.
Mercury’s back: Mercury loves to show off, as this will be our sixth view of the planet on the 16th.
Uranus: Uranus appears on the 17th and you’ll be able to view it all night. Unfortunately, if you don’t have an extremely power telescope, you’ll only see a tiny dot in the sky.
(NASA/JPL)
Leonids meteor shower: another minor shower, this one will produce 15 meteors per hour at its peak on the night of the 17th. The best time to view this show will be during the early morning of the 18th, but the nearly full moon will block out most of the meteors.
December
Jupiter and its moons: Jupiter will appear on the 7th and be visible all night. You’ll be able to see Jupiter’s cloud bands with a medium telescope. Even with just binoculars, you’ll be able to see its four largest moons.
Geminids meteor shower: welcome to the best meteor shower of every year. Peaking from Dec. 13-14, this shower will produce 120 multicolored meteors per hour. Unfortunately, an almost full moon means we won’t see a lot of the meteors, but we should still be able to catch a good amount. Bundle up and head outside after midnight for the best viewing time.
First day of winter: on the 21st, the winter solstice will occur at 4:19 a.m. ET, marking the first day of winter. The South Pole will tilt toward the Sun, and the Sun will be in its southernmost position in the sky.
(Photo by Sean Organ)
Ursids meteor shower: the last shower of the year will be the Ursids meteor shower on Dec. 21-22. It is minor, producing 5-10 meteors per hour, and the waning gibbous moon will block out many of the meteors.
One last view of Mercury: Mercury was the first planet we saw this year, and it’ll be the last. You’ll be able to view it on the 25th low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.
Viewing these events
If you’re trying to view a planet, it might become a little tricky differentiating it from a star. Caballero-Nieves, assistant professor in Astronomy at FL Institute of Tech., explains “planets are typically brighter than stars. Stars also twinkle. This is called scintillation. Stars will change a little in brightness and even color, and planets do not.”
“Finally, if you look at a planet over several nights or months, you will notice that it moves with respect to the stars near it. That’s where the Greeks gave the planets their names, which means wanderer.”
If you want to view all these heavenly events this year, head to a dark area away from city lights.
It also doesn’t hurt to buy a telescope, either. What kind of telescope should you buy?
Caballero-Nieves suggests that “You should first decide what you are interested in observing. Reflecting telescopes use mirrors and are more compact, but reflecting telescopes that use lenses can be more affordable.”
“Smaller telescopes are great for looking at bright things like the Moon, planets and bright stars. Larger telescopes are better for observing faint things like galaxies, nebulas and comets.”
Hopefully, you will see some wonderful views this year!
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
