Skywatchers will finally be able to enjoy the thrill of observing and shooting stars again this week as the April Lyrids meteor shower arrives.
The last few months have been quiet for those who like to watch the night sky for shooting stars. There are many meteor showers that occur during the course of the year, but only a few of them are recognized as the "principal" meteor displays. The last shower to take place was the Quadrantid meteor shower on January 3. There have been no other noteworthy meteor showers since then.
After more than 15 weeks, we will have an opportunity to enjoy the nocturnal spectacle again.
How to take pictures of meteors and showers.
The shower has been around for a long time. The records from Chinese chronicles show they have been there for a long time.
The author of the tome said that the annual Lyrid shower has always been his favorite. After the low rates in the cold months of February and March, this shower is the swallow of spring for observers in the northern hemisphere.
The maximum is predicted to be reached in the morning hours of Friday, April 22. The emanation point for these meteors is about 6 degrees southwest of the brilliant bluish star Vega in the constellation of Lyra, which is ascending the northeast sky during the late evening hours and stands practically overhead at the break of dawn. The moon is one day shy of last quarter so it will interfere with the light of the meteors.
The path of any meteor is likely to go within a few degrees of Vega. There are occasional bright and faint meteors in the lyrids. They are one of the weaker displays. Compared to the August Perseid and December Geminids, which can produce many dozens of meteors during the course of an hour's watch, the Lyrids generally yield only about 10 to 20 per hour.
If the weather in your area is nice on the morning of the 22nd, you still have a chance to catch a few Lyrids a day or two before or after the time of their peak.
There is always a chance of a surprise.
In 687 B.C., Chinese records said stars fell like rain, and at least a dozen other times since. The story of how residents of Virginia were woken by a fire bell in the morning of April 20, 1803 is often told. The fire that broke out in the armory gave the town a chance to see a lot of meteorites.
The letter was published in the Raleigh, North Carolina Register.
The whole hemisphere was alarmed with the appearance of a shooting of stars when we were out at a fishing party on the 20th of April. We viewed the phenomenon for half an hour with amazement and no break. We heard a hissing in the air, but didn't hear any reports. The statements may be relied on as facts.
Similar accounts came from New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Delaware.
It was completely unexpected that there was a meteorite shower. During the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a slight increase in the number of meteors each year. Thatcher, the progenitor of the Lyrid meteors, was last seen in the spring of 1861.
In 1922, there was a brief burst of 100 meteors per hour. In 1982, rates went from 90 for a single hour to 300 for a few minutes.
Maybe it would be a good idea to set the alarm clock for 3 or 4 a.m. on the morning of April 22.
You never know.
The first week of May is when the next significant meteor display is scheduled to take place. One of the best annual showers in the Southern Hemisphere is this shower. The low altitude of the shower and the arrival of the dawn twilight make it difficult for northern observers. The shower can be traced to the comet. The peak is on the morning of May 6.
There is a second shower in May which could be the best of the year.
The Tau Herculid shower is not well known. Normally, it produces no more than a few meteorites. Things changed when the nucleus of the shower splintered in 1995. A stream of particles ejected during the comet's disruption may yield a dramatic eruption at the end of May 2022.
The prediction is uncertain because no one knows how fast the comet dust left the nucleus. We all agree that it will happen around 1 a.m. On May 31. This is a great time for the southern half of North America, including virtually all of the contiguous U.S. Light from the moon one day past its new phase will not interfere.
The cloud of cometary debris will hit Earth at a very slow rate of 10 miles per second, which is normally not enough to produce very faint meteors. The shower's radiant will be high in the sky for the Americas, and the meteoroid swarm will be dense enough to produce a spectacular visual show.
Space.com will provide more information about the new display in the weeks to come.
The instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium is Joe Rao. He writes about astronomy for a number of publications. Follow us on social media.
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