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18/04/16/2214256 story

Lyrid Meteor Shower is Coming in April

posted by chromas on Tuesday April 17 2018, @03:33AM   
from the april-showers-bring-meteors dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.space.com/36381-lyrid-meteor-shower-guide.html

In late April, skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere will get a view of the Lyrid meteor shower, the dusty trail of a comet with a centuries-long orbit around the sun. The Lyrid meteors streak across the sky between April 16 and April 25, so skywatchers have a chance to see them during that window, weather permitting.

The best day to see Lyrid meteors will be extremely early in the morning on Sunday, April 22, NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com. As with most meteor showers, the peak viewing time will be before dawn.

[...] The radiant — the point from which the meteors appear to originate — will be high in the evening sky in the constellation Lyra to the northeast of Vega, one of the brightest stars visible in the night sky this time of year. Don't look directly toward the radiant, though, because you might miss the meteors with the longest tails.

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Original Submission

• FTFA (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 17 2018, @06:30AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 17 2018, @06:30AM (#667959)

  Cooke said the average Lyrid shower produces 15 to 20 meteors per hour; this year, the meteor shower should hit about 18 per hour. Some years, the Lyrid meteor shower intensifies and can produce up to 100 meteors per hour in what's called an "outburst," but it is difficult to predict exactly when that will happen.
  [...]
  Although there is an average of 30 years between these outbursts, that's only an average

  EarthSky says [earthsky.org]

  Those predicted maxima [10 to 20 Lyrid meteors an hour] assume you are watching in a dark, country sky.
  [...]
  The peak numbers are expected to fall on the morning of April 22, 2018. Try watching on April 21 and 23, too.
  [...]
  In 1982, American observers did see an outburst of nearly 100 Lyrid meteors per hour. Around 100 meteors per hour were seen in Greece in 1922 and from Japan in 1945.

  If you see a meteor, notice whether it leaves a persistent train--that is, an ionized gas trail that glows for a few seconds after the meteor has passed. About a quarter of Lyrid meteors do leave persistent trains.
  [...]
  Just before dawn, Vega and the radiant point shine high overhead. That's one reason the meteors are always more numerous before dawn.
  [...]
  Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1) is the source of the Lyrid meteors. Every year, in late April, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of this comet. We have no photos of it because its orbit around the sun is roughly 415 years. Comet Thatcher last visited the inner solar system in 1861, before the photographic process became widespread. This comet isn't expected to return until the year 2276.

  -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]