Posted on 04/20/2007 4:17:39 PM PDT by blam
Lyrid meteors to grace the weekend sky
07:11 20 April 2007
NewScientist.com news service
David Shiga
A meteor streaks across the sky against a background of star trails in this long-exposure image taken in 1985 during the Geminid shower (Image: Jimmy Westlake)
The Lyrid meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Lyra, which includes Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky (Illustration: NASA) The oldest known meteor shower is expected to return for its regularly scheduled performance this weekend.
Although it is outshone by the December Geminids and the August Perseids, the Lyrids may provide the best opportunity for meteor observing in the next few months.
The annual Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak on the night of Saturday, 21 April. Observers in the northern hemisphere will have the best view, but it will still be visible for those in the southern hemisphere.
The meteors are bits of debris shed by a comet called Thatcher. They hit Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burn up, producing glowing streaks.
Dense streams
Discovered in 1861, Thatcher takes 415 years to orbit the Sun, venturing almost four times farther than Neptune's orbit at one end and a bit closer to the Sun than Earth at the other.
From a dark site, free of the sky glow produced by city lights, about 10 to 15 meteors per hour should be visible at the peak of the shower.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.newscientist.com ...
The annual Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak on the night of Saturday, 21 April.The best time being after midnight (1:00 a.m. if you're in a daylight-savings zone) when the earth turns into the shower.
Thanks for the heads up (so to speak). We will be having clear sky’s here for the first time in weeks.
Which direction should we look? Thanks.
If you have cable and Turner Classic MOvie channel a special showing will occur at 2:00AM Eastern Standard Time. Set your recorders for
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) Aliens bring the dead to life to conquer the Earth. Cast: Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Vampira. Dir: Edward D. Wood, Jr. BW-79 mins, TV-PG
Oh, decisions, decisions! Does one watch the meteor shower or the “so bad it’s an all-time classic” movie?!
From the article:
Lyra contains the star Vega, which is one of the brightest stars in the sky. For observers at mid-northern latitudes, Lyra rises in the northeast at twilight and will be nearly overhead by 0300 local time. To spot the most meteors, watch from as dark a site as possible. You do not need to stare directly at Lyra – the meteors will appear all over the sky, although their paths will seem to point back towards this constellation.
Lyra rises in the northeast at twilight and will be nearly overhead by 0300 local time.
Find somewhere to either lie down or stretch out on a lawn chair so you can look up without straining your neck.
The best time to observe will be about 0300 local time on Sunday morning, but meteors should be visible as long as the constellation Lyra is above the horizon.
Record the movie. Watch the meteors!!!
Ping
I hate it when space gets all lurid on me.
May will bring us a special astronomical viewing. May 31 will contain the second full moon of the month and willbe "Blue"!!!!
sky shower ping
Thanks for the Plan 9 tip. I came “TOOO CLOSE” to missing
it. Might take a nap and get up a little later and catch
both the meteors and the movie. My balcony has the perfect
viewing location for both....JJ61
The meteors are bits of debris shed by a comet called Thatcher. They hit Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burn up, producing glowing streaks. Discovered in 1861, Thatcher takes 415 years to orbit the Sun, venturing almost four times farther than Neptune's orbit at one end and a bit closer to the Sun than Earth at the other.
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Saw one! Fairly bright and not fast. This is about the end of astronomny for the summer. At local midnight (2 AM) the sky is fairly bright to the north and by 5 it is already brightening everywhere.
LOL, I rented that movie after watching “Ed Wood” with Johnny Depp, but I fell asleep about half way through! :D
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