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The Lyrids Are Coming!
SeaDour writes "The year's first meteor shower, the Lyrids, will peak in the pre-dawn hours of April 22nd when the Earth plows through the debris trail of Comet Thatcher at a relative velocity of 49 km/s (110,000 mph). Lyrids usually aren't as numerous as other showers (such as the famed Leonids), but they're well-known for their spectacular tails; you can expect to see about 5-20 meteors per hour, depending on the severity of your local light pollution. Unfortunately, my current location in the midwest under stormy skies puts me at a bit of a disposition, but hopefully some other Slashdotters can share their observations with us tomorrow."
Hehe, I usually try to stay away... but RTFA!
The Lyrids are best seen between about 2 a.m. and daybreak local time, regardless of where you live, astronomers say.
City and suburban dwellers will see significantly fewer of the meteors than those in rural areas away from all light pollution. The shower is not visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
Meteor Shower Peaks Before Dawn Thursday
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 07:42 am ET
21 April 2004
The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks before dawn Thursday, April 22. Skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere with dark skies away from city lights could see anywhere from 5 to 25 shootings stars per hour, or one every few minutes.
The timing of this year's version is good, because the Moon just passed its New phase and is out of the picture, its otherwise bright light not a factor.
The Lyrids are best seen between about 2 a.m. and daybreak local time, regardless of where you live, astronomers say. That's when the shower's radiant -- the point from which they appear to emanate -- is highest in the sky. The Lyrid radiant is in the constellation Lyra, and very near to the bright star Vega.
Vega is easy to find. It's in the eastern sky but nearly overhead in the predawn hours. It is the brightest star in that region of the sky and the 5th brightest star overall.
Lyrid meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. But if you trace each one back, it will point toward Vega. The shower is a result of Earth passing through a trail of debris left by a comet called Thatcher, which last passed through the inner solar system in 1861.
The Lyrid event is typically modest -- not as busy as the November Leonids or the August Perseids. But they are still cherished by devout meteor observers.
"The Lyrids are the first major annual shower of the season," said Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society.
But this April shower sometimes generates a brief outburst, when the rate can climb to more than one a minute. Seasoned observers might notice that the Lyrids move more quickly than typical meteors. Bright and persistent trails are common with the Lyrids.
Most shooting stars are generated by bits no larger than sand grains that vaporize when they plow into Earth's atmosphere. An occasional bright fireball is sometimes sighted amid the Lyrids, caused by debris perhaps the size of a pea or marble.
City and suburban dwellers will see significantly fewer of the meteors than those in rural areas away from all light pollution. The shower is not visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
To look for meteors, experts advise taking along a blanket or lounge chair, so you can recline and avoid neck strain. Dress warmer than you think necessary if you plan to be out for more than a few minutes. Find a spot with wide-open sky. Face east but scan as much of the sky as possible. Allow 15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Another half-dozen or so meteors not associated with the Lyrids could be visible in any given pre-dawn hour, from dark rural locations, according to Lunsford. These other shooting stars could appear anywhere and move in any direction.
With most digital cameras you will get a lot of static in your image. I tried doing this with my Olympus C-3030 during the 2002 Leonoids, and my pictures turned out terrible -- more static than anything else.
As far as I know film is the way to go for long exposures.
(There's actually a way to eliminate at least some of the static if you're crafty with Photoshop -- the static tends to show up on the same pixels on you camera's CCD, so if you take one fully dark photo you can use it to substract the static in subsequent pictures).
Hehe, I usually try to stay away... but RTFA!
Except the FAIW
The shower is not visible from the Southern Hemisphere
From the
The Lyrids are a northern shower, but can be observed by most mainland Australians. The best time to observe the Lyrids is in the morning between 2.00-5.00 am. However, the Lyrids low rates, combined with their closeness to the horizon, mean that few meteors are likely to be seen. To see the Lyrids, look to the north in the morning sky. About two handspans above the northern horizon is the bright, blue-white star alpha Lyra, the brightest star near the northern horizon. The Lyrid radiant is just above it and to the left by around a handspan.
Most meteor showers have a "peak" though where the earth passes through the densest part of the comet's trail. For this meteor shower, they don't appear to know when the peak will fall. For the Leonids the last couple of years they tried to predict, and that was a certain time that would be different in different time zones.
Happy skywatching!
Southern hemisphere won't see anything
Really? We've got the Pi-Puppids plus a circumpolar "bright" comet, C/2001 Q4 (NEAT).
Also, the Lyrids are not the first meteor shower of the year; the first of several showers before the Lyrids are the Quadrantids. Downunder, but not left out...