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Lyrid Meteor Shower Arrives This Weekend
mdsolar writes "If you want to take a chance on the Lyrid Meteor Shower you should be looking this weekend. This shower is usually a quiet one but can
result is spectacular displays from time to time.
Earth & Sky gives
viewing times as the very early hours of Sunday and Monday morning. The moon will have set by then."
Hah what a trip, the exact same thing happened to me... I've had a fever and thought it was a hallucination until I read this hahahah
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I found this info, hope it helps:
http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/planetarium/skynotes
Meteors
The Lyrids are the main meteor shower in April. The shower is centred near the star Vega in Lyra, the lyre, which appears low to the northern horizon around 3am - the best time to view meteors. The Lyrids are active between the 16th and the 25th, with a peak around the 22nd. The maximum hourly rate typically reaches 10, but occasionally outbursts occur when the meteor rate climbs to 100.
The Pi-Puppids is better placed for us but it is not a persistent shower. It is associated with Comet Grigg-Skjellerup and being a relatively new shower, has periods of inactivity when the comet is far from the Sun. The comet's next pass of the Sun will occur in March 2008, so next year will probably be the one to watch. The peak of the shower is due on the 24th and its centre lies low in the south west to the right of the bright star Canopus in Carina, the keel.
The delta Pavonids which began in late March, peaks on the 6th and will be hindered by the gibbous Moon. This shower is centred on the little known constellation of Pavo, the peacock, which lies near the South Celestial Pole.
There should also be some meteor activity centred on Scorpius and Sagittarius (the archer) that is best seen after midnight. Meteor activity in this region of sky runs from the 15th through until July, with several peaks within this time.
this meteor shower is mostly the result of the comet Thatcher crossing very close to Earth's orbit. the comet approaches the sun shedding gas and dust which stays in orbit around the sun and once in a while Earth crosses through it. anything larger than a grain of sand or so can be visible and as has been said before, some can get very large. In fact, a meteor was found by my grandfather not long ago in a river bed- it was about 6 inches long and was quite heavy. these fragments from this comet are probably less dense than this as most objects in the asteroid belt much similar to comets are of the stony variety [type S] which are usually more porous, lighter and made mainly of rock.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
Well, no, see my other post in this thread. If the radiant is below the horizon, you won't see any meteors (or just a few grazers if it is only slightly below). If you go far enough south, you will reach a point where you can't see the Lyrids at all, because Lyra is a northern constellation. But, if you can see them, then the suggested time is more dependent on when the radiant is above the horizon, than on when the moon is below the horizon. In years in which both are in the same part of the sky during the shower, that is just bad luck because you won't have a very dark sky at the right time anywhere on the planet.
But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
Here's a link to some detailed info on the shower:
http://www.imo.net/calendar/2007
According to it, it peaks on April 22nd at 22:30 UT, which puts it at 6:30pm EDT, or 8:30am on April 23rd for Sydney, Australia. So the middle of the night between April 22 and April 23 would be good for you.
Cool, but it's almost certainly an unrelated "sporadic" meteorite. Meteor showers originate from comet debris, which are unlikely to contain chunks iron.
The "true peak time" isn't listed exactly on the articles because it is very difficult to predict exactly when you'll get a dramatic increase of meteors. I remember a couple of years ago when they predicted a Leonids meteor storm to occur near midnight of +8GMT, and it didn't happen; apparently the pile of space dirt got blown off course by the solar wind and the Leonids peak actually happened in the daytime where I lived.
For global viewers, just pick a time when the constellation Lyra is up in the sky, and for easiest viewing, when the moon hasn't risen. Try Stellarium http://www.stellarium.org/ to find your best time. If you are able to view it after midnight, all the better as that's when the most meteors will be directly slamming into the atmosphere overhead.
Does any one know if this shower is visible from the arse end of the world? (New Zealand?)
As long as you can see the source location (ie. between Vega and Hercules), then yes.
As it happens, that is visible due dead North from Auckland at 4am at an elevation of about 15 degrees. It should rise at about 1am and set about 7am (obviously a somewhat to the west and east respectively).
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The moon will have set by then.
It's also worth noting that the moon is only 3 days old. Even if it was still up at the meteor shower's peak, it wouldn't affect its visibility much.
Also, you'll still be able to see plenty of meteors next week if it's cloudy. These showers are typically still active throughout the month.
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