RSS
Home
The falling stars of April
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Meteor observers will finally be breaking out of their slowest time of the year when the Lyrid meteor shower peaks on the night of April 22. Although the Lyrids are far from being the strongest of the annual meteor showers, they do consistently produce at least 10-15 meteors per hour. But there is more to the Lyrids than this annual display.
Credit for the discovery of the Lyrids goes to Francois Jean Dominique Arago (France), who noted in 1835 that a probable annual shower was visible around April 22. Following up on this suggestion, Edward C. Herrick (Connecticut, USA) began scouring the literature and quickly uncovered a large display of meteors that was seen in 1803 on the night of April 19/20. Since that time, strong outbursts have been detected from the Lyrids on six other occasions, most recently in 1982. On at least three of these occasions, meteors were falling at a rate of 100 or more per hour! So far, astronomers have not successfully predicted these outbursts, so another enhanced display could occur in any year.
The Lyrids are recognized as the debris from periodic comet Thatcher, a comet seen in 1861 and known to have a period of around four centuries. Edmond Weiss (Vienna, Austria) first suspected the link early in 1867, while Johann Gottfried Galle (Berlin, Germany) mathematically confirmed the link later that same year. Just how long this comet has been in this orbit around the sun is difficult to say, but astronomers believe that the first observation of the Lyrids was made in 687 BC, so that puts the comet in its present orbit for over 2500 years!
Meteor showers are named after the constellations they appear to emanate from. For the Lyrids, that constellation is Lyra. Although Lyra is best visible during this time of year in the morning hours before dawn, the Lyrids can be seen throughout the night, although higher numbers are seen after midnight. The best thing about the display in 2009 is that moonlight will not be a problem. Your best bet for seeing the most meteors will be to get away from lights. Dress appropriately for the cool nights and use a lawn chair to lay flat, giving you the best view of as much of the sky as possible.
For more info: Check out Gary W. Kronk's Meteor Showers Online web page at http://meteorshowersonline.com/lyrids.html.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
My first day of travel (November 11) was hectic and it wasn't even part of our mission and training. I flew from St. Louis to San Francisco, met …
If there was ever such a thing as a teaching meteor shower, the Leonids would be it, because astronomers have learned more from this shower than from …
