Meteor Showers

Hi all,

For those looking up at night and hoping to catch a "shooting star", this website (scroll down midway) list the major meteor showers for this year. The table is easy to understand and just gives the basic information. To find out which direction to look, I use the Heaven's Above website. Sign up with them then configure your location, meaning state where you are then click on "Whole Sky Chart" (on the left) to see the major constellations from where you are. You can also specify the time of observation.

Hope you all will find it useful.

Thanks Vulcan! This page may have some real data on it re. hits so far this year:

_http://www.barry.warmkessel.com/Jan10toJul10events.html

‘This shower is the proverbial swallow of spring in the northern hemisphere’


By Joe Rao
Skywatching columnist
updated 7:06 p.m. ET April 16, 2010

Anyone who enjoys watching the sky for "shooting stars" will have an opportunity to observe an old and reliable meteor display over the next several days: the April Lyrids. The best time to watch will be for a night or two around the peak, April 22.

These meteors are among the oldest known, with ancient records of them dating back nearly 27 centuries. The Lyrid meteor shower is also the first significant meteor shower to appear since the beginning of the year. While it won't produce a storm of meteors, it's a respectable show for those who are patient.

"The annual Lyrid shower . . . has always been my favorite," says NASA meteor expert Peter Jenniskens. "After the low (meteor) rates in the cold months of February and March, this shower is the proverbial swallow of spring for observers in the northern hemisphere."

And in addition to the Lyrids, there is also a small chance to get a glimpse of some dazzling fireball meteors from a completely different meteor swarm. Although probably much more erratic and far less reliable than the Lyrids, it's still worth looking for; one could call it a "wild card" for meteor observers.

Faithful meteor shower

The Lyrids are an annual display of fairly fast meteors that may be seen any night from April 16 to 25: they are above one-half of their maximum in numbers for about a day or two centered on the date of their peak activity.

This year, the peak is predicted to fall during the daylight hours (for America and Europe) on April 22. After the gibbous moon sets at about 2:30 a.m. local daylight time that morning, observers near latitude 40 degrees north will still have about 90 minutes of dark sky to watch for the Lyrids before dawn interferes. The southern states are more favored because the moon sets earlier and twilight begins later.

A single observer may count anywhere from 10 to 20 meteors per hour.

Norman McLeod, a veteran observer of the American Meteor Society, has described the Lyrids as rich in faint meteors, but with some occasional bright ones. British meteor expert Alastair McBeath, in the 2010 Astronomical Calendar notes that the Lyrids are capable of producing meteors that are "spectacularly bright, with approximately 20-25-percent leaving persistent trains."

Where and when to look

Watching for meteors is easy. Find a dark place away from lights as much as possible. The predawn hours are best, because that's when the part of Earth you're standing on is facing the oncoming stream of debris — mostly sand-grain-sized particles — that make the meteor shower.

Lie back, look up, and scan as much of the sky as possible. The meteors could appear anywhere. Give your eyes at least 15 minutes to adjust to the darkness.

You can distinguish a Lyrid from any other meteors seen around the same time by noting that its trail points back to near the dazzling blue-white star Vega. You'll see this star sitting just above the northeast horizon around 10 p.m. local daylight time; by around 1:30 a.m. it will have climbed to a point more than halfway up in the eastern sky. Actually the radiant or emanation point for these meteors is just to the southwest of Vega, on the border between Vega's little constellation of Lyra (hence the name "Lyrids") and the dim, sprawling constellation of Hercules.

The Lyrid radiant is at its highest (right overhead for the southern states and not far off it for anyone at mid-northern latitudes) about the time that dawn begins to break.

Historic accounts

The Lyrids are following in the orbit of Comet Thatcher, which swung past us in 1861 and is not expected to return until around the year 2276.

There are a number of historic records of meteor displays believed to be Lyrids, notably in 687 B.C. and 15 B.C. in China, and A.D. 1136 in Korea when "many stars flew from the northeast." On April 20, 1803, numerous townspeople in Richmond, Virginia, were roused from their beds by a fire alarm and were able to observe a very rich display between 1 and 3 o'clock.

The meteors "seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers as to resemble a shower of skyrockets." The rate was estimated at 700 per hour!

In 1922, an unexpected Lyrid hourly rate of 96 was recorded. In 1945, a Japanese observer counted 112 meteors (most of them Lyrids) in only 67 minutes, while in 1982 several observers based in Florida and Colorado saw 90 to 100 Lyrids per hour. So it seems that sometimes there can be unexpected surprises with the Lyrids, although calculations by some meteor scientists suggest that the next outburst of activity isn't due until perhaps the year 2040.

Fireball wild card

Over the years, during the last half of April, irregular numbers of very bright meteors have been seen coming from the southern part of the sky. These fireballs sometimes drop as meteorites, and possibly they might be the remnants from a broken-up asteroid instead of a comet.

Such speculation dates back to the 1960's thanks to the similarity between the calculated orbits of a shadow-casting fireball that passed over northern New Jersey on April 23, 1962 and a bolide (exploding meteor) which dropped meteorites over England, Wales and northern Ireland on April 25, 1969.

Meteor astronomer, the late Charles P. Olivier utilized 80 observations to compute an orbit for the 1962 fireball, while British workers used a computer at the University of Liverpool to analyze over 300 sightings of the 1969 bolide. The result showed that both objects have remarkably similar orbits. Their radiant appears to be very near to the constellation of Corvus, the Crow, a little four-sided figure of fairly bright stars, like a triangle whose top has been removed by a slanting cut. You can readily identify it this week by facing due south around 11 p.m. local daylight time.

Using the observations of the 1962 and 1969 fireballs, I've determined that a "window of opportunity" for possibly making another fireball sighting would come between 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 23 through 2 p.m. EDT on April 25. So across North America, the nights of April 23 and April 24 offer the most promise. Prior to midnight, potential candidates would appear to streak out from the south-southeast part of the sky, while after midnight they would appear to come from the south-southwest.

Back in the June 1970 Journal of the British Astronomical Asociation, Keith B. Hindley and Howard G. Miles suggested that: "The period April 23-26 should be covered in the future by amateur and professional groups in the hope of recording further associated fireballs and perhaps meteorite falls."

_http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36606964/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Looking forward to watching the Perseid meteor shower this weekend... just hope skies are clear for it since they are forecasting rain for our area (upper Midwest, US)

My question stems from a friend's observation of daytime meteors (fireballs?), one on Wednesday and the other on Thursday when she was driving to work (about early afternoon), each lasting 3-4 seconds. When she told me about them, she was calling them Perseid meteors, and not knowing a whole lot about whether this would be possible, I told her I'd pose this question to the forum. The morning news has indicated that the best viewing for our area would be pre-dawn, since the full moon would be low in the sky. Most of the internet info found on Perseids indicates they are best seen against a dark sky.

Anyone know whether these mid-day meteors(fireballs) could have been part of the Perseid meteor shower?

Skyfarmr said:

Anyone know whether these mid-day meteors(fireballs) could have been part of the Perseid meteor shower?

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Quite possible as far as I know. We are currently traveling through the Perseid stream, so it should be possible to see meteors from it at any time of day.

From Wikipedia:

The Perseids (play /ˈpɜrsiː.ɨdz/) is the name of a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids are so-called because the point they appear to come from, called the radiant, lies in the constellation Perseus. The name derives in part from the word Perseides (Περσείδες), a term found in Greek mythology referring to the sons of Perseus. The stream of debris is called the Perseid cloud and stretches along the orbit of the comet Swift-Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it travels on its 130-year orbit. Most of the dust in the cloud today is around a thousand years old. However, there is also a relatively young filament of dust in the stream that was pulled off the comet in 1862.[1] The rate of meteors originating from this filament is much higher than for the older part of the stream.
A multicolored, long Perseid striking the sky just to the left of Milky Way in 2009

The Perseid meteor shower has been observed for about 2000 years, with the earliest information on this meteor shower coming from the Far East.[2] Some Catholics refer to the Perseids as the "tears of St. Lawrence", since 10 August is the date of that saint's martyrdom.[3]

The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the peak in activity being between August 9 and 14, depending on the particular location of the stream. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. They can be seen all across the sky, but because of the path of Swift-Tuttle's orbit, Perseids are primarily visible in the northern hemisphere. As with all meteor showers, the rate is greatest in the pre-dawn hours, since the side of the Earth nearest to turning into the sun scoops up more meteors as the Earth moves through space. In 2009, the estimated peak Zenithal Hourly Rate was 173,[4] but fainter meteors were washed out by a waning gibbous moon.

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The newspaper "News of Shenzhen" in Chinese today announced, that in the Chinese province of Qinghai was a strong meteor rain, during which on the land fell a several dozen meteorites, the largest of which reached a weight of 12.5 kg (see the photo at the top of this article). It is reported, that the local residents heard two loud explosions in the sky and then saw the traces of fire falling meteorites. While the investigated area is only about a few square kilometers, scientists may be able to find more meteorites in this place. How to say the Chinese scientists - all meteorites are the fragments of a large meteorite, which crashed, when it entering in the Earth's atmosphere.

http://hainanwel.com/en/unusual-world/1549-strong-meteor-rain-in-china.html

Akopirnas said:

The newspaper "News of Shenzhen" in Chinese today announced, that in the Chinese province of Qinghai was a strong meteor rain, during which on the land fell a several dozen meteorites, the largest of which reached a weight of 12.5 kg (see the photo at the top of this article). It is reported, that the local residents heard two loud explosions in the sky and then saw the traces of fire falling meteorites. While the investigated area is only about a few square kilometers, scientists may be able to find more meteorites in this place. How to say the Chinese scientists - all meteorites are the fragments of a large meteorite, which crashed, when it entering in the Earth's atmosphere.

http://hainanwel.com/en/unusual-world/1549-strong-meteor-rain-in-china.html

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Thanks, if you find anything else on this, let us know. We've carried this blurb on SOTT for now... https://www.sott.net/articles/show/241934-Meteor-Rain-in-China

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/across-the-universe/2012/aug/10/perseid-meteor-shower-astronomy

http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2012-08-11/showers-overnight-meteors-and-meteorological/

I, for one, will be going to watch this!

I searched for Camelopardalids and Comet 209p and did not find anything so here are some links and what is about to take place. Happening right now!

_http://www.wired.com/2014/05/watch-live-slooh-camelopardalids/

Watch Live: A Never-Before-Seen Meteor Shower Lights Up the Sky

By Adam Mann
05.23.14

Tonight’s night sky will feature a rare event: The birth of a new meteor shower. Viewers in North America will have the best chance to catch this cosmic show, which could become an annual occurrence. But if skies are cloudy or lights too bright where you are, catch two live webcasts from the Slooh Space Camera and NASA, the first starting at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET and the second beginning at 8 p.m. PT/ 11 p.m. ET.

The sun’s heat causes a comet’s frozen surface to sublime, kicking off chunks of rock and ice. These form a faint dusty ring that spans the comet’s orbit. Meteor showers occur when the Earth slams into this debris field. The chunks will burn up in our atmosphere, creating shooting streaks in the night sky.

Tonight’s meteor shower is brought to you by comet 209P/LINEAR, a faint object that was only discovered in 2004. Because its orbit is tilted slightly relative to ours, the Earth has never before run through this particular comet’s debris field. But this year, the stars (or icy planetoid objects) literally aligned and our planet is expected to pass right through some of the densest debris that 209P/LINEAR has left behind during its travels around the sun. Note: These bits of space litter are very small and will burn up harmlessly in our atmosphere.

The new meteor shower has been given the tongue-twisting nickname of the Camelopardalids, after the constellation Camelopardalid, from which they will appear to radiate in the sky. The name of this relatively unfamiliar constellation translates as giraffe, because ancient Greeks thought that giraffes looked like a cross between a camel and a leopard (they sort of do). Because this is the first time we’ve seen this meteor shower, astronomers don’t know how many fireballs to expect. But some predictions suggest there could be as many as 200 meteors per hour, a shower that would surpass nearly ever other major one of the year, including the spectacular Geminids.

But the brand new Camelopardalids could always turn out to be somewhat less than impressive. Nobody is quite sure how much debris dropped off comet 209P/LINEAR at this particular point in its orbit. If the show ends up being great, it could become a regular feature of the annual meteor shower calendar. Other reliable meteor showers, like the August Perseids, have been observed annually for over 2,000 years. But according to astronomer Ethan Siegel, “we’ve never witnessed the birth of a meteor shower in all of recorded human history,” potentially making this a real night to remember.

Tonight’s first Slooh show will start while the sun is still up for much of North America, using telescopes in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. The second show will broadcast live feeds from Arizona, just before the new meteor shower is expected to peak. Slooh’s experts will be joined by scientists from NASA including astronomer Peter Jenniskens, who discovered 209P/LINEAR. If you want to get out and see the meteors with your own eyes, you’ll need to drive to a place far from city lights. Give your eyes at least half an hour to adjust to the dark and then look up and to the north between midnight and 2 a.m. PT (3 a.m. to 5 a.m. ET) for best results.

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_http://earthsky.org/space/comet-209p-linear-meteor-shower-storm-may-2014

Everything you need to know: Camelopardalids could be the best meteor shower this year

An exciting new meteor shower – the Camelopardalids – might peak this Friday night and Saturday morning (night of May 23-24, 2014), according to clocks in North America. And, although no one can be absolutely sure, mid-latitudes in North America are predicted to have the best view of this shower. It’s coming up soon! This possible shower stems from Comet 209P/LINEAR, discovered in 2004. If the predictions hold true, Earth might be sandblasted with debris from this comet, resulting in a fine display of meteors, or shooting stars on the evening of May 23, and the morning of May 24. Follow the links below to learn more about the possible 2014 meteor shower of Comet 209P/LINEAR.

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Because of the time predicted for the meteor display, observers in southern Canada and the continental U.S. are especially well positioned to see the meteors in the early morning hours of May 24 (or late at night on May 23). Will the predictions hold true? They are not always 100% reliable, which is why, no matter where you are on Earth, this shower is worth a try around the night of May 23-24.

The meteors will radiate from the constellation Camelopardalis (camelopard), a very obscure northern constellation. Its name is derived from early Rome, where it was thought of as a composite creature, described as having characteristics of both a camel and a leopard. Nowadays we call such a creature a giraffe! Since meteor in annual showers take their names from the constellation from which they appear to radiate – and since this meteor shower might become an annual event – people are already calling it the May Camelopardalids.

This constellation – radiant point of the May 2014 meteor shower – is in the northern sky, close to the north celestial pole, making this meteor shower better for the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hemisphere.

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What we know about Comet 209P/LINEAR. The photo and video above show small and dim Comet 209P/LINEAR. We won’t see this comet with the eye alone. What’s exciting here is that calculations of the orbit of 209P/LINEAR indicate that – on the night of May 23-24, 2014 – Earth will sweep through debris trails from this comet. Debris left behind by the comet may enter our atmosphere and burn up, creating a new and perhaps very strong meteor shower!

209P/LINEAR is a periodic comet, that is, its orbit around the sun is relatively short so that we see the comet come close to the sun again and again. Comet 209P/LINEAR’s orbit brings it near the sun in just over 5 years. Its last perihelion passage was May 6, 2014. Interestingly, the debris we’ll encounter is not fresh debris left by the comet during its 2014 perihelion passage. Instead, we’ll be passing through a stream of cometary debris left behind by Comet 209P/LINEAR in the 1800s.

This comet was discovered on February 3, 2004 by the automated observing campaign – the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project (LINEAR) – whose name it bears.

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Will Comet 209P/LINEAR create a meteor storm? In 2012, meteor experts Esko Lyytinen of Finland and Peter Jenniskens at NASA Ames Research Center were the first to announce that Earth was due for a May 2014 encounter with debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR. Other meteor experts quickly confirmed this prediction and some did use the words “meteor storm.” The most recent calculations, however, indicate we might get a strong shower, but perhaps not a storm of meteors.

In 2012, Jeremie Vaubaillon of The Institut de Mecanique Celeste et de Calcul des Ephemerides in France told space.com:

So far,given the observations, we estimate a ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) of 100/hr to 400/hr, which is an excellent outburst! But this shower can become an exceptional one. Indeed, given the current orbit of the comet, all the trails ejected between 1803 and 1924 do fall in the Earth’s path in May 2014! As a consequence, this shower might as well be a storm.

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The more recent, less optimistic calculations come from Quanzhi Ye and Paul A. Wiegert, both at University of Western Ontario. Their work was published online in November 2013. In a report on their work at skyandtelescope.com, John Bochanski wrote that Ye and Wiegert’s work suggests a rate of 200 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. Bochanski wrote:

But Ye and Wiegert warn that, given the current relatively weak dust production of the comet, rates could be much lower. With the low dust production, as well as the team’s lower estimate of how many debris streams from the comet’s previous passes are hanging around in this region of space, it’s highly unlikely that we’re in for a meteor storm (1,000 per hour) — although the team couldn’t quite rule it out.

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Will Comet 209P/LINEAR produce a meteor storm, or at least a strong meteor shower? As with all meteor showers, the only way to know is to go outside on the night of the predicted peak and see for yourself.

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Bottom line: On the night of May 23-24, 2014 – if predictions hold true – Earth might be sandblasted with debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR, resulting in a fine display of meteors, or shooting stars. The debris stream was laid down by the comet in the 1800s. People are already calling this shower the May Camelopardalids, taking its name from the shower’s radiant point in an obscure far-northern constellation. Will it be a meteor storm? Most recent calculations say no, but it might be a strong-enough shower to be thrilling!

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Bold emphasis mine.

I also find it interesting that it radiates from close to Cassiopeia.

There are more graphics, video and links at the above article links you can checkout.

The meteor shower has been briefly mentioned here: https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,33946.msg489384.html#msg489384 but it deserves its own thread indeed.

More details here _http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Brand-New-Meteor-Shower.pdf
At this point, better go outside and enjoy the show if possible, whatever may happen :)

Also:
http://www.sott.net/article/279534-A-once-in-a-lifetime-meteor-shower-may-be-on-its-way
and
http://www.sott.net/article/279587-First-time-meteor-shower-may-light-up-skies-over-North-America-this-weekend

I just found this on my weather page...

Peak time, live stream video, watch NASA video online

<<SNIP>>
The moon enters its new phase on July 26, meaning that the moonlight will not be drowning out the star show.

Stargazers will be able to see up to 20 meteors an hour when it peaks in the early hours of July 26.

A http://www.nasa.gov/watchtheskies/delta-aquarids-ustream-2014.html#.U9byDWON7YVlive stream of the meteor shower will be available by NASA from its Marshall Space Flight Center. The live stream will begin at 9.30 p.m. ET on July 30.

A live stream of the SLOOH camera will also be available July 29 at 10 p.m. ET.

NASA stated: "On the night of 29-30 July, a favourable new moon will help darken the skies for the 2014 Delta Aquarid meteor shower (the Southern Delta Aquarids). Although this is considered a minor meteor shower with projected peak rates at 15-20 meteors/hour, the darker skies will help even faint meteors shine more brightly."

Full Article @ above link

My son informed me tonight that there will be a Super-moon tomorrow, (closest approach) followed by the PERSEID meteor shower later in the week (Wednesday).
The best time to see meteor showers is in the early morning before the sunrise.
This might be OK for you lot in the Northern Hemisphere, but at that time of day here it is below freezing point. So, enjoy the show. I'll have to rug up.

Tonight I saw the first meteor from the Eta Aquarid meteor stream.
This is a remnant of the famed Halley's comet.
Here in Oz the sun has just set, there is a full moon rising, and Jupiter and Saturn are on the ecliptic.
Generally expect about 30 per hour. The moon may obstruct visibility somewhat.

Every year in mid-December visit us meteor shower known as the Geminids.
More on link:



Good luck with watching :)

Thanks Casper :)

Sadly it looks like the sky is blanketed with cloud over where i am in England. Alas, i have my curtains open just in case