Why does Russia seem to get so many bright meteors? Well at 6.6 million square miles it's by far the largest country in the world plus, with dashboard-mounted cameras being so commonplace (partly to help combat insurance ...
Space Exploration
Apr 21, 2014
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Feeling a little meteor-starved lately? Me too. It's been a meteor shower desert since the Quadrantids of early January. That's about to change. This weekend brings the celestial version of April showers with the annual appearance ...
Space Exploration
Apr 18, 2013
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In a few days - barring cloud cover - the night skies will present one of the more arresting displays of meteors streaking through space.
Space Exploration
Apr 13, 2012
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There are several major meteor showers to enjoy every year at various times, with some more active than others. For example, April's Lyrids are expected to produce about 15 meteors an hour at their peak for observers viewing ...
Space Exploration
Nov 17, 2010
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(PhysOrg.com) -- There are seven major meteor showers remaining in 2010 (the Quadrantids occurred in early January 2010), with some more active than others. For example, April's Lyrids are expected to produce about 15 meteors ...
Space Exploration
Apr 22, 2010
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The very best thing you can do to maximize your meteor shower enjoyment is get as far away from light pollution (city lights, etc.) as you can and find a location with a clear, unclouded view of the night ...
Space Exploration
Apr 8, 2010
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The Lyrids are a strong meteor shower lasting from April 16 to April 26 each year. The radiant of the meteor shower is located in the constellation Lyra, peaking at April 22—hence they are also called the Alpha Lyrids or April Lyrids. The source of the meteor shower is the periodic Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. The Lyrids have been observed for the past 2600 years.
The shower on May 22, 687 BC (proleptic Julian calendar) was recorded in Zuo Zhuan, which describes the shower as "On day xīn-mǎo of month 4 in the summer (of year 7 of King Zhuang of Lu), at night, fixed stars are invisible, at midnight, stars dropped down like rain." (夏四月辛卯 夜 恆星不見 夜中 星隕如雨)
The shower usually peaks on around April 22 and the morning of April 23. Counts typically range from 5 to 20 meteors per hour, averaging around ten. Observers in the country will see more, observers in the city fewer.
Lyrid meteors are usually around magnitude +2. However, some meteors can be brighter, known as "Lyrid fireballs", cast shadows for a split second and leave behind smokey debris trails that last minutes.
Occasionally, the shower intensifies when the Earth passes through a thicker part of the dust trail, resulting in a Lyrid meteor storm. In 1982, amateur astronomers counted 90 Lyrids per hour. A stronger storm occurred in 1803, observed by a journalist in Richmond, Virginia:
"Shooting stars. This electrical [sic] phenomenon was observed on Wednesday morning last at Richmond and its vicinity, in a manner that alarmed many, and astonished every person that beheld it. From one until three in the morning, those starry meteors seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers as to resemble a shower of sky rockets ..."
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
