An astonomy activity for the village
Locked down but looking up
THIS WEEK - THE LYRIDS METEOR SHOWER
By Chris Higgins
We may be locked down for theforeseeable future but amateur astronomers worldwide are making the most of the darker skies, lack of contrails and cleaner air offered. Combined with the excellent forecast for clear skies it makes for a pleasant distraction. I’m going to describe as briefly as possible something we can all do as a family from our gardens in Bishop Monkton this coming week.
What are meteor showers?
Meteor is the terminology used to describe what is commonly known as a shooting star. They occur spontaneously and frequently but also predictably in showers on an annual basis, recurring on the same dates every year. They have been recorded, depicted and observed for millennia. Meteors are caused by small particles ofspace dust about the size of a grain of rice but moving at tremendous speed (up to 40km per second). Hence, they contain considerable kinetic energy when colliding with our atmosphere and vaporise in a spectacular light show for us to enjoy.
They are predictable because predominantly they are the trails left by comets (and sometimes asteroids) that orbit the Sun. As the Earth passes through the trail it is like driving through a blizzard and the atmosphere collides with the particles.
How can we observe them?
One of the predictable showers is called the Lyrids. It is currently active in the night sky above Bishop Monkton. This shower lasts nearly a fortnight but it has a peak during the night and morning of the 21st and 22nd April. These are the best days to stand a chance of seeing them. The best time is approaching midnight and the hours afterwards. You may see them before but they will be lower in the sky and less frequent.
Where can I see them?
The Lyrids are so called because the radiant of the shower appears to come from the constellation of
Lyra (The Lyre). This is a small constellation but contains one of the brightest stars in the night sky called Vega. At midnight the very bright star 36 degrees above the horizon to the East North East is Vega. You can't miss it. If a shooting star comes from roughly this direction it is a Lyrid!
You need to look towards the East or North east just using your eyes. So set up a deckchair and a hot
chocolate and watch for an hour or so. Let me know how many you see.
Below is a screenshot from my planetarium software to indicate the region. This may not render well on the website so just message or email me or use the WhatsApp Astro group to receive a better version.
Sky Safari Screenshot showing the Lyrid radiant with Vega in centre.
Vega is a blue/white star not to be confused with the bright red/orange star much higher up and to the right which is Arcturus.
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If you wish to put any questions to Chris he can be contacted on thechig@hotmail.com
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