Meteor Showers

Perseids Meteor Shower Radiant

In July there are three minor meteor showers and a major meteor shower.  July starts a period of usually heroic summer meteor shower events. The most notable meteor shower of July, the Perseids, starts July 17th and will peak in mid August.  In the chart below you will notice the column entitled ZHR.  ZHR stands for Zenith Hourly Rate and is defined as the amount of meteors a viewer could witness in one hour with a clear dark sky.  This number is based on the radiant being inside the zenith and the strength of the meteor shower, however the closer radiant is to the horizon and the farther from the zenith the less the ZHR or meteors one will be able to see.

I apologize if the terms in this Meteor Blog article have confused you a little bit, there is no need to worry you can check out my Meteor Glossary and Terms Page for some more information.  If you need additional information about observing a meteor shower you can visit my Meteor Shower Viewing Page, there is some really helpful information there.

In the next few weeks I will be providing readers with meteor shower facts and predictions as well as some great articles to educate you about what could be the greatest meteor shower of 2010, the Perseids!  In the meantime, bookmark the site, join the newsletter and keep your head up!

- Meteor Mark

The next meteor shower starts June 22nd and it’s called the June Bootids. The June Bootids radiant is the constellation Bootes. It won’t be as active as the Perseids Meteor Shower coming in August, however one never really knows how strong a meteor shower will be unless they get out and view it. The best time to look with the greatest chance of seeing meteors from the Bootids meteor shower is during the peak, which occurs on Sunday morning June 27th. Now that school is out for the kids and it’s summer for some of you; why not enjoy a late night or early morning viewing session under a warm summer’s night sky? Summer is the best time to watch for meteors or treat the kids to a pre-dawn meteor shower viewing experience.

So when and where is the best time to see the June Bootids?

I commonly get asked the following questions: When and where should one look to see meteors? Meteors can be seen anywhere in a dark sky, so I suggest looking to the darkest area in the sky and then tracing the backward path of the first meteor you see to it’s radiant. A meteor shower’s radiant is the point where the meteors will seem to emanate from. For the June Bootids meteor shower the constellation is Bootes and for viewers in the northern hemisphere it is located in the western sky and is higher on the horizon for those of living north of the equator. Although this meteor shower won’t be very active and unfortunately to add to this shower’s lack of activity the moon will be practically full; thus shedding a lot of light into sky, it is still worth the effort to get out there and look.

What is the cause of this meteor shower?

At this time of year annually, the orbital dust from the comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke is the root source for this event. The Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke orbits our Sun once about every six years or so and reached its perihelion in September of 2008 (the perihelion is when a planet, comet or asteroid is closest to the Sun in its orbit) so maybe, just maybe a heavier dust/meteoroid trail will cause some added activity. Having stated this, due to the nature of unpredictability of meteor showers, viewers should observe with a positive frame of mind. This shower is very unpredictable but it has been known to have some huge outburst in the past.

In 1998 and 2004 the June Bootids had some remarkable outbursts reaching up to one hundred meteors per hour (100 ZHR). Like I said, please don’t anticipate this same type of activity because of the brightness of the Moon.

Before I depart out to view some meteors and tell you to keep your head up, here is a meteor shower fact: Did you know that meteor showers are one of the most unsystematic, unpredictable and volatile astronomical happenings? To this day scientists have great difficulty forecasting the strength and voracity of meteor showers.

If you’ve enjoyed the post, why not buy me a cup of coffee so I can stay awake whilst gazing up to the sky!

In the meantime bookmark the site, join the newsletter and keep your head up!

- Meteor Mark

Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

When is the next meteor shower? Its already started and will remain active until May 28th this year. Since April 19th the Eta Aquariids meteor shower has been active. The shower will start to really heat up around May 3rd. The Eta Aquariids usually treats us to more than a full week of meteor activity. The shower will begin to get stronger and stronger as we near the peak on May 6th

Beginning with about 20 to 30 meteors per hour on May 3rd the shower will dazzle us on May 6th with up to 80 meteors per hour. The shower’s name is the Eta Aquariids and will appear to radiate from the constellation Aquarius. Viewers will be able to see approximately one or two meteors per minute. Because this year the phase of the moon is a Last Quarter there will be a lot of extra light in the sky as 50% of the moon will be illuminated during the peak, but I’m hoping for a good showing from this event. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for some luck, as there are no guarantees that it will be this active.

When and where should one look to see the meteor shower?

Meteors can be seen anywhere in the sky. A good starting point for this shower is the radiant as each shower has a distinct point in the sky where meteors seem to come from. This shower like others is best viewed before dawn and after midnight in any time zone. The radiant is the point of origin where the meteor’s backward path can be traced. In this event the radiant is the constellation Aquarius. For people living north of the equator, Aquarius is located in the southeastern sky low on the horizon and for those south of the equator one should look toward the east but higher in the sky.

What is the cause of the Eta Aquariids meteor shower?

Have you ever heard of Halley’s Comet? This display in our May sky is caused by that very comet even though it last came near to Earth in 1986. This meteor shower has been happening for a very long time around the same time of year because as we pass through the dust trails and debris of Halley’s Comet from centuries and centuries ago meteoroids clash with the Earth’s atmosphere and create meteors. Halley’s Comet is responsible for two meteor showers a year, the Orionids Meteor Shower of October and this one. Halley’s Comet orbits our Sun and returns to view from Earth every 75 to 76 years.

Some exciting facts about the Eta Aquariids meteor shower:

Eta Aquariids meteors are really fast and enter the Earth’s atmosphere at a whopping 68 kilometers per second or approximately 152,000 miles per hour! They are usually very intense and frequently leave behind smoke trails or persistent trains.

As always I welcome your comments and questions. I enjoy reading and responding. I will try to respond to all the comments, just bookmark the site and check back with me once in a while. Try the meteor glossary if you don’t understand all the terms I use in the posts. There is a meteor shower virtually every month from now until the end of the year. If you’ve enjoyed my post and find the information useful, how about buying me a cup of coffee, as I will need them for when I get up early or stay up late to enjoy all the upcoming meteor showers.

Here are the dates for the next meteor shower.

η-Aquariids Meteor Shower
Start Date: April 19
Peak Date: May 6
End Date: May 28 – Meteor Mark’s Birthday!

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Keep your head up!

- Meteor Mark

Texas Fireball

Last night April 14 a fireball streaked across the sky in Milwaukee Wisconsin that could be seen in six surrounding states. I’ve received reports about the sighting from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio so I figured I’d give a little insight. Between January and now, meteor shower activity is very minimal and right now a usually very weak minor meteor shower known as the Gama Virginids could be responsible for this fireball or it could just be a random sporadic event.

The Lyrids Meteor Shower starts today and will be most active in the morning hours of April 22nd. When one sees a meteor or fireball it doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with a meteor shower. There are millions of pieces of debris that hit the Earth’s atmosphere on a daily basis and very few are witnessed. This particular event happened at a good time where it could be viewed by a lot of people. This meteor was very bright and even though I’ve had people on the site commenting that there was a massive explosion in the sky, the meteoroid has been reported by NASA to be about 3 feet wide, which is still pretty big considering that when you watch a meteor shower most of the meteors are the size of a grain of sand or as big as a pea.  Meteors will usually disintegrate before hitting Earth, but there’s always a chance they can reach Earth.  I’m not sure if this one reached the ground, but if it did, the pieces would be very small.

Fireballs and meteors are spectacular events, they are pieces of the beginnings of the universe, and I’m always envious of anyone lucky enough to see them. I enjoy reading your stories and comments so feel free to ask questions or just post your sightings.  The next meteor shower, the Lyrids peaks April 22 where you may see about 18 to 22 meteors per hour. They probably won’t be as big or spectacular but it’s always worth a look. It’s free to join the mailing list on the right side of the page and keep your head up.

- Meteor Mark