William Atkins
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 18:46
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 3
The best time to observe the meteor shower is the dark hours before dawn on Wednesday, April 22, 2009—around 3 a.m. your local time.
You’ll see the meteors coming out of the north-northeastern night sky from within the constellation Lyra. The constellation will appear in the evening sky at about 11:00 p.m. local time in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
The center (radiant) of the meteor shower will be near the star Vega. The star is a member of the Summer Triangle, three bright stars that also include Altair and Deneb.
These stars, along with the meteors, will be about 60 degrees above the horizon between the constellations Hercules and Cygnus.
The Comet Thatcher, or officially
Comet C/1861 G1, has been producing the Lyrid meteor shower for over the past 2,600 years.
Comet Thatcher is a non-periodic comet that was first scientifically identified by A. E. Thatcher on April 5, 1861.
Carl Wilhelm Baeker also independently identified this comet. It is the
oldest known meteor shower on record.
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