Peek at Lyrid meteor shower on April 22, 2010

William Atkins
Sunday, 18 April 2010 01:44

Science - Space

The Lyrid meteor shower is set to occur here on Earth during the early mornings of April 21, 22, and 23, 2010. Set you alarm clock before sunrise for the best viewing opportunities over your local night sky.

As always for the Lyrid meteor shower, also called the Alpha Lyrids or the April Lyrids, skygazers will see meteorites streaking across the night sky from tiny dust particles that have long ago come off of the dusty tail of the periodic comet Thatcher (Comet C/1861 G1).

Comet Thatcher is a long-period comet discovered by Dr. A.E Thatcher on April 5, 1861, and also by Dr. Carl Wilhelm Baeker. It orbits the Sun in about 415.5 Earth-years.

Even though the peak viewing morning is April 22, you'll also be able to see them on the mornings before and after the 22nd'”generally from April 16 to April 26 annually.

Astronomers are expecting that 10 to 20 meteors per hour will be seen at that time before dawn on April 22. We regularly see the Lyrid meteor shower'”in fact, this ancient meteor shower has been seen for over 2,600 years.

The April 16, 2010 MSNBC article Lyrid meteor shower peaks April 22 quotes two professional meteor watchers, '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."

For instance, those of you located at around 40 degrees north latitude, such as in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Denver, Colorado, United States, in North America; and Valencia, Spain, and Cagliari, Italy, in Europe, the Moon will set under the horizon at about 2:30 a.m. local time.

Page two continues.