It one of the most fascinating phenomenon that occurs miles and miles above the Earth's surface. A piece of rock that is flying though space comes into contact with the atmosphere and burns up like a streaking fireball that lights up the night sky. Meteor showers are common year round, and whether you see one meteor or thousands in a single night, this phenomenon is always eye catching.
This weekend we will be given the privilege to experience the Lyrids Meteor Shower. This is not the biggest show on Earth, when you compare it to the Perseids Meteor Shower in August, but the Lyrids can still but on a great performance.
Around this time of the year, the Earth passes though debris that was left behind a comet that orbits the sun once every 415 years; Thatchers. Thatchers is way away from us right now, but its debris remains. As the Earth runs into this floating rock, the atmosphere burns its up and the Lyrids Meteor Shower is in full swing.
On the peak night, which will be late Saturday night and into early Sunday morning, you can look up and see approximately 10-20 meteors in an hour. However, there are occasions when this meteor shower has had peak rates up to 100 meteors in an hour in the past.
Best advice, get away from city lights and go to an area where it is dark so you can easily see these meteors burn up and streak across the sky. From around 11pm this Saturday night to 4am Sunday morning will be the best times to look up.
Enjoy the scene this weekend, and if you have any pictures, be sure to send them this way.
Oh.....one more note. The moon will not affect the viewing this year because it is a new moon at the moment.
For more news and weather you can log onto: www.facebook.com/KAGSweather or www.facebook.com/KAGSTV. You can also check out our twitter feeds: @KAGSweather and @KAGSnews.
No comments:
Post a Comment