Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Space Science

The Lyrids Are Coming! 186

SeaDour writes "The year's first meteor shower, the Lyrids, will peak in the pre-dawn hours of April 22nd when the Earth plows through the debris trail of Comet Thatcher at a relative velocity of 49 km/s (110,000 mph). Lyrids usually aren't as numerous as other showers (such as the famed Leonids), but they're well-known for their spectacular tails; you can expect to see about 5-20 meteors per hour, depending on the severity of your local light pollution. Unfortunately, my current location in the midwest under stormy skies puts me at a bit of a disposition, but hopefully some other Slashdotters can share their observations with us tomorrow."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

The Lyrids Are Coming!

Comments Filter:
  • by SnappingTurtle ( 688331 ) on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:05PM (#8935774) Homepage
    ... just be sure there isn't a dead seal nearby. And that you have permission to use the house you're in.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:05PM (#8935775)
    Err... do you think this article could have been posted, say, yesterday?
    • Yeah, it's far too late to order a few million nano-Bruce Willis clones to save the Earth from all those grain-of-sand impacts. We're doomed!
  • I'm in the midwest also, it was hailing a little bit ago.

    The thing that pisses me off is that I live about 30 miles from the nearest _town_ so I would have had an awesome show. Pity.
    • The thing that pisses me off is that I live about 30 miles from the nearest _town_ so I would have had an awesome show. Pity.

      I missed the Northern Lights about six times a few months ago when it seemed like /. had an article about them every other day. Every time it happened we had a complete overcast. That just a little bit demoralizing as I've never seen them in my entire life. Guess I'll still have to go to Alaska after all.

      • I had never even seen the Milky Way until I moved out here, much less the Northern Lights...so I'll probably end up going to Alaska as well. ;)
      • I live in south-central Alaska, and just went outside. It's still dusk here (22:44), and I can see that it is cloudy. Still, because I live 20 miles from town, I get a great show every night except for May through August (not much night then). Sometimes friends visiting during the winter cannot believe all the satellites crossing the sky, and how many stars there are. When I build my next house I'm going to include a glass dome or something.

        -cp-

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:08PM (#8935797)
    Unfortunately, my current location in the midwest under stormy skies puts me at a bit of a disposition,

    Wow, that's really condition. I feel really emotion for you, salutation. Perhaps the condition will become adjective, and you'll be affected.
  • This show is worth a watch! It's not as high-profile as the August show, but MAN it's spectacular!
  • Ho hum (Score:2, Interesting)

    by l810c ( 551591 ) *
    Meteor showers used to be cool years ago when I used to take drugs and watch them.

    Now that I've quit all that stuff, they just don't excite me anymore :(

    • Re:Ho hum (Score:3, Funny)

      by WwWonka ( 545303 )
      Meteor showers used to be cool years ago when I used to take drugs and watch them. Now that I've quit all that stuff, they just don't excite me anymore :(

      Funny, now that you've stopped taking drugs you aren't very exciting either.
    • Re:Ho hum (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Then take drugs again. If it's the only way things in life are beautiful, wouldn't it be worthwhile? Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm horribly wrong and downing cehmicals to paint a better picture of reality is against the order of things. But I think maybe the mind expanders and the trippers and the pot smokers are on to something. When you can't sit under a tree on a sunny day anymore and not think of everything, have it all flood your mind, can't stop thinking of the scores of people dying, suffering, screamin
  • Thatcher (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:10PM (#8935809)
    The year's first meteor shower, the Lyrids, will peak in the pre-dawn hours of April 22nd when the Earth plows through the debris trail of Comet Thatcher...

    I've been waiting years to see this... Thatcher falling from the sky in a ball of flames!
  • Will these be visible from, say, Australia, where I live?

    Not that I wish to invite flaming, but 'before dawn' is a highly relative concept for a site like ./ which has readers all over the world. I wish posts like this would give info about other time zones/longitutes/latitudes or at least acknowledge that they are referring to US times and locations.
    • "The Lyrids are best seen between about 2 a.m. and daybreak local time, regardless of where you live, astronomers say"

      Missed the 3rd paragraph I take it?

    • by Sage Gaspar ( 688563 ) on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:16PM (#8935846)
      Hehe, I usually try to stay away... but RTFA!

      The Lyrids are best seen between about 2 a.m. and daybreak local time, regardless of where you live, astronomers say.

      City and suburban dwellers will see significantly fewer of the meteors than those in rural areas away from all light pollution. The shower is not visible from the Southern Hemisphere.

      • I guess the old skim reading got a little out of hand. I saw "about 2 a.m. and daybreak local time, regardless of where you live" and assumed this referred to the US, as I was unaware that meteors are visible from all around the world at different times (see below).
        • I saw "about 2 a.m. and daybreak local time, regardless of where you live" and assumed this referred to the US, as I was unaware that meteors are visible from all around the world at different times

          My understanding is that it is pretty much correct. The Earth is actually passing through a trail of particles left by a comet and would be totally engulfed. Many of these particles may only be the size of a grain of sand and may not be visible when they burn up in the atmosphere. With a the moon in a new ph

      • by sould ( 301844 ) on Thursday April 22, 2004 @12:16AM (#8936076) Homepage
        Hehe, I usually try to stay away... but RTFA!

        Except the FAIW

        The shower is not visible from the Southern Hemisphere

        From the

        The Lyrids are a northern shower, but can be observed by most mainland Australians. The best time to observe the Lyrids is in the morning between 2.00-5.00 am. However, the Lyrids low rates, combined with their closeness to the horizon, mean that few meteors are likely to be seen. To see the Lyrids, look to the north in the morning sky. About two handspans above the northern horizon is the bright, blue-white star alpha Lyra, the brightest star near the northern horizon. The Lyrid radiant is just above it and to the left by around a handspan.
    • Southern hemisphere won't see anything, apart from the usual bunyips, wobbegongs and taniwhas
    • It will take a couple of days for the Earth to pass through the comet trail, thus every longitude will have the opportunity of viewing the show. I can't speak for latitude. If the comet was coming from above the earth's orbital plane as it headed sunward, southern latitudes would be out of luck for most of the show. Gravity might bend a few your way though.
    • by jgoemat ( 565882 ) on Thursday April 22, 2004 @04:00AM (#8936835)
      Meteor showers usually originate from one point in the sky. For example, the Leonids originate from the Leo constellation. The Lyrids originate from the constellation lyra, which should be in a good position in the sky from 2:00 am to 5:00 am no matter where on earth you live, just like the sun will be in a good position in the sky from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm no matter where on earth you live.

      Most meteor showers have a "peak" though where the earth passes through the densest part of the comet's trail. For this meteor shower, they don't appear to know when the peak will fall. For the Leonids the last couple of years they tried to predict, and that was a certain time that would be different in different time zones.

      Happy skywatching!

  • Wow. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by nickochee ( 758895 )
    "Every year in April Earth plows through Thatcher's dusty debris stream with a relative velocity of 49 km/s (110,000 mph). Meteoroids (most no bigger than grains of sand)..."

    Speeds up to 110,000 miles per hour coming from meteoroids always remind me of how fast we're traveling on this pale blue dot.

    • It's all relative.
    • Re:Wow. (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
      And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,
      That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
      A sun that is the source of all our power.
      The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
      Are moving at a million miles a day
      In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,
      Of the galaxy we call the 'Milky Way'.

      Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.
      It's a hundred thousand light years side to side.
      It bulges in the
  • It makes a little more sense to me to search for our "LEV meteor/asteroid" in these known meteor shower zones. A rogue asteroid hitting the earth would require the overcoming of astronomical odds on par with hitting an incoming missile with an interceptory missile. Since we know and can track these meteor showers, I imagine that scanning the areas in which the space debris exists is the first place we ought to be looking for life-ending rocks.
    • I'm no astronomer, but it really isn't the bands of meteorites that we really need to worry about - they're washed up meteors that have been busted up by the Justice Department of the universe. It's mostly space junk. It is the large, unbroken chunks flying in trajectories which we don't know that we need to worry about.
  • by Gunfighter ( 1944 ) on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:11PM (#8935818)
    I think I saw a few of those suckers streaking across the sky a night or two ago. It was the first time I'd seen more than one "shooting star" in a night. I guess I was wrong. It's not an extraterrestrial planetary attack plan in progress.

    /me removes tinfoil hat

  • The link looks down and someone mentioned something about it too. Might just be my connection here though. Coincidentally enough, I looked it up this afternoon. Unfortunately, I think Houston will have too much cloud cover to see anything.
  • Timing (Score:3, Insightful)

    by TheJavaGuy ( 725547 ) on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:22PM (#8935867) Homepage
    Couldn't this article have been posted earlier, and not a few hours before the action.
    • Re:Timing (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You're new here, aren't you?
    • Couldn't this article have been posted earlier, and not a few hours before the action.

      Don't worry, the dupe will be posted next week. That will be 8592 hours before the action returns next year. Surely, that is sufficient advance notice.
    • Couldn't this article have been posted earlier, and not a few hours before the action.

      What do you mean a few hours before the action? It was posted 30 minutes after dawn where I am, you insensitive clod!

  • Extraordinary (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Vlar ( 749162 )
    the article mentioned 5-20 meteors per hour. I was wondering if anyone knew how many meteors you can expect in an average forecasted meteor (not bathing) shower?
    • Re:Extraordinary (Score:3, Informative)

      by jesterzog ( 189797 )

      Well 5-20 is on the average to higher side as far as showers tend to go, but it's also important to point out that the meteor shower numbers are frequently misleading if you're not familiar with how they're calculated.

      Normally that number refers to what you'd be expected to see if you're in a completely dark sky, able to see in all directions at once, and with the radiant directly overhead. Realistically this isn't normally what happens.

      Most people live near a populated area, so they only see the

      • You sound quite versed in the subject!

        I take it you have gone meteor watching before? Had any really memorable moments like seeing the sky completly light up in streaks of light?

        I can remember as a child, being in a camp grounds off Lake Michigan and seeing the sky full of hundreds of tiny meteors. Still one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.
  • Welcome! (Score:1, Redundant)

    by MavEtJu ( 241979 )
    I, for one, welcome our new Lyrid overlords.

    (sorry, first thing which came into mind was "oh my how much of these bad jokes are going to be posted today)
  • by Alan ( 347 ) <arcterex@NOspAm.ufies.org> on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:40PM (#8935940) Homepage
    I'm a bit of an amateur photographer, and was wondering what the more experienced ones out there would set their cameras up with as far as shutter speed / apateur for this event? I figure I'll set my digital as long as it'll go at f8 or however small of an apateur I can set, but is that good or not?
    • by Gunark ( 227527 ) on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:47PM (#8935967)
      With most digital cameras you will get a lot of static in your image. I tried doing this with my Olympus C-3030 during the 2002 Leonoids, and my pictures turned out terrible -- more static than anything else.

      As far as I know film is the way to go for long exposures.

      (There's actually a way to eliminate at least some of the static if you're crafty with Photoshop -- the static tends to show up on the same pixels on you camera's CCD, so if you take one fully dark photo you can use it to substract the static in subsequent pictures).
      • Actually, while CCDs typically exhibit tremendous noise during long exposures unless attached to a hefty peltier cooler (not that they overheat, they just like to be chilly), Canon's newer, top-end-ish cameras use CMOS sensors, which most astrophotography buffs have found to be very close to noiseless. Not quite film quality yet, but getting there.

        My Digital Rebel is basically noiseless regardless of exposure length at ISO 100. There are one or two variously-colored CMOS hotspots a pixel or two wide (simil
      • Take a fully dark picture and use it to subtract static? Sounds familiar.

        You're re-inventing some techniques familiar to astronomers. Back when CCDs (a) were very expensive (b) were very small and (c) had to be used in dewers they were mainly seen on telescopes.

        The other technique (flat-fielding) was taking a picture of a uniform light source and using that to correct the apparent brightness across your images. (My flat fields at the time were terrible, should have been even, were striped and shaded inste
    • No digital, most of the CCD's will overheat on long (minute+) exposures.

      As for film, the best way I've used is to get to a really dark place, or at least no glowing of the sky. Open the shutter with a remote or bulb and leave it that way until you see one. Close the shutter and try again...we are talking minutes - you could have to wait 5-10 minutes in some cases.

      It also works to leave the shutter open through several streakers. If you are persistent, you may get a good "earthgrazer" that travels the e
    • Go for low aperture like you said, f8 or whatever. (You always want your aperture setting as small as possible for making distinct clarity in your images.)

      Set your ISO on the lowest possible setting ISO 50 or 100. Most cameras will show noticeable interference with anything larger. Note the ISO Speed number demonstrates your cameras light sensitivity.

      Then take shutter speed as long as possible to desired image.

      Just practice on stars and what not to get a hang of your cameras capabilities. Also, I

    • Generally right - reasonably narrow aperture & very long exposure.

      Although other posters point out that digital camera noise can be a problem, there are workarounds. For a start, ensure that you turn the LCD off, if possible. Try to let the camera cool down between shots.

      Your camera may have a low noise setting. If not, take a long exposure photograph with the lens cap on. This "dark" frame will be noisy because of hot CCD cells. In Photoshop/whatever, subtract this image from your photograph to

    • Go with long exposure times and use your shutter button to hold it open. Use no less than 400 ASA, and preferrably go and pick up some of the higher stuff (800 is nice) since you only have a limited time to pick up on these beautiful objects. A neat trick is to leave your camera open the entire hour or so and let it gather multiple trails. Not to mention you can see the stars shift as well.

      Good luck
  • "Comet Thatcher shower on a cold day!"
    "Comet Thatcher shower on a cold day!"
    </Austin_Powers>
  • by toiletsalmon ( 309546 ) on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:46PM (#8935964) Journal
    Meteor Shower Peaks Before Dawn Thursday
    By Robert Roy Britt
    Senior Science Writer
    posted: 07:42 am ET
    21 April 2004

    The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks before dawn Thursday, April 22. Skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere with dark skies away from city lights could see anywhere from 5 to 25 shootings stars per hour, or one every few minutes.

    The timing of this year's version is good, because the Moon just passed its New phase and is out of the picture, its otherwise bright light not a factor.

    The Lyrids are best seen between about 2 a.m. and daybreak local time, regardless of where you live, astronomers say. That's when the shower's radiant -- the point from which they appear to emanate -- is highest in the sky. The Lyrid radiant is in the constellation Lyra, and very near to the bright star Vega.

    Vega is easy to find. It's in the eastern sky but nearly overhead in the predawn hours. It is the brightest star in that region of the sky and the 5th brightest star overall.

    Lyrid meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. But if you trace each one back, it will point toward Vega. The shower is a result of Earth passing through a trail of debris left by a comet called Thatcher, which last passed through the inner solar system in 1861.

    The Lyrid event is typically modest -- not as busy as the November Leonids or the August Perseids. But they are still cherished by devout meteor observers.

    "The Lyrids are the first major annual shower of the season," said Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society.

    But this April shower sometimes generates a brief outburst, when the rate can climb to more than one a minute. Seasoned observers might notice that the Lyrids move more quickly than typical meteors. Bright and persistent trails are common with the Lyrids.

    Most shooting stars are generated by bits no larger than sand grains that vaporize when they plow into Earth's atmosphere. An occasional bright fireball is sometimes sighted amid the Lyrids, caused by debris perhaps the size of a pea or marble.

    City and suburban dwellers will see significantly fewer of the meteors than those in rural areas away from all light pollution. The shower is not visible from the Southern Hemisphere.

    To look for meteors, experts advise taking along a blanket or lounge chair, so you can recline and avoid neck strain. Dress warmer than you think necessary if you plan to be out for more than a few minutes. Find a spot with wide-open sky. Face east but scan as much of the sky as possible. Allow 15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.

    Another half-dozen or so meteors not associated with the Lyrids could be visible in any given pre-dawn hour, from dark rural locations, according to Lunsford. These other shooting stars could appear anywhere and move in any direction.
  • For some reason I misread that as:
    "The triffids are coming!" :D

    You guys wouldn't happen to have noticed any strange plants growing in your gardens would you?(Other than the mary jane kind ;^P )
  • by dulles ( 86837 ) on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @11:55PM (#8935996)
    If anybody out there lives in Nevada or near the Eastern High Sierras of California, I envy you: I would be in my car, or on my motorcycle, without hesitation, to enjoy a three hour drive into nowhere.
    In the time I lived in the Eastern High Sierras (www.deepsprings.edu [deepsprings.edu]) I was lucky enough to witness two Leonid showers. They were, witout fail, among the most awe-some night-time events of my life.
    So, you desert dwellers... waste no time in making the decision to go.
    (I was also once witness to a paraselene - a fabulous sort of full-circle moon-rainbow. Beautiful!)
    • I second that. I once saw the Perseids from Leh [isec.org.uk], at 12,500ft (3800m.) in the desert [www-sst.unil.ch] between the Karakoram and Himalaya. Boom! Rah! They looked like they were going to hit us, you could see chunks breaking off, and explosions.

      Clear air... Go to the desert, and go high, to see the best meteor action.

  • I saw the story title and believed for a moment that somebody was anouncing an alien invasion.

    Lyrids, Triffids ... it's all the same to me.

  • Time to beef up my tinfoil hat I guess !
  • Speed vs. velocity (Score:3, Interesting)

    by GrayTech ( 628100 ) on Thursday April 22, 2004 @12:10AM (#8936056) Homepage

    SeaDour writes "The year's first meteor shower, the Lyrids, will peak in the pre-dawn hours of April 22nd when the Earth plows through the debris trail of Comet Thatcher at a relative velocity of 49 km/s

    There is no direction given, so SeaDour should have used speed, not velocity. Or is this a convention often used in astronomy?

    • The direction is from Lyra towards us. What more do you need?
    • Consider the alternative phrasing: "relative speed". This is inferior to the given wording because it suggests that the speed of one was subtracted from the speed of the other, which is not the case for precisely the reasons you point out.

      Furthermore, using simply "speed" is insufficient because it ignores the fact that both objects are moving.

      Finally using "velocity" by itself suffers from the same problem as well as being non-specific with respect to direction.

      In practice there is scientifically nothin
    • The direction is implicit in the statement "a relative velocity of 49 km/s". Relative velocity implies in the line-of-sight to object, though to be pedantically accurate the speed component should be -49km/sec, the distance between meteor and observer being lessened.
  • Lyrids? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 22, 2004 @12:12AM (#8936065)
    That's a relief. At first I thought it was the Lurids -- a different meteor shower which is too graphic and disturbing to watch and definitely Not Safe For Work.
  • spotted! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...liberal "the sky is falling" agenda item:

    depending on the severity of your local light pollution.

    Geez, now all light is regarded as pollution. Is there anything chicken little can't view as bad (and, usually, in the worst terms possible) for someone or something?

    (as always, mod minus for non-liberal out-of-step with bezerkely post)
    • Geez, now all light is regarded as pollution.

      Well, regardless of any eco-lefty leaning, what would you have the unnatural light that needlessly interferes with observing the night sky called?
  • All right, for the benefit of those that can't see the shower, I shall describe it for you......

    There goes one..... theres another one!..... And another.... wow these are fast..... oooo, another one.....
  • by use_compress ( 627082 ) on Thursday April 22, 2004 @12:38AM (#8936152) Journal
    There have been reports [63.111.24.22] of dihidrogen oxide pellets in the skies over the Midwest. I'd advise the author of the post to attempt to observe this phenomenon.
  • Meteor shower raves are something you should partake of, if you have any interest in attending a rave at all. They can be very cold, being outdoors and all, but you will be guaranteed something to do aside from dancing, drugs, loud music, and ill-fated attempts to hook up. If you DO decide to partake of some or all of the above mentioned activities, the meteor shower can still be quite an enhancement -- think Van Gogh's "Starry Night".

    Mal-2
  • Here in the Northeast (on lake ontario) it's been a stormy night... no signs of clearing clouds... feh. FEH I SAY!
  • Run! Flee! Cower in fear!

    Oh wait its just a meteor shower, nevermind.

    a meteor shower, wait a minute.... Run! Flee! Cower in fear!

  • Not to be confused with Night of the Lepus [agonybooth.com].
  • by ColaMan ( 37550 )
    Nobody's cultivating any triffids in their backyard greenhouses are they?

    Ok, Good.
    Just making sure, that's all.

  • Went out to Crown Point, Portland Oregon. In about an hour, only saw maybe a dozen, but there were a few sweet tails. One seemed to move really slow, just amazing to see. Mostly in the south sky, with one or two to the east.

    Beer and good company made it a fully worthwhile night.

    J
  • an astronomy observing lab at 2 in the morning, and only now find out about this? There didn't seem to be increased number of meteor above the usual sporadics, but the ones I saw did have radiants originating in Lyra. Seems to me the more popular showers have gurus like Esko Lyytenin who try to predict the exact time and rate of peak (and which part of the globe this will occur over), but apparently these are hard to predict.
  • and there's less than 1 every five minutes. It's cold and I'm going to bed,
  • Story posted at... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by adamofgreyskull ( 640712 ) on Thursday April 22, 2004 @06:36AM (#8937254)
    story posted at: 11:04pm
    time difference: +5 hours
    local time posted: 04:04am

    Thanks guys. Thanks.

    Even worse, I didn't see the story until just now when I got up. Pisses me off, cause I was up until 1am working on my final year project...
  • This is information that would have been more useful to me YESTERDAY!

  • Gee (Score:3, Funny)

    by EmagGeek ( 574360 ) on Thursday April 22, 2004 @09:13AM (#8937937) Journal
    Thanks for the advance notice, guys...
  • Hardly the first (Score:3, Informative)

    by DynaSoar ( 714234 ) * on Thursday April 22, 2004 @04:12PM (#8942904) Journal
    "They year's first meteor shower..."

    Make that "seventh":

    Shower Range Peak radiant velocity population #/hour IMO
    Quadrantids Jan 01-Jan 05 Jan 04 15 20 +49 41 2.1 120 QUA
    delta-Cancrids Jan 01-Jan 24 Jan 17 08 40 +20 28 3.0 4 DCA
    alpha-Centaurids Jan 28-Feb 21 Feb 08 14 00 -59 56 2.0 6 ACE
    delta-Leonids Feb 15-Mar 10 Feb 25 11 12 +16 23 3.0 2 DLE
    gamma-Normids Feb 25-Mar 22 Mar 13 16 36 -51 56 2.4 8 GNO
    Virginids Jan 25-Apr 15 (Mar 24) 13 00 -04 30 3.0 5 VIR
    Lyrids Apr 16-Apr 25 Apr 22 18 04 +34 49 2.1 18 LYR

Top Ten Things Overheard At The ANSI C Draft Committee Meetings: (5) All right, who's the wiseguy who stuck this trigraph stuff in here?

Working...