The Lyrids may not be the most active of the annual showers. This outburst is what was first recorded over 2,700 years ago. The comet is far away from Earth, but we encounter its debris trail every year.ĭue to planetary perturbations, disturbances in a planet’s orbit, denser clumps of debris occur every 60 years caused by this comet’s proximity to Jupiter and Saturn, Lunsford said. The Lyrids’ comet is named C/1861 G1 Thatcher, and it is a little over halfway through its 415-year orbit. “Only in the 19th century was when we kind of understood that they actually came from space.”Įvery meteor shower has a parent comet from which comes the debris that makes up the shower. But at that time, they didn’t understand what the meteors actually were - it took much longer,” said Peter Vereš, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “When people first noticed this, like 2,700 years ago, they only noticed it because they saw something falling in the sky. Webb telescope captures 'green monster' inside a young supernova This new image uses data from Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to reveal Cas A in a new light. The Lyrids were first recorded in 687 BC, according to NASA, making this meteor shower to be one of the oldest recorded.Ĭassiopeia A (Cas A) is a supernova remnant located about 11,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. While no outbursts are predicted for this year, the Lyrids could still be worth your time, with a portion of them fireballs, extra bright meteors in the sky, Lunsford said. The next outburst is expected for 2042, according to the society. Occasionally, the Lyrids have exceeded expectations, with outbursts of up to 100 per hour averaging every 60 years. If you are near a city or bright lights, expect one every 15 minutes or so. In an area away from light pollution, observers can expect to catch one meteor every five minutes, Lunsford said. “The chance for surprises (with this upcoming shower) are pretty small, but since we have no moon in the sky and it occurs on a weekend, we encourage everybody to give it a shot, check it out.” “The moon will obscure all but the brightest meteors, so when there’s no lunar interference, you can see bright, faint, all meteors that show up,” said Robert Lunsford, the fireball report coordinator for the American Meteor Society. The good news is that a near new moon will leave perfect viewing conditions, with no bright light interference from what a full moon would cause. Webb telescope captures glowing starburst as galaxies collide Shining like a brilliant beacon amidst a sea of galaxies, Arp 220 lights up the night sky in this view from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
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