Photo by Mike Shoys

Camping in state parks is fun as is, but add in a meteor shower and you could have an amazing camping experience in a state park this weekend.

That’s right … this weekend is the annual Lyrid Meteor Shower.  In California the shower will peak April 21-22 (Sunday night into Monday morning), when you should be able to see one every three to six minutes. The time to see the most meteors will be between 3:45am and 4:30am.

But you’ll need to be far from city lights. What better way to see them than from a state park campsite? So pitch a tent Sunday evening and settle in for a spectacular show.

More tips about how to view the Lyrid Meteor Shower here and here.

Enjoy!

2. Cold.

3. Meteor.

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During the following week-

There will be plenty of chances,

to take a Lyrid Meteor shower peek.

The Lyrids fall from Comet C1861 G1 Thatcher as the Earth passes through her tail. Activity from this meteor shower can be observed from 16 April to 25 April, but the perfect time to catch the Lyrids is during late night of the 21st to the early morning of the 22nd.

The Lyrids can offer a display of 10 to 20 per hour or have a surge of activity of up to 100 per hour.

The Lyrids, so named because they appear to originate from the constellation Lyra (The Lyre), have been observed in the night sky during mid-April for at least 2,500 years, NASA scientists say. On 21 – 22 of April you can see Lyra rise at around 11PM (local time) from the north east and continue to rise high into the sky towards the south east during the darkest hours of the night sky.

A screencap from Stellarium showing the radiant of the Lyrids located near the star Vega of the constellation Lyra.

The fifth-brightest star of the sky, alpha Lyr, called Vega (arabic for “stone eagle”), radiates from the top of Lyra with a pure white colour. Together with alpha Cyg, Deneb , and alpha Aql, Atair, Vega forms the famous asterism, the Summer Triangle (shown above).

Lyrid meteors are usually around magnitude +2, which is bright enough to be visible from most cities, but you’ll see more and enjoy them more if you leave the city for a less light-polluted area where the stars shine brighter. They often produce luminous trains of dust that can be observed for several seconds. Some Lyrids will be brighter, though, and the occassional “fireball” can cast shadows for a split second and leave behind glowing, smoky debris trails that last for minutes.

So, how do you watch these meteors? Like any other meteor shower event, watching the Lyrids requires no special viewing equipment like binoculars or  telescopes. All you need is an open sky and a place to lie down and relax. Someplace dark, away from trees and buildings is best. Meteors zip across the sky, so the more sky you see the better.  Gaze into the stars, and be patient. The best direction to watch is wherever your sky is darkest, usually straight up, perhaps with a little inclination toward the radiant.

As an observer, you can make a careful meteor count and report it to the International Meteor Organization. Such counts are analyzed to yield the shower’s zenithal hourly rate (ZHR), which is the number of meteors that a single observer would see per hour under ideal conditions: with the radiant directly overhead (at the zenith) and the sky dark enough to reveal 6.5-magnitude stars.

Meteors Without Borders: #LyridsWatch

During Global Astronomy Month (GAM 2012), everyone is encouraged to observe the Lyrids and send in the reports of what they saw. You can also share your data by tweeting your postcode, your country (click here to find your country code) and, optionally, the meteor count along with the hashtag; #MeteorWatch (you are welcome to use GAM hastags as well – #GAM2012 #LyridsWatch)

The meteor data will appear in a map at MeteorWatch.org. This is an excellent way to get more immersed and socialize during your observations.

Observe the Lyrids with UP Astrosoc

For Philippine observers located near Quezon City, the University of the Philippines Astronomical Society (UP AstroSoc) invites you to its Lyrids observation on April 21-22, 9PM-6AM at the PAGASA Astronomical Observatory Sundeck (located within the UP Diliman Campus).

The event is for free and open to all, so feel free to bring along with you your friends and family.

For more information, please visit UP Astrosoc’s Facebook fanpage.

Meteor showers can be a lot of fun, so I hope you see some good ones this coming weekend!  Clear skies!

• Saturn in the evening sky
• The 2011 Lyrid Meteor Shower
• Four Planets and a Crescent Moon in the morning sky

*Check out the following links for more info:

• Lyrids Meteor Shower – AstronomyLive.com
• Lyrids Watch 2011 – GAM 2011 Events
• Lyrids – Spacedex.com
• Lyrids – MeteorShowersOnline.com

Lyrids Quick Facts:

from http://www.examiner.com

The red dot shows the "radiant" for the Lyrid meteor shower. The radiant is the spot in the sky that the meteors seem to fan out from. (Image courtesy of NASA)

Lyrid meteor streaks | Image credit: Wally Pacholka

A video guide on finding the constellation Lyra:

HubbleSite – Tonight’s Sky: April 2011

Clear skies to all and happy observing!

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References:

• PAGASA Philippine Astronomical Diary
• Philippine Celestial Events for 2011 by PAS
• SeaSky.org
• Stellarium Planetarium Software