It quickly became apparent there’s more to know about meteors to plan out watching them. I barely know what any of it means…what’s the difference between a fast meteor and a slow one? (25,000 mph being "slow" and 160,000 mph being fast) Do you see one better than the other? For some there are only a couple per hour while others there are dozens or even hundreds per hour. There are tons of showers annually, which ones do I try to see?
There are 7 major meteor showers throughout the year we can see from the State:
Quadrantids
Lyrids
Eta Aquarids
Perseids
Orionids
Leonids
Geminids
Check out this site this site for a list of more meteor showers.
The Quadrantids Meteor Shower
already passed early January. It sounds like a good show with many meteors…but with a very small window to view them. Maybe next year I’ll try time it right to spot this one. The Lyrids Meteor Shower should be happening about April 21-22 this year. I cant wait for this one! I’ll already be camping out at the coast for the annual coastal cleanup for a front row seat for hopefully 15-20 meteors per hour. What a great way to celebrate Earth Day!
The Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower should have between 10-21 per hour around May 5th & 6th. Remember to look east after midnight, away from all the light pollution.
The Perseids Meteor Shower is the one I saw last year, and my very first meteor shower experience! This year it should be peaking around Aug 12th-13th. It’s one of the best meteor showers with the most meteors; 60-100 per hour! It should be nice and dark because the moon should set before midnight, look to the northeast.
The Orionids Meteor Shower peaks around the 21st of October producing about 20-30 meteors per hour. There is gibbous (more than half but less than fully illuminated) moon during that time so viewing might be a little tricky, maybe try to get out for a nice fall hike to get away from all the light pollution!
The Leonids Meteor Shower should be a good one! It peaks on November 17th & 18th and averages about 40 meteors per hour but every 33 years it peaks at hundreds per hour! In 1966 there was The Great Leonid Meteor Storm of 1966 with a record amount of meteors!
The Geminids Meteor Shower is also a really good one! Peaking around December 13th-15th it is another high volume shower usually about 60 meteors per hour. Look east once it gets really dark since there’s another gibbous moon that might prevent viewing of lighter meteors.
There are also a few lunar and solar eclipses. I don’t know about you, but I have no idea the difference between a lunar and solar eclipse. I didn’t even know there was a difference! Turns out a Solar Eclpise is what I think of when I think of an eclipse.
| Solar Eclipse |
Solar Eclipse for 2013 should happen on May 10th and November 3rd.
| Lunar Eclipse |
Lunar Eclipse for 2013 should happen on April 25th, May 25th, and October 18th.
Next step will be learning the constellations! I have the big dipper down...but that's about it.
How fun, you should go check out one of the first Friday shows at Dom's work. I only know a handful of constellations, but I'd like to learn more!
ReplyDeleteDown at the planetarium?? Is THAT where he works!? If that's the place I really want to go check it out. I was looking it up the other day but I didn't see any recent information on the site.
DeleteYes, that's the place. I'll ask him about upcoming shows, maybe we can join you. There's also a planetarium out on Bainbridge Island. And, I think the Olympic Astronomy Club is pretty active in our area: I know that during the summer they host star parties up at Hurricane Ridge!
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