Waiting for Lyrid Meteor Rain 23 April 2018

After two months more without the event of a meteor shower, this April there will be Lyrid ready to be observed. But, do you know what is a meteor shower? Is it dangerous and will be catastrophic? Let's take a look before watching.

Simply put, a meteor shower is an event in which many meteors we will see at a time, usually counted per hour. These meteors come from the debris left by a comet.

When a comet approaches the Sun, its tail will leave small space rock debris along its orbital path. Well, at certain times, our Earth's orbit takes it across the former orbits of the comet's orbit. It also makes the space rocks left comets will be interested in Earth's gravity, then into the atmosphere as a meteor.

Because these space rocks are so numerous, they are referred to as meteor showers. Even so, they are so small that when we enter the Earth's atmosphere, it burns out before it reaches the Earth's surface. In other words, the event of a meteor shower is very safe to observe.

In the eye's eye, we will see meteors darting rapidly across the sky, which usually has a single point of occurrence called the radian point. Well, the point radians of a Lyrid meteor shower that we will observe this month is in the constellation Lyra.

The constellation Lyra, at the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower on April 23, 2018, at 00.00 local time, will be in the northeast direction. Lyra will continue to move forth to the west because of the Earth's rotation. To find many meteors, just find Lyra's constellation.

According to Space.com, there will be 15 to 20 meteors per hour at the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower. This year 2018, Lyrid meteor shower also coincides with the Moon phase of the first half, so the Moon will set at midnight, making the sky after midnight will be dark.

Yes, meteor shower observations need dark sky conditions, so the best observations are advised from midnight and away from light pollution. For those of you who live in urban areas, it is better to plan a trip to a minimally light pollution area if you want to observe Lyrid. Because observation in urban areas is not recommended.

EarthSky says, Lyrid meteor shower comes from the debris Comet C / 1861 G1 (Thatcher), a long-period comet orbiting the Sun about once every 415 years. This comet once reached the closest distance from the Sun in 1861 and will return near the Sun again in 2276.

What should be prepared to observe the meteor shower? Because we'll be watching it after midnight, then we need a jacket or warm clothes, a lounge chair to observe the sky and get your friends to watch together.

You do not need a telescope to observe the Lyrid meteor shower. Small telescope field of view will only make the view of the sky to be narrow, while the observation of the meteor shower requires a wide view to all corners of the sky because meteors can appear in all directions.

So, congratulate the meteor hunt!