The headline on AccuWeather's web site promised a real eye-opener: "Lyrid fireballs to glow across sky during Friday night peak of annual meteor shower."
The annual display of debris from a comet's tail as it reaches this part of the universe may indeed give more than a few skywatchers around the country some real thrills, but the truth, alas, is more lurid than Lyrid. AccuWeather and Weather.com give the region only a fair chance of seeing the display because of cloud cover. Watching will be further hampered by light pollution. NJ.com has posted maps that show areas that are less affected by light pollution and where you have a better chance of seeing the celestial show.
The meteors are called "Lyrids" because they appear to come from around the constellation Lyra in the northeast. A Lyrid shower can produce about 20 meteors per hour, according to AccuWeather, or up to 18 meteors per hour, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The showers could start as early as 11 p.m. Friday, with best viewing reportedly between 2 a.m. and dawn on Saturday.
The annual display of debris from a comet's tail as it reaches this part of the universe may indeed give more than a few skywatchers around the country some real thrills, but the truth, alas, is more lurid than Lyrid. AccuWeather and Weather.com give the region only a fair chance of seeing the display because of cloud cover. Watching will be further hampered by light pollution. NJ.com has posted maps that show areas that are less affected by light pollution and where you have a better chance of seeing the celestial show.
The meteors are called "Lyrids" because they appear to come from around the constellation Lyra in the northeast. A Lyrid shower can produce about 20 meteors per hour, according to AccuWeather, or up to 18 meteors per hour, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The showers could start as early as 11 p.m. Friday, with best viewing reportedly between 2 a.m. and dawn on Saturday.
Comments
Post a Comment