Watch the skies tonight! Hey folks! Check your meteor calendars! Tonight marks the next major event of 2012, with the Lyrid meteor shower. Best viewed from the northern hemisphere, look to the northeast after midnight until dawn. The meteors will peak then, radiating off the east side of the bright star in Lyra up there (although you could see them anywhere in the sky). Here’s a complete guide from EarthSky on what to look for tonight. Best of all? No moon to get in the way! jtotheizzoe: Meteor Showers 2012 A calendar of all the major meteor showers taking place in 2012 that I drew up. Of course, this isn’t all of the meteor events this year. Only the ones with the best chance of being visible. I chose only events with a Zenith Hourly Rate (ZHR, the number of peak events per hour) above 10. You should also consider the moon phase for that date, which I did not include. How to use this:  The date on the left is the early morning after midnight on the day it will peak (so “October 7” is between midnight and sunrise on the morning of the 7th).  The constellation represents the point in the sky that the shower will “originate” from.  Choose someplace dark, away from city lights, and bring a blanket and a friend. Enjoy. To calculate the sunrise/sunset for your area on a specific date, go here. Many more details about each event can be found in this summary from EarthSky. Some events will favor the North or South Hemispheres, but such is life. Feel free to distribute freely! (Link to hi-res version)
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Watch the skies tonight!

Hey folks! Check your meteor calendars! Tonight marks the next major event of 2012, with the Lyrid meteor shower. Best viewed from the northern hemisphere, look to the northeast after midnight until dawn. The meteors will peak then, radiating off the east side of the bright star in Lyra up there (although you could see them anywhere in the sky).

Here’s a complete guide from EarthSky on what to look for tonight. Best of all? No moon to get in the way!

jtotheizzoe:

Meteor Showers 2012

A calendar of all the major meteor showers taking place in 2012 that I drew up.

Of course, this isn’t all of the meteor events this year. Only the ones with the best chance of being visible. I chose only events with a Zenith Hourly Rate (ZHR, the number of peak events per hour) above 10. You should also consider the moon phase for that date, which I did not include.

How to use this: 

  1. The date on the left is the early morning after midnight on the day it will peak (so “October 7” is between midnight and sunrise on the morning of the 7th). 
  2. The constellation represents the point in the sky that the shower will “originate” from. 
  3. Choose someplace dark, away from city lights, and bring a blanket and a friend.
  4. Enjoy.

To calculate the sunrise/sunset for your area on a specific date, go here. Many more details about each event can be found in this summary from EarthSky. Some events will favor the North or South Hemispheres, but such is life.

Feel free to distribute freely!

(Link to hi-res version)