Anyone doing better than one?

Hi all, 

I hope all is well with you & those close to you. 

With a lack of traffic on the our roads; aircraft in our skies; and no Moon to wash out the stars; one might assume that the 2020 Lyrids Meteor shower could be a really good one. 

With peak activity estimated to fall between 21 / 22 April I stayed up late in the hopes that I would observe a magnificent shower. I started observing 02:20 IST from my back garden, which faces in an Eastward direction, so Lyra was perfectly positioned.

It was quite a surreal experience seeing the 'Summer Triangle' again as I associate it June and July with Cygnus flying high above me. But this morning she was on her side flying North - it was like something out of the twilight zone!

Anyway, I made myself comfortable on the deck ready to take in the Lyrids. Unfortunately, by 03:15, all I took in was a Lyrid...one! 

Of course, I would have liked more, but as Dostoevsky reminds us 'Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn't calculate his happiness.' With this in mind, I'll be grateful for what I saw even if I'm a little worse for wear today.

 In terms of what I observed, the meteor blazed across the sky at 02:35 IST. It travelled from approximately five degrees NW of Vega and reached Sadr! It had a bright tail, and it was a stunning sight. That's it for me, what about others... Anyone doing better than one? 

Clear skies to all, 

Darren. 

Hi Darren.
I am sorry for your difficulties observing the Lyrids.
It has been my personal opinion for some years now that the term Meteor Shower ought to be completely obsolete.
There simply is no such thing!
We never have had the situation of seeing 2 meteors at the same time in our skies.
Just because there have been instances when there hundreds or thousands of them way back in history, the astronomical community seemed to have latched onto such a term.

If we ever see a meteor shower the proper way, I might just change my opinion. But only for once!

Best regards,

Aubrey.

I think it was 2017 I had perfect skies for the Lyrids Darren, and was also disappointed. Maybe 5 in 90 minutes. Since then I've read that its reputation is based on a few outbursts and generally displays quite minor activity. Would you be prepared to estimate the brightness of the one you saw, relative to Vega? There's a slight chance it might have showed up on my camera.

Finbarr.

Very good point Aubrey! I'll keep that in mind going forward.

In terms of estimating the magnitude, I reckon at one point it was brighter than Vega, but the colour was different...not bluish. Please bear in mind, this is my first time to estimate the magnitude of an object in the night sky. It definitely was bright, and I did say 'wow' when I saw it fly across the sky. 

If you do manage to see it on your camera, I'd be keen to hear what you make of it Finbarr. 

For now I'll say good night, as I'm taking an early one tonight!

All the best, 

Darren. 

Hi Darren

I'm also sorry to read of your difficulties with the Lyrids. Our society chair was out last night, and she said she saw seven in total, which is not too bad in the appalling light pollution of Belfast.

I agree with Aubrey, the term shower is obselete, and indeed misleading, but, it is possible to see a good display. The Skelligs star party of 2015 was held just after the height of the Perseids "shower", and quite a few went down a couple of days early just to see them. And we got a really good display, most saw well over 100 meteors within the space of a few hours. The total number seen for any given person probably had a lot to do with the amount of liquid refreshments consumed.

It has often been said that the three big disappointments in amateur astronomy are Mars, comets and meteor showers, but, don't give up and you might just get lucky.

Vega was visible the whole time from 2.30-2.40 on my camera Darren, but no sign of a bright meteor. No surprise really, the geometry would be quite different given the 100 or more miles between us.

Clear skies,
Finbarr.