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Original poster

Lyrid Meteor Shower

35 replies

Taddda · 22/04/2020 00:16

Is anyone going to try and watch/see?

They're saying about 5am over the UK, hopefully with excellent visibility (Really hoping to catch a photo!)

OP posts:
Original poster
Taddda · 22/04/2020 00:39

Has anyone caught it before? (Just incase I'm wasting my time trying!)

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RUSU92 · 22/04/2020 00:53

Elon Musk’s satellites should be passing at about 4am too. I was going to stay up as I thought it was 2/3am but now I’m thinking I should have got some sleep and set an alarm!!

RUSU92 · 22/04/2020 00:56

I’ve pumped up our big camping air bed and brought down the sleeping bags, going to wake the kids if there’s anything to see. Wish I didn’t live in a town though as I bet the view will be better out in the sticks.

We visited Yorkshire a couple of years ago to see the Perseid meteors from near the moors, as I thought we’d get good dark skies there. It was fab - about 1am we saw loads of them.

Also had some spectacular skies on the Welsh coast last summer. Oh to travel again Sad

WaktiWapnasi · 22/04/2020 01:07

We saw the satellites this evening at a out 8.30pm. Might set an alarm now for the meteor shower, but won't it be quite light by 5am?

CloakedRed · 22/04/2020 01:10

I thought it was between 2am-6am? I’m up and watching and waiting.

CloakedRed · 22/04/2020 01:12

Do we need to look in a particular direction? Silly question but I keep thinking I might be looking the wrong way or will they be very obvious?

notimagain · 22/04/2020 01:12

Good luck with this - FWIW if you miss this thing this AM ( due to the alarm not going off or clouds) it's worth being aware that the regular meteor showers are generally occurring for a few days either side of the predicted peak date/time that the mainstream press tend to highlight..

Exact details vary from shower to shower, guide for 2020 showers here:

www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/meteors-and-meteorites

CloakedRed · 22/04/2020 01:16

Thanks notimagain that’s useful.

notimagain · 22/04/2020 01:16

I thought it was between 2am-6am? I’m up and watching and waiting.

CloakedRed - that's exactly what I would do if it wasn't cloudy here - the popular Press tend to give the impression you can set your watch by these things which is completely untrue..

Clear Skies..

CloakedRed · 22/04/2020 01:17

All I need now is a deckchair Smile

CloakedRed · 22/04/2020 01:18

SE and skies quite clear

Spudina · 22/04/2020 01:28

@CloakedRed there is a cool app my husband downloaded. You point your phone at the stars and it tells you the stars and planet names. The lyrid shower was on it. Might be worth a try?

notimagain · 22/04/2020 01:39

TBH you don't need to be that "accurate" in where you look..the radiant - the point in the sky where the shooting stars appear to have travelled from - will be low in the East, the meteors themselves could be anywhere in the Eastern sky..

Good luck, hope you get to see something decent - forecasting just how active these showers are going to be ( as in meteors per hour) is a bit difficult to say the least..

TheSparklyPussycat · 22/04/2020 01:39

notimagain do you know of a list of meteor showers for this year, which includes the corresponding phase of the moon? One reason this current shower should be easier to see is that the moon is new ie not there in the sky

CloakedRed · 22/04/2020 02:49

Nothing to report yet. Stars are very beautiful in the clear sky though.

Original poster
Taddda · 22/04/2020 02:53

I'm glad I checked back, I read 5am but will be looking out at 2-

Heads up if anyone spots anything....Grin

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Stronger76 · 22/04/2020 06:37

The perseids are more spectacular later on in the year - August I think. Only saw one shooting star this morning and froze my tits off in the process. Didn't see any satellites either.

notimagain · 22/04/2020 07:36

notimagain do you know of a list of meteor showers for this year, which includes the corresponding phase of the moon?

Good question..I know the old fashioned paper almanacs that used to carry this stuff sometimes stated "Moon interferes" if appropriate...I'll have a look round later today see if I can find anything, in meantime maybe this diary might help a little bit:

britastro.org/observing

stronger - sorry you didn't see more..like comets these things are difficult to predict.

Original poster
Taddda · 22/04/2020 09:05

Nope me neither, I was asleep Flowers

Thanks for the info about the others on here, going to see if we can catch sight at some point.

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Original poster
Taddda · 22/04/2020 09:08

(I have no idea why flowers popped up there- spooky..)

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squashyhat · 22/04/2020 10:18

I was up between one and two am and saw precisely two - one of which was in a completely different part of the sky Sad

CloakedRed · 22/04/2020 13:02

3.30am and I saw 3 in a little skittish cluster Grin. Very happy with that!

Are there more predicted tonight?

RUSU92 · 22/04/2020 13:24

I saw a couple of really bright meteors and then the satellites at about 4am. I’m usually up late anyway, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch to stay up a couple of extra hours!! Was nice to spend some time outside for a change. Luckily we’ve been doing a bit of gardening recently so it was quite nice to reap the benefits.

Original poster
Taddda · 22/04/2020 14:18

@RUSU92 That sounds great!

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RUSU92 · 22/04/2020 15:28

@Taddda it was! Woke up the kids but one of them decided she’d rather stay in bed Grin Other one sat out for half an hour and then gave in so it was just me and the cat Grin

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