[Dave Hancox]

Lyrids meteor shower max is on the 22/04/12. Rates up to 18/hour expected but occasional busts to 100/hour have occurred in the past look in the NE for the constellation Lyra and the bright star Vega they should radiate from this point. after sunset. It is said they are bright meteors, Chance for a capture on camera maybe. The moon will only have 2% of its disc illuminated and getting lower in the sky so all we need is the weather to play ball I for one will be having ago if I get the chance.

SPA Meteor Section. http://www.popastro....owers/index.php

Some observation forms and viewing tips from the SPA are here. http://www.popastro....loads/index.php

Earth Sky Article http://earthsky.org/...eor-shower-2012


Please put any reports in this thread.

[Dave Hancox]

Not expected to peak for a few days but it has started. I will sticky this thread until it is by.

Chart and further info also at Spaceweather.com http://www.spaceweat...ids/lyrids.html

[Dave Hancox]

This weekend, NASA scientists, amateur astronomers, and an astronaut on board the International Space Station will attempt the first-ever 3D photography of meteors from Earth and space.


http://science.nasa....2/18apr_lyrids/

[Dave Hancox]

Live Meteor Detection Radar from Meteorscan.com - http://www.meteorsca...eteor-live.html

Looks like light winds and about 50% cloud cover at the moment for early hours Sunday morning.

Jodrell Bank Meteor Radar Page - http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/meteor/

[Ed.]

Wow! tremendous work and probably some equally tremendous results, cheers, do keep us updated thanks

[Alastair McBeath]

And for those who end up clouded-out, or who can't observe for whatever reason, you can see how other visual observers have been doing via the International Meteor Organization's "live" Lyrids webpage at:

http://www.imo.net/live/lyrids2012/ .

Good luck and clear skies for tonight!

Alastair McBeath,
Meteor Director, Society for Popular Astronomy.

[John Mason]

Was fishing Borth Beach 1100-0700, and clocked three shooting stars heading WNW and one NW, but cloud and showers obscured matters quite a bit.

Cheers - John

[Dave Hancox]

Max late Sat early hours Sun, cloud not looking good for a trip out here but will keep watch till about 1am.


Link to Cambridgeshire skycam http://www.beskeen.c...allskycam.shtml

[Bazmundo]

I'm going to bob out for a couple of hours either side of midnight and set up the camera for a vigil (precip depending!), not hoping for much but a nice trail round the back of patchy low cloud would do (a bit like the one in Jaws).

UoHerts all-sky camera UK network: http://star.herts.ac...y/index.php?c=2
Kiruna all-sky camera: http://www.irf.se//O...l-sky_sp_camera

[Dave Hancox]

95% cloud cover here at the moment.

[Bazmundo]

Only visually saw two, cloud was patchy above me but still about 7/8ths and kept washing out the exposures. Not checked all of the images yet, but one of the ones I saw whilst on the hoof was a corker across the SE quarter - UoHerts Niton camera caught it (lower left): http://star.herts.ac...56039.49001&c=3

[Dave Hancox]

Nice try Glyn, clouded out here looking at the charts about 30 per hour just before midnight and down to about 25 just after if i'm reading the graph right - http://www.imo.net/live/lyrids2012/

[Alastair McBeath]

Clouded-out with rain on and off all night here in NE England, same as for the last week; widespread minor flooding locally by this morning, as the ground's so waterlogged after endless rain in recent years (drought? what drought?!). Nice to see someone had better luck (relatively!) elsewhere.

Not sure about the accuracy of the live IMO data as yet. The peak ZHR of ~30 is based on very little data so far, so the numbers could be inflated. Hopefully, there'll be more results coming through over the next couple of days to clarify things.

Baz, not sure about the Niton image at 23:45:36 showing a meteor in the lower left. It looks to me as if the trail continues into the following frame (timed at 23:47:37) further round to the northeast (upper left). That would likely suggest an aircraft or satellite instead. Or am I just looking at the wrong thing?

I checked back an hour through the Niton images, and did find a bright probable Lyrid candidate by the brick structure to the mid-lower left in the 22:45:04 image, at: http://star.herts.ac...56039.44796&c=3 . Could this be what you spotted instead?

Alastair McBeath,
Meteor Director, Society for Popular Astronomy.

[Lightningfox92]

I tried to see some but didn't as it clouded over and rained but I did see the international space station and another satellite, planets and stars.

All with the naked eye

[Bazmundo]

Alastair McBeath, on 22 April 2012 - 14:35, said:

Baz, not sure about the Niton image at 23:45:36 showing a meteor in the lower left. It looks to me as if the trail continues into the following frame (timed at 23:47:37) further round to the northeast (upper left). That would likely suggest an aircraft or satellite instead. Or am I just looking at the wrong thing?

I checked back an hour through the Niton images, and did find a bright probable Lyrid candidate by the brick structure to the mid-lower left in the 22:45:04 image, at: http://star.herts.ac...56039.44796&c=3 . Could this be what you spotted instead?

Alastair McBeath,
Meteor Director, Society for Popular Astronomy.

I see what you mean Alastair, and I wasn't sure about that particular image myself as I hadn't found a corroborating shot in any of the archives of the other operational cameras. However, what I saw was at 0045BST (checked my phone) and was doing a good impression of a bright meteor at least.

Checking again the Bayfordbury image at that time clearly identifies what's in the first image I linked to as an aircraft, quite right and well spotted Alastair. I still can't find anything at 2345z (or 0045BST) but Bayfordbury specifies UTC whereas Guernsey and Niton don't. Are they also in UTC? I've checked an hour either side anyway, and now I'm thinking I might have been seeing things..

[Lightningfox92]

I was wondering, if I was watching the meteor shower from Devon and a friend was watching from the midlands or further afield etc, is it possible to see the exact same meteor from any location?

I would guess yes as they are high up but they are in the same direction so one day we should try it. We can watch and be on the phone to a friend/relative who Is in a different part of the uk and see if we see a meteor at the same time as it may be the same?

I would be interested to read an answer as its always something that I have wondered.

[Alastair McBeath]

Baz: In theory, all the Herts University cameras should be running to UTC, but this isn't stated clearly, hence why I thought to check an hour back (I also checked an hour ahead as well, but it clouded-up at Niton and there was nothing obviously meteoric anyway). Of course, a visually bright meteor doesn't always record photographically, and I'm not sure what the minimum brightness is for the Herts Uni cameras. I assume somewhere around the minimum fireball brightness level, magnitude -3 or so. Plus of course there are short gaps between successive images into which a bright meteor could easily vanish. I'd guess you were just lucky, and the cameras weren't!

Lightningfox: Yes meteor triangulation is possible from sites that are separated by, say, 100 km or more. Both observers/cameras need to be aimed towards one another in the sky. Typically, only the brighter meteors will be spotted from both places (say magnitude +2 or brighter). I've been involved with several attempts at such meteor triangulation from the UK in the past, and it's been a uniformly frustrating business. If one place has clear skies, you can guarantee the other won't! The last real British success was back in the late 1970s, when Robert McNaught, now at Siding Spring but then my equivalent as JAS Meteor Director, set up a system of cameras across Scotland with some pals from St Andrews University when they all went home in the summer vacation. They bagged over a hundred trails (I forget how many were of the same meteors) across their Perseid campaign that year. Unfortunately, the data were never fully analysed (it was all done by hand and simple pocket calculators then, of course - a tedious and time-consuming effort).

Alastair McBeath,
Meteor Director, Society for Popular Astronomy.

[Cliff]

Unfortuantely just been wall to wall cloud here the last 2 or 3 nights so no chance of getting out there and watching the Lyrids sadly. Hopefully get out tonight if it stays clear albeit a lesser show is likely to be on offer.

[Lightningfox92]

Cool, thanks Alastair