Latest news with #Earthsky
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Meteor shower set to peak in early May. Here's what to know.
It's almost time to look up again. What's known as the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is just about to peak. While the meteor shower is known for the display it puts on in the southern hemisphere, it's still capable of dazzling above the equator with a show of about 10 to 30 meteors per hour. The Eta Aquariids appear in May and October of each year, according to What's more this particular meteor shower has a famous "parent." When can you see the shower, and when does it peak? Here's what to know. The Eta Aquariid meteor shower will be active from April 19 to May 28 but people can see the peak of the shower on the mornings of May 5 and 6. It's best to get up super early to see the meteor shower, especially during the peak. The Earthsky website states that people should be looking at the sky in the pre-dawn hours, around 3 a.m. before sunrise. While the peak of the shower is the best time to see the event, stargazers will be able to catch a glimpse of some meteors even when the shower isn't peaking. In a past interview with USA Today Network, Tim Brothers, Massachusetts Institute of Technology technical instructor and observatory manager, told Wicked Local that seeing meteor showers is possible with the naked eye, but with any case of stargazing, it's much better if you're using a good telescope or a pair of binoculars. Meteors are essentially pieces of space rock, which are chunks of big comets, according to Meteor showers are "basically debris from the tails of comets," Richard Binzel, an MIT planetary sciences professor, told Wicked Local in a past interview. The parent comet for the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is the well known, Halley's Comet, which was last viewable from Earth in 1986. Halley's Comet will be back in view from Earth in 2061. This article originally appeared on An Eta Aquariid meteor shower is coming. Here's when it peaks
USA Today
18-04-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Lyrid meteor shower 2025: Where and when to view
Lyrid meteor shower 2025: Where and when to view Sky watchers will be treated to something special as the Lyrids meteor shower reaches its peak. The Lyrids are expected to peak April 21 and April 22, according to NASA. On those nights, the moon will be at 40% brightness, which may interfere with viewing, according to the American Meteor Society. It may be best to view the meteor shower on the evening of April 21 – just before the waning crescent moon rises. In the best conditions, the Lyrids average 10 to 15 meteors an hour, but it can bombard the sky with up to 100, according to NASA. Where to view in the night sky Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. The American Meteor Society describes the Lyrids as a "medium-strength shower." Though the Lyrids bring fast and bright meteors, they're not as plentiful as showers like the Perseids in August, according to NASA. "Lyrids don't tend to leave long, glowing dust trains behind them as they streak through the Earth's atmosphere, but they can produce the occasional bright flash called a fireball," NASA says. Parent comet of Lyrid meteor shower Lyrids are pieces of debris from Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. In mid-April each year, the Earth runs into the stream of debris from the comet, which causes the meteor shower. First sightings of the Lyrids The first recorded sighting of a Lyrid meteor shower goes back to 687 B.C. in China. Observers there said the Lyrids were "falling like rain." Earthsky said that in 1982, American observers saw an outburst of nearly 100 Lyrid meteors an hour. Japanese observers saw about 100 meteors an hour in 1945, and Greek observers saw that number in 1922. What are meteors made of? Meteors are space rocks that are as small as a grain of sand or small rock. As they enter Earth's atmosphere, they create a tail of debris as they disintegrate. Meteorites that have made their way to the Earth's surface are small pieces of an asteroid. Some have been traced back to Mars and the moon. CONTRIBUTING Doyle Rice and Jim Sergent SOURCE NASA, Sky & Telescope, EarthSky, and This story was updated to add new information.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New comet spotted: How to see SWAN25F
The Brief A new comet, nicknamed SWAN25F, was given its official designation as C/2025 F2. The comet was co-discovered by Vladimir Bezugly and Michael Mattiazzo. The comet is best viewed looking toward the east-northeastern horizon just before sunrise. Attention sky watchers! A new comet has been officially announced and you might miss your chance to see it before it could potentially get burned up by the sun. Dig deeper The comet, nicknamed SWAN25F, was officially designated as C/2025 F2 by the Minor Planet Center on April 8, according to The backstory SWAN was co-discovered by Vladimir Bezugly from Ukraine and Michael Mattiazzo from Australia. The comet was nicknamed after the SWAN Instrument which was used to discover it. The best way to view the comet is to look toward the east-northeastern horizon just before sunrise. Binoculars or a telescope will improve your chances of seeing it, Earthsky advised. For those who are avid star gazers, look to the star Alpha Andromedae, or Alpheratz, the brightest of the four stars in the Great Square. The comet will pass fairly close to Alpha Andromedae on April 13, 2025. What's next In a few weeks, the comet will make its closest approach to the sun and, if it survives, it could be seen during sunsets beginning in May. The Source Information for this article was gathered from and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory website. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
Observer
14-03-2025
- Science
- Observer
Stargazers marvel at 'Blood Moon', rare total lunar eclipse
Belo Horizonte, Brazil: Stargazers across a swathe of the world marvelled at a dramatic red "Blood Moon" during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of Friday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth's shadow crept across the Moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the Moon glowed a reddish colour. This is because the only sunlight that reaches the Moon is "bent and scattered" as it goes through Earth's atmosphere, said Daniel Brown, an astronomer at Britain's Nottingham Trent University. It is similar to how the light can become pink or red during sunrises or sunsets on Earth, he added. The more clouds and dust there are in Earth's atmosphere, the redder the Moon appears. Brown called the lunar eclipse, which will last around six hours, "an amazing way to see the solar system in action". The period when the Moon is completely in Earth's shadow — called the totality — lasts just over an hour. This event has been dubbed the "Blood Worm Moon", after one of the names given to March full moons by some Native Americans. Brown dislikes the term "Blood Moon", saying it has a negative connotation and "originates from a misinformed theory of the end of the world". But not all societies took a negative view of these celestial shows. Some people in Africa traditionally viewed a lunar eclipse as a conflict between the Sun and Moon that could be resolved by people "demonstrating on Earth how we work together" and laying old feuds aside, Brown said. He called it "an amazing story that should inspire us all". It is the first total lunar eclipse since 2022, but there will be another one this September. Thursday's event is a "Micromoon", meaning the Moon is the farthest away it gets from Earth, making it appear about seven per cent smaller than normal, according to the website Earthsky. This is the opposite of a "Supermoon", as was seen during 2022's lunar eclipse. Some stargazers will be in for another treat later this month — a partial solar eclipse, which is when the Moon blocks out the Sun's light on Earth. This eclipse will be visible on March 29 in eastern Canada, parts of Europe, northern Russia and northwest Africa. Viewing even a partial solar eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous and people are advised to use special eclipse glasses or pinhole projectors.
