Even as a life on Earth continues to get worse, great things are happening in space. If the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn was lost last night, the sky is absolved you to be remitted and given another thing to look at: TThe rain of urchin meteorites will reach its peak tonight in the northern hemisphere.
Here is a short summary of tonight’s celestial show, and what you need to know see it illuminate a sky near you.
What is the rain of urchin meteorites?
Not to be confused with the rain of geminid meteorites—which culminated earlier this month (event only activated December full astronomical calendar, although they are expected to be sporadically visible through Sunday) —tThe srsids are an annual event that race across the sky around the winter solstice. They are not as numerous as the Geminids, which reached a maximum from December 13 to 14 with 120 meteors per hour, according to Space.com.
The srsids do not generate as much hype, mainly because they only arrive in bursts of between 5 and 10 at the most. Still, they are still glowing fiery rocks when you manage to catch them and sometimes generate more than 100 meteors per hour, although it is very rare. according to EarthSky.
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Meteorologist Joe Rao explains that the srsids originate near the Little Bear:
The srsids are so named because they appear to emerge from the vicinity of the bright orange star Kochab, in the constellation of the Little Bear, the little bear. Kochab is the brighter of the two outer stars in the bowl The Little Bear (the other is Pherkad), who seem to march in a circle like sentinels around Polaris, the North Star. But even though Geminids are at the top of the list of “must-see” meteorite observers, Ursids are usually at the bottom and usually pay little attention, except for more meteorite observers. assiduous.
As EarthSky points out, srsids are a more recent phenomenon and were only discovered in the 20th century. You will need a dark sky to catch them.
How to see the Ursids
I will not divert you: It will help you massively if you are in the northern hemisphere; people in the southern hemisphere will not have much chance of seeing the show.
There are no hidden secrets to have a good view. Ayou really will be warm clothes and darkened sky, away from all light pollution. Be prepared to stay out late too EarthSky Notes:
If you look from a place in the northern hemisphere at the time of the solstice, you will find the Big Dipper and the star Kochab in the north-northeast around 1:00 local time. That is, the time of night you will want to start seeing this meteor shower.
Those of the mnorthern latitudes, like in Canada, will be easier to spot srsids, but you’ll need to do some star mapping to catch them full splendor. As EarthSky writes:
From latitudes far north (for example, in Canada) is the Little Bear circumpolar (out all night). From there, at nightfall, you will find the star Kochab below Polaris, the North Star. Kochab (and all the Little Bear stars) orbits the Polaris counterclockwise all night, with this star reaching its peak night during the hours before dawn.
All this comes with the warning you need to stay outside in the cold to look at the sky, maybe for a few hours. But this year you have exceeded yourself too much. Just grab a warm coat. Tthe fresh air will do you good.