(meteorobs) Lyrid Meteor Shower April 22/23

[Paul Zeller]

 I had very clear skies from the suburbs on the morning of Thursday, April
23 and observed the Lyrid shower for a little over two hours total. I
transcribed the notes I made on a digital recorder this afternoon and typed
out this report. It was freezing but all in all it was an interesting show.
There were long periods of low activity along with short periods of more
intense activity, and the Lyrids I saw were often bright! Here's what I saw
under less-than-ideal skies.


Begin: 3:10 AM EDT (7:10 UT April 23)  End: 5:30 AM EDT (9:30 UT April 23)

 Location: Backyard patio at home.

 Longitude = 86° 03’ 01” W

 Latitude 39° 39’ 35” N

 Elevation = 255 meters.

 Observed Showers:

 Anthelion (ANT) 220° -16°

 Lyrid (LYR) 272° +33°

 April Rho Cygnids (AEC) 311° +43°

 (No plotting tonight, only visual counting.)

 DETAILS::

 Period 1:

 Time: 3:10 AM EDT - 4:12 AM EDT (7:10 - 8:12 UT April 23).

 Field: 240° +20° (Looked South between Corona Borealis, Serpens Caput, and
Hercules.)

 Teff: 1.033, F: 1.000,  LM: 5.14

 Meteor 1 - 3:11 AM (7:11 UT), ANT, -2.0 mag., Speed = 2, Wake seen, No
train, yellow color. Seemed to come from Eastern Virgo headed north toward
Corona Borealis. It was a short but bright flaring meteor.

 Meteor 2 - 3:46 AM ? (7:46 UT?), Sporadic, +3.0 mag., Speed = 5, No wake,
No train, No color. This meteor zipped very very quickly through Southern
Hercules roughly north to south. I didn’t record the time it was seen!

 Meteor 3 - 3:56 AM (7:56 UT), LYR, +3.0 mag., Speed = 4, Wake seen, No
train, no color. This one zipped by near Arcturus but definitely looked to
be a Lyrid. First one of the night!

 Meteor 4 - 4:02 AM (8:02 UT), LYR, -1.0 mag., Speed = 3, Short wake seen,
no train, whitish color. This was a VERY nice Lyrid that just flashed from
Southern Lyra to the area of Arcturus, which could just be seen over the
roof of the house from where I sat. Unfortunately it also disappeared
behind the roof of the house! I didn’t catch the end of it.

 Period 2:

 Time: 4:28 AM EDT - 5:30 AM EDT (8:28 - 9:30 UT April 23).

 Field: 300° +45° (Looked East-Northeast near Western Cygnus.)

 Teff: 1.000 , F: 1.000,  LM: 5.10

 Meteor 1 - 4:33 AM (8:33 UT), LYR, -2.0 mag., Speed = 3, Wake seen that
lasted a fraction of a second, No train, Yellowish color. This bright
meteor zipped down near Altair, Sagitta, and Delphinus. It was a doozy!

 Meteor 2 - 4:52 AM (8:52 UT), LYR, +1.0 mag., Speed = 3, No wake seen, No
train, no color or whitish in color.

 Meteor 3 - 4:59 AM (8:59 UT), Sporadic, +3.0 mag., Speed = 4, Wake seen
briefly, No train, No noticeable color. Whizzed up from Aquila and ended
between Cygnus and Lyra.

 Meteor 4 - 5:03 AM (9:03 UT), LYR, +1.0 mag., Speed  = 4, Short wake seen,
No train, No noticeable color. Zipped from Delphinus down to about Epsilon
Pegasi, which could just barely be seen over the roof of the house.

 Meteor 5 - 5:11 AM (9:11 UT), Sporadic, +2.0 mag., Speed = 4, Short wake
seen, No train, No noticeable color. This one zipped up from the Southeast
from Aquila to Ophiuchus.

 Meteor 6 - 5:29 AM (9:29 UT), LYR, +2.0 mag., Speed = 4, No wake seen, No
train, No color. This meteor was deep in the Northeast sky near the area of
Cepheus and Cassiopeia.


Paul Zeller

Indianapolis, IN, USA
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