Lyrid Meteor

About Lyrid meteor:

• According to NASA the first recorded sighting of a Lyrid meteor shower goes back to 687 BC by the Chinese.
• It is best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere during the dark hours.
• Meteor showers are usually named after a star or constellation that is close to where the meteors appear to originate in the sky.
• The Lyrid shower gets its name from the constellation Lyra.
• The last Lyrid outburst was in 1982 when 75 meteors per hour were recorded by observers in Florida.

What is Meteoroid, Meteor and Meteorite?

• It is an object in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids.
• When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors.
• When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it’s called a meteorite.
• What is the significance of Meteors?
• It helps in understanding early conditions and processes in the solar system’s history.
• These include the age and composition of different planetary building blocks, the temperatures achieved at the surfaces and interiors of asteroids, and the degree to which materials were shocked by impacts in the past.

 

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Q1) What is constellation?

A constellation is a group of stars that are perceived to form a recognizable pattern or shape when viewed from Earth. Each constellation is defined by a specific set of stars, and their positions relative to each.

Source: Lyrid meteor shower peaks this weekend: How to watch the ‘falling stars’?