The best time to observe the oldest meteor shower in Vietnam

According to a representative of the Vietnam Astronomy and Cosmology Association (VACA), Lyrids takes place from April 16 to 25 every year. In particular, the peak of the meteor shower falls on the night of April 22 and early morning of April 23, and this is also an ideal time to observe this phenomenon.

Before and after the above time period, viewers can still see some meteors from the Battle of Lyrids, but in small numbers.

Video: April 2020 Lyrids meteor shower

We can observe this phenomenon with the naked eye, but what is needed is a cloudless sky, low pollution and a comfortable viewing position. If it is overcast, cloudy, and rainy, it will be difficult to observe this phenomenon.

Experts recommend “hunting” for a meteor shower to be patient because it usually lasts from one to several hours. When viewing, you should lie on your back, looking at the sky around the constellation will see more shooting stars. Before that, observers also need to prepare warm clothes and necessary tools to protect their health and avoid getting cold by the night dew.

The meteor shower occurs because the Earth enters the dust that is the remnants of comets. Dust particles of different sizes plunge into the atmosphere at great velocities creating shock waves. The shock wave compresses the front air particles, causing the temperature to be as high as thousands of degrees Celsius and igniting, creating light trails at an altitude of 60-100 km (from the ground up). People call those little streaks of light shooting stars.

According to astronomers, a meteor shower is a collection of a large number of meteors falling at the same time of year. When comets enter the sun’s orbit, they explode into small, cold plumes of debris scattered around the sun’s orbit. If the Earth moves through this dust plume, we will be lucky to witness a brilliant meteor shower.

The Lyrid meteor shower originates from Comet Thatcher, discovered by New York amateur astronomer AEThatcher in 1861.

This comet orbits the Sun every 415 years, and about every April 22, the Earth will pass through the dusty tail of the comet. It is the burning dust and rock fragments that create the spectacular meteor shower.

Lyrid is the first meteor shower recorded in human history, ancient Chinese literature describes it from 2,500 years ago.