Meteor Activity Outlook for April 14-20, 2006

With the arrival of April, observers in the northern hemisphere still suffer with low sporadic rates, especially during the evening hours. Observers south of the equator will witness increasing sporadic rates with the maximum activity occurring in July. The overall meteor activity is
better than March due to the activity of the two major showers; the Lyrids and the Eta Aquarids. The Antihelion radiant begins the month in the constellation of Virgo. By the 15th, the Virginid portion of the antihelion activity becomes quite low and few meteors are seen. During the last week of the month a strong center of antihelion activity becomes active in the constellation of Libra. Many of these meteors can be noticed while viewing early Eta Aquarid activity. Due to the southerly position of the Antihelions
this time of year, they are slightly better seen south of the equator. The most favorable time to view meteor activity this month would be near the new moon, which occurs on April 27. April is also prime time for viewing
fireballs. No exact radiant has been determined for these fireballs but a good number of them are associated with the Antihelion radiant. Therefore the hours near 0200 (local daylight saving time) are the most favorable time to view these events. Still, many have been witnessed during the early evening hours, when the radiant area lies low in the southeastern sky.

The moon reaches its full phase on Thursday April 13. This weekend and for the remainder of this period, the moon will be present in the sky most of the night, limiting the meteor activity to be seen. The sources of meteors
listed below are active during this period but will be difficult to observe. If your sky is transparent and the limiting magnitude exceeds +5.0, then you may be able to achieve some success at observing during this period. The
estimated total hourly rates for evening observers this week is near one for those in the Northern Hemisphere and two for those located in the Southern Hemisphere. For morning observers the estimated total hourly rates should be
near five for those located in the Northern Hemisphere and six for those in the Southern Hemisphere. These rates assume that you are watching from rural areas away from all sources of light pollution. The actual rates will also
depend on factors such as personal light and motion perception, local weather conditions, alertness and experience in watching meteor activity. Rates are reduced this week due to intense moonlight.

The full listing will continue next week when the moon reaches its last quarter phase and is not such a nuisance to observers.

Active radiants this week:

Pi Puppids (PPU) 07:04 (106) -44
Northern Hemisphere 0 – Southern Hemisphere >1

Antihelion (ANT) 14:32 (218) -14
Northern Hemisphere 1 – Southern Hemisphere 2

Lyrids (LYR) 17:36 (264) +34
Northern Hemisphere >1 – Southern Hemisphere 0

Eta Aquarids (ETA) 21:12 (318) -09
Northern Hemisphere 0 – Southern Hemisphere >1

Clear Skies!