The first meteor shower of Spring, the April Lyrids, are definitely a sight to see.
Timed perfectly on the night of April 21-22, so that the peak of the shower happens the night before the New Moon, there will be no competing sources of light in the sky.
The radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower, at midnight on the night of April 21-22. Credit: Stellarium/Scott Sutherland
The ‘radiant’ of this meteor shower – the point in the sky where the meteors appear to originate – rises in the east as the Sun sets on April 21, and it tracks across the night sky towards dawn.
The absolute ideal time to watch is in the hours after midnight, when the sky is reaching its darkest, and the radiant is high up in the sky. If your sky is reasonably free of clouds, be sure to get away from city light pollution to get the best view!
Lyrid meteors originate from a stream of dusty, icy meteoroid debris left behind by Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. The comet itself is currently billions of kilometres away, out beyond the orbit of Pluto, and will not be seen again until the year 2276. Still, each year we receive a reminder of its existence, as Earth passes through the near constant stream of tiny meteoroids strung out along the comet’s path. Each year in April, this shows up as streaks of light across the sky, peaking around April 22.
This plot shows the path of Comet Thatcher through the solar system. Now, on April 21-22, Earth is intersecting with that path. As the inset shows, at this time, the comet itself is over 16 billion kilometres away, out beyond the orbit of Pluto. Credit: NASA CNEOS/Scott Sutherland
These bright streaks are known as ‘meteors’, and they occur as the meteoroids are swept up and plunge through Earth’s upper atmosphere. Travelling at around 100,000 km/h, a meteoroid compresses the air in its path until that air glows white-hot. A meteor flash typically lasts but a second (or less), but the larger a meteoroid is, the brighter and longer-lived its meteor will be. This is how we get fireballs, and even explosive ‘bolides’ for the largest meteoroids. The meteor winks out either when the meteorid is vapourized, or when the ‘push-back’ from the atmosphere slows the meteoroid down to the point where it can’t compress the air any more.
The stream of meteoroids from Comet Thatcher tends to be relatively sparse. Thus, even at the meteor shower’s peak, the Lyrids only deliver around 20 meteors per hour. Most viewers only see about half that number.
Embedded within the stream, however, are some larger meteoroids, and when those hit the atmosphere, bright fireballs add to the show!
Some fireballs and bolides can actually leave behind bits of the meteoroid that fall to Earth. When these are found on the ground, they are called meteorites.
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of overblown doomsday hype about possible threats from asteroids and comets.
To state this clearly: There are no threats to Earth from asteroids or comets, and any stories saying differently are wrong, or are outright misinformation. Also, this meteor shower has nothing to do with any threat to Earth. There are multiple meteor showers each year, and they are events to be enjoyed, rather than omens to be feared.
One particular target for this doomsday nonsense is asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2), which is passing by Earth on April 29, 2020.
The orbit of 52768 (1998 OR2), as of April 29, 2020. The inset view shows the asteroid safely positioned far beyond the orbit of the Moon during its closest pass. Credit: NASA CNEOS/Scott Sutherland
These stories have originated from various ‘tabloid’ news sources around the world. With flashy headlines proclaiming “NASA Warns” and using phrases like “Approaching Earth”, they heavily imply that the space agency is issuing alerts about impending impacts with Earth.
Nothing could be farther from the truth, however.
Asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2) was discovered in 1998, and astronomers have logged over 3,500 observations of it, some going back as far as 1987. With that much information at their fingertips, scientists have locked down the orbit of this object.
The main reason these stories seem to be hyping this fly, apparently, is due to the asteroid’s size. 52768 (1998 OR2) is estimated at being around 2.5 kilometres wide. Admittedly, that is significant, and it would be very dangerous if anything like that struck the planet.
As it passes Earth on April 29, however, 52768 (1998 OR2) will be very far away – over 6.3 million kilometres at its closest distance. For reference, that is 16.4 times farther away than the Moon.
Watch below: NASA scientist Kelly Fast, with the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, shows us exactly why there’s no worry about this asteroid!
We now know, with 100 per cent certainty, that 52768 (1998 OR2) is no threat to Earth, either now or at any time in the future.
In fact, the asteroid does not even appear on NASA’s list of ‘potentially hazardous asteroids’ that have any chance of striking us. Some asteroids have earned a place on that list even for having an impact chance that ranks as one chance in ten billion, for a date over 100 years from now. 52768 (1998 OR2) is not on that list now, nor has it ever been (some asteroids live on the list for awhile, and then are removed when further observations demonstrate it is no threat).
Remarkably, the Arecibo Radio Observatory team, operating out of Puerto Rico, captured radar images of 52768 (1998 OR2) over the weekend, by bouncing radio waves off the asteroid’s surface.
TeamRadar and the @NAICobservatory staff are taking the proper safety measures as we continue observations. This week we have been observing near-Earth asteroid 1998 OR2, which looks like it’s wearing a mask! It’s at least 1.5 km across and is passing 16 lunar distances away!
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
