DRACONIDS METEOR SHOWER

UPCOMING METEOR SHOWER EXPLAINED

A meteor is defi ned by Oxford Language as a small body of matter from outer space that enters the earth’s atmosphere, becoming incandescent as a result of friction and appearing as a streak of light. If you have ever seen a shooting star, that was actually a meteor breaking through the atmosphere. “The most surprising thing people don’t know is that shooting stars are just rocks burning up in the atmosphere,” Astronomy teacher Megan Ewing said.” On October 8th, you will be able to see the meteor shower from Draconids. Every year the comet 21P/GiacobiniZimmer passes Earth and the debris left behind falls into the Earth’s upper atmosphere to burn up as Draconids meteors. Astronomers in the early 20th century theorized that meteors and comets were related so they attempted to link comets and showers. With that in mind, this shower is sometimes referred to as Giacobinids due to the name of the comet’s discoverer, Michel Giacobini. This comet was discovered on December 20th, 1900 by Giacobini and Erns Zimmer’s name was added with the recovering of the comet in 1913. The comet is fairly small with a diameter of 1.24 miles and takes about 6.6 years to orbit the Sun once. During the peak of the shower in 1933 observer were able to see 500 Draconid meteors per minute in Europe. The foremost viewed Draconid shower so far in the U.S. was in 1946 with about 50-100 meteors per minute. The most popular way to view this shower is in the Northern Hemisphere with the constellation Draco the Dragon. Draco is the head star in the constellation ‘Draco the dragon’. To fi nd Draco to see the dragon spitting fi re you can fi nd them by star hopping from the Big Dipper or the Summer Triangle. This particular shower is short lasting from October 6-10, but the main night to watch is the 8th, while possibly being able to see it the night before or after. “Viewing a meteor shower is defi nitely something everyone should do once in their lifetime. Here in Indiana it is hard because the blue light prevents a good view but in many other places around the world it can be a spectacular sight to see.” Megan Ewing The thin waxing crescent moon will set just before nightfall right in time to watch. Observing this shower is as easy as looking up in the sky to the northwest. The most prominent viewing period is late evening despite most showers being best viewed predawn this year, and is predicted to have six meteors per hour. Story by Cassidy Hayes

A METEOR TRAVELS AROUND 30,000 MPH ABOUT 30 METEOR SHOWERS HAPPEN EVERY YEAR MILLIONS OF METEOROIDS TRAVEL THROUGH EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE EVERYDAY TEMPERATURES REACH ABOUT 3,000 DEGREES FARENHAIT

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