As early as Monday morning, people in the Czech Republic can observe the meteor shower of Halley’s Comet, the so-called Aquarids. Monitoring conditions will be near ideal and no special equipment will be required. Some scientists believe that this year’s phenomenon will be the strongest this century.
Halley’s Comet meteor shower will be visible this weekend. Illustrative image.
| Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Another meteor shower above Czechia during the last two weeks it will be seen on the night of May 6. Earth namely, it will fly through a stream of dust particles released from Halley’s Comet. The swarm is also called the Aquarids, because the meteors seem to fly out of the constellation Aquarius. “The conditions for observation will be almost ideal,” said Jiří Dušek, director of the Brno Observatory and Planetarium.
He added that it will be possible to observe the phenomenon with the naked eye. The best place for watching is to find a place undisturbed by artificial light and with a good view, especially of the eastern horizon. Dušek advised the observers to dress well and persevere until dawn, as clear streams of light can only be seen in the morning. According to meteorologists, cloud cover could limit the spectacle.
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“The peak of the phenomenon coincides with the new one Monthswhich means the sky will be extremely dark before dawn,” astronomer Tanya Hill from the Museum’s Research Institute in Melbourne told The Conversation.
According to experts, people can see up to several vanishing comet dust grains in an hour. “In the Czech Republic, it will fall at a maximum of around twenty meteors per hour, with increased activity it can be several times more,” wrote experts from the Czech Astronomical Society.
How to observe Aquarids:
Halley’s Comet Meteor Shower May 5-6, 2024.Source: with the permission of the Brno Observatory and Planetarium
Hill said scientists modeling the behavior of eta Aquarids in recent decades have found indications that their numbers may increase significantly this year. “They suggest that by 2024 it could be the strongest in the entire 21st century,” she wrote.
However, the scientist pointed out that predicting the activity of meteor showers is difficult. “Some other astronomers believe the phenomenon will be common,” Hill added.
An important comet
Halley’s comet, officially named 1P/Halley, will orbit Sun approximately every 76 years. It has spent thousands of years on its current path. On every pass The solar system it ejects dust and gas, which then spread through space.
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The Earth passes through these debris twice a year, creating two famous meteor showers. In May they are the Aquarids, and in October the Orionids, named after the constellation Orion. It will also be possible to observe them this year, but the light from the moon can be an obstacle to a clear view.
Halley’s Comet will not be seen directly until 2061. The last time it was near the Earth was in 1986. Dušek added that people first saw it in 240 BC in China. However, it did not get its name until the beginning of the 18th century after its official discoverer, Edmund Halley, who predicted its return.
This is how the Aquarida meteor shower was seen two years ago:
Source: Youtube
The comet has influenced human history during its existence. Some theologians believe that its flyby may have caused it the biblical story of the Star of Bethlehem. In the Jewish teaching of the Talmud, there is a sentence that because of a star that appears every seventy years, ships at sea go astray.
People also considered it a harbinger of the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons in the Battle of Hastings. And in 1607, he allegedly observed the comet in Prague Johannes Kepler. In 1910, people photographed it for the first time.
Passage of meteors
In recent months, people in various corners of the world have been treated to an amazing spectacle thanks to passing space bodies. A meteorite exploded over Berlinwhich carried information about Mars, Venus and the earth. Scientists from Cornell University eventually determined that it was the fastest rotating meteorite that astronomers had ever seen.
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In United States of America a fireball lit up the sky in February. And in Australia experts found glass fragments containing rare space metals after the impact of the meteorite.
