A couple of stellar events might just wow star gazers this week.
Omega Smith at the UAA Planetarium detailed what might bring about some noteworthy auroras.
Smith: “The sun has been pretty active all winter long and we are expected to get a hit from a CME, which is a coronal mass ejection, a kind of storm that kind of moves slower but is a little bit more intense. So I believe we’re going to get hit by one probably tonight or tomorrow night.”
The earth will also be experiencing the annual Lyrid meteor shower.
Smith: “It’s a really long period comet which means it takes a long time to orbit around the sun and we happen to pass through it’s orbit every year at the same time, so every year at the end of April we pass through this debris field that the comet left behind and that’s what really causes meteor showers. This meteor shower is one of the oldest meteor showers, it’s called Lyrids, and it’s supposed to be pretty good. In fact last night I saw a pretty good shooting star go all the way across the sky with a great tail.”
Smith said typically stargazers might see about 10 bright meteors per hour but the annual event is known for “meteor bursts” of up to 100 meteors per hour.
Meteor rates are expected to crest on April 22-23 with as many as 20 Lyrids per hour.
