Principal Meteor Showers of 2020

We were in Colorado for the Perseid in 2018. I laid back in my zero gravity chair at our campsite. It was great.

 

I'll be camping in upstate NY near lake Ontario from Aug 8th-15th. Hopefully I can kick back in my zero gravity chair and watch it too!

 

The media over hypes meteor showers. And you do much better with very dark skies and a low horizon. We out here in the far west are fortunate in that we can drive to dark skies. Back east, not so much.

 

Next up , The Orionids

Orionids
Next period of activity: October 2nd, 2020 to November 7th, 2020
The Orionids are a medium strength shower that sometimes reaches high strength activity. In a normal year the Orionids produce 10-20 shower members at maximum. In exceptional years, such as 2006-2009, the peak rates were on par with the Perseids (50-75 per hour). Recent displays have produced low to average displays of this shower.

Shower details - Radiant: 06:20 +15.5° - ZHR: 20 - Velocity: 41 miles/sec (swift - 67km/sec) - Parent Object: 1P/Halley

Next Peak - The Orionids will next peak on the Oct 20-21, 2020 night. On this night, the moon will be 23% full.


There is an old WWII Army Air Corp practice air strip 100 miles from here in a very dark part of the State. It is surrounded by bean fields. Sounds like a camping trip.

 

We camped a bit south of Mono Lake, CA. The Perseids were underwhelming this year on the night of the maxima at our location.

 

I still saw a few while walking the dog when we were camping in NY. I missed the peak night, but its still wild to see shooting stars. Kinda blows my mind actually...

 

that's odd, TPE gave something like 46% moon.

 

23% = a 3.22 day crescent moon.
46%= a 6.44 day quarter moon.

Looks like a math error.

Full moon is 10-1 so New is 10-15.. So 10-20/21 is 5 to 6 days later. Looks like the one I posted is in error.

Moon Phases for October 2020
New Moon: October 16, 3:31 P.M. First Quarter Moon: October 23, 9:23 A.M. Full Hunter's Moon: October 31, 10:49 A.M.

There's a blue moon in Oct

 

Just a reminder.

Next Peak - The Orionids will next peak on the Oct 20-21, 2020 night. That's tuesday night/ Wednesday morning

 

We watched the Orionids for 45 minutes from a location West of Gabbs, Nevada (on our way home). Dark sky it was, no moon. It was a nice show, but not stunning. We even saw a few meteors the morning prior, from Alkali Flat Hot Springs, NV, circa 5 a.m. to 5:20 a.m. (we were pressured to exit the pool by the nephew of the sites owner).

Next up is Leonids, likely to be observed from Anza Borego, or some other dark sky location.

 

Tonight is the peak. Unfortunately, I am socked in.


Northern Taurids
Next period of activity: October 20th, 2020 to December 10th, 2020
This shower is much like the Southern Taurids, just active a bit later in the year. When the two showers are active simultaneously in late October and early November, there is sometimes an notable increase in the fireball activity. There seems to be a seven year periodicity with these fireballs. 2008 and 2015 both produced remarkable fireball activity.

Shower details - Radiant: 03:52 +22.7° - ZHR: 5 - Velocity: 18 miles/sec (medium - 30km/sec) - Parent Object: 2P/Encke

Next Peak - The Northern Taurids will next peak on the Nov 11-12, 2020 night. On this night, the moon will be 15% full.

 

Look to the SW tonight. Jupiter, Saturn and the crescent moon are very close. On Winter Solistice night, Jupiter and Saturn will be within .1 degree of each other

 

Geminid Meteor Shower

peaks Sunday night, December 13 to 14. NEW MOON that night. Averages 75 meteors per hour. Should be a show.

 

Next,

Quadrantids
Peak night: January 2–3, 2021
Active between December 27, 2020, and January 10, 2021, the Quadrantids peak late at night on Saturday, January 2, and into early Sunday morning in 2021. The moon will be 84 percent full, so if you go out to watch this meteor shower you might have to struggle with too much moonlight in addition to potentially poor weather. Under the best conditions, you’ll see an average of 25 meteors per hour during the Quadrantids, making it one of the stronger showers of the year.