The Perseids in 2004

Image credit: Fred Bruenjes

Southern Hemisphere Showers

The Perseids are the most well-known meteor shower in the Northern Hemisphere, but they are not directly visible in most of the Southern Hemisphere because the radiant is too far North in the sky. There are plenty of meteor showers that are visible however, so what can we see from here in Perth?

Name Dates Peak ZHR (average) Location
Lyrids 16th - 25th April April 22nd 20 271o +34o
η-Aquariids 19st April - 28th May May 5th 70+ 338o -01o
S. δ- Aquariids 12th July - 19th Aug July 27th 20 339o -16o
Orionids 2 Oct - 7 Nov Oct 21st 30 95o +16o
Leonids 10 - 23 Nov Nov 17th 20+ 153o +22o
Geminids 7 - 17 Dec Dec 13th 120 112o +33o
Source: http://www.imo.net/calendar/2008/

The table lists some of the main meteor showers visible from Australia. The date of the peak of the shower will vary slightly from year to year, as will the ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate), the predicted number of meteors you would expect to see at the peak under good conditions. The location column describes the position on the sky where the radiant will appear to be so, for the Orionids, the coordinates 95o, +16o are in the constellation of Orion.


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