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The draconid meteor shower is expected to peak on Friday night, sending up to 10 shooting stars across the UK sky every hour.
The annual exposure will be more visible in the northern hemisphere after dark tomorrow (6:56 p.m. BST), on clear skies and away from sources of light pollution.
Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through a cloud of cometary debris, creating a light show for viewers on the ground.
The draconid meteor shower comes from debris from Comet 21 P / Giacobini-Zinner – a small comet with a diameter of 1.24 miles (2 kilometers).
Giacobini-Zinner deposits new debris every 6.6 years as it orbits through the inner solar system, and meteors arrive when Earth passes through this regularly completed debris field.
However, bad weather threatens to hamper people’s chances of seeing the Celestial Display, according to the Met Office.
“Meteor shower viewing conditions are not optimal in the UK but there will be limited opportunities with cloud breaks in central and southern England this evening and possibly more chances tomorrow, “Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said.
“Sky watchers in the northern and western parts of the UK will be hampered by clouds and rain. Fog can also create local difficulties in other areas.
Meteor showers are caused when Earth passes through a cloud of cometary debris. In this case, the draconid meteor shower comes from the debris of comet 21 P / Giacobini-Zinner. Pictured is the night sky over Russky Island during the Draconids
The shower will take place from October 7 to 11, but is expected to peak in the evening from Friday to Saturday.
To get the best view of Friday’s Peak, find a location with clear skies and away from light pollution sources like large cities.
There is no benefit to using binoculars or a telescope – observers just need to look up unaided and enjoy the widest possible view of the sky.
Generally, those in North America, Europe and Asia are best located to see the Draconids.
The best places in the UK include the renowned stargazing sites, also known as the three ‘Dark Sky Preserves – Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and Exmoor National Parks.
“The Dracanoid shower will be visible to anyone with clearer skies,” Annie Shuttleworth of the Met Office told MailOnline.
“Those in southern England and Wales far from light pollution are most likely to see the shower.”
According to Shuttleworth, the weather will be cloudy and humid in Scotland and Northern Ireland with mostly cloudy skies in North Wales and North England, meaning vision may be impaired in those places.
“Anywhere south of a horizontal line crossing Aberystwyth to Norwich could see an hour or two of clear spells – but many in that area will have mostly cloudy skies,” she said.
The draconid meteor shower takes its name from the constellation Draco. It is best to see it in the evening just after sunset. Meteors fly in all directions across the sky when they arrive
The draconid meteor shower takes its name from the constellation Draco, which is its radiating point – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate.
Draco is a long, winding constellation easily visible to people in the northern hemisphere in the northern sky. It sits above the Big Dipper and Polaris, the Pole Star.
Draconids are best seen in the Northern Hemisphere, although it is still possible to see them in the Southern Hemisphere, especially if they are close to the equator.
This is because the point of radiation of the shower almost coincides with the head of the constellation Draco in the northern sky.
According to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the meteor rate during the Draconid shower peak depends on the part of the comet’s track that Earth’s orbit intersects in a given year.
The Observatory describes the Draconids as “variable,” which means you can never be sure what kind of bright display you will get.
“In recent years the Draconids have produced no particular explosion of activity,” the Royal Observatory Greenwich says on its website.
“However, in 1933 and 1946 the Draconids produced some of the most active exhibits of the 20th century.”
The draconid meteor shower comes from debris from Comet 21 P / Giacobini-Zinner – a small comet with a diameter of 1.24 miles (2 kilometers). The comet is pictured here by the 0.9m Kitt Peak Telescope on October 31, 1998
The shower takes its name from the constellation Draco, where in the night sky they appear to originate, which can be spotted above the Big Dipper and Polaris, the pole star
It should be noted that 2011 and 2018 saw more Draconid activity than expected, so 2021 could be the year they put on a spectacular show.
The National Space Center says the Draconids typically produce between five and 10 meteors per hour, but in past displays there have been thousands per hour.
As meteors made of ice and dust enter our atmosphere, they begin to burn – providing a light show for viewers, but meaning most never make it to the ground.
The beautiful trails seen in the night sky can actually be caused by cosmic particles as small as a grain of sand.
If the particle is larger than a grape, it will produce a fireball and be accompanied by a persistent afterglow.
Fortunately, there was a new moon on Wednesday October 6, so moonlighting will only be 6% on Friday, which means moonlight shouldn’t cloud our vision of the Draconids.
“The moon is new on the night of the greatest activity, so its light does not interfere with sight,” Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, told MailOnline.
“As with any meteor shower, it’s best to escape the city lights and head to a dark site.”
However, Dr Massey also pointed out that the International Meteor Organization is not reporting Friday’s shower and that it may be “better for dedicated amateur astronomers than the general public.”
The draconid meteor shower, sometimes referred to as Giacobinides, is one of two meteor showers that adorn the sky in October of each year.
The other is the Orionids, which are expected to peak in the sky on the night of October 21, between midnight and dawn.
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