Under what circumstances will there be a meteor?

The stone that burns through the atmosphere is a meteor, and it falls to the ground before burning. There should be meteors every minute and second on the earth, and the number is very large, but it can be observed by naked eyes, about 5-6 meteors per hour, that is, one meteor can be seen every 10 minute on average. I have seen the biggest meteor across half the sky!

Gemini meteor shower

It is generally believed that the activity period of Gemini meteor shower starts from 65438+February 7th, but it will start at 19 (Beijing time) in 65438+February, so East Asia should be the best observation site in the world.

Unlike the maximum duration of the Leonid meteor shower, the maximum duration of the Gemini meteor shower will be one day, so observers anywhere in the world will have the opportunity to see the maximum duration. At most, two meteors appear in the group every minute.

Many familiar meteors are very old, such as Perseus and Leo. But the Gemini meteor group is very young, it only appeared in the middle of19th century, and at the beginning, the flow was very low, with 10-20 meteors per hour. Since then, its flow has been increasing every year, and now it has become the main meteor group every year. In 1998, the observed Gemini meteor swarm reached ZHR= 140 per hour. Observers with good sky conditions should be able to see at least so many meteors this year.

Since 1862, people have been looking for Gemini's mother comet. It was not until 1983 that the satellite discovered that it was not a comet, but a rocky asteroid with the same orbit. The number is 3200 Phaeton. The period of this asteroid is 1.4 years, and its orbit is very flat, and the nearest distance from the sun is 0. 15 astronomical unit. 1997 12 when it passes near the earth, it is only 0.35438+0 astronomical unit away from us.

People have been debating whether Phaeton is an asteroid or a comet. Its spectrum looks like a rocky asteroid, but its orbit looks like a comet. When it passed the sun, it had no tail, but it produced fragments and formed a meteor shower. By analyzing the photos of Gemini fireballs, scientists estimate that the density of Gemini meteors is 1-2m/cc, which is 3 gm/cc lower than that of standard asteroids, but several times higher than that of comets. Some people think that Phaeton is a depleted or dormant comet with thick interplanetary dust on its outer surface. So it will have the appearance of an asteroid, but the core is a comet.

Perhaps the mystery of Phaeton will be solved in the future space exploration, so let's enjoy its meteor shower together.

Official name: URS, meteor shower in Ursa minor.

Activity time: 65438+February 65438+July-26th.

Maximum time: 65438+February 22/23.

Maximum flow (ZHR): 10

R value: 3.0

Average speed (without gravity): 33km/s.

Maximum center: 348 degrees right ascension and 75 degrees declination.

20 degrees north latitude (Nanning, Guangzhou, Haikou): It can be observed all night, preferably in the morning.

30 degrees north latitude (Lhasa, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai): It can be observed all night, and it is best in the morning.

40 degrees north latitude (Beijing, Hohhot, Dalian): It can be observed all night.

50 degrees north latitude (Tacheng, Harbin): It can be observed all night.

Telescope field of view center: right ascension 348? Declination +75? And right ascension +03 1? Declination +66? (Latitude > +40? )

Right ascension 063? Declination +84? Right ascension 156? Declination +64? (30 degrees north latitude? - 40? )

Observation summary: A meteor shower in the northern hemisphere is very scarce, but it has produced at least two big explosions in the past 60 years, at 1945 and 1986 respectively. In recent years, 1988, 1994 and 2000 have also reported other traffic flow increases. Other similar phenomena may be easily overlooked because of bad weather or too few observers. For this meteor shower, all observation methods can be used, because many meteors in its group are dark, and there is little work on this meteoroid group now, so it is impossible to draw accurate conclusions.

Orbit: The orbit of the Ursa minor meteor shower given below is based on several photographic meteor data. The orbit of comet Tuttle comes from the 1996 version of the comet orbit catalogue. In 1986, Ken Fox calculated the orbital positions of 1000 years ago and 1000 years later. After 1000 years, the earth will no longer be in contact with the meteor group orbit. In 950, the maximum will appear on 65438+February 28th, with the maximum center at 2 14.5 degrees right ascension and 73.2 degrees declination.

In fact, the higher the terrain, the easier it is to see meteors! For example, Yunnan!