Thread: Shooting Stars
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Old 07-10-2007, 12:21 PM
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Re: Shooting Stars

There is a minor 'shower' ongoing at the moment.

The 'Draconids' are a long-lasting shower that occurs throughout early October, peaking on the 8th. Even at peak though, they don't often yield a lot of meteors, although there have been a couple of spectacular outbursts recorded in the past.
The particle trail that causes the shower was left behind by comet Giacobini-Zinner - so they are also sometimes known as the 'Giacobinids'

The radiant is in the constellation 'Draco' (hence the name 'Draconinds') which is high to the North/North-West. Meteors don't appear AT the radiant - they appear to be heading AWAY from it - so any meteors seen in early October, heading away from that part of the sky, are probably Draconids
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