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On Tuesday and Wednesday ( Oct. 8 and 9 ) , the night skies may be pepper with " shooting stars " during the yearly Draconid meteor rain shower .
Although it ’s not expected to be one of theyear ’s best meteor shower , a special feature of speech of the Draconids makes them staggeringly appealing to skywatchers : While most meteor showers are considerably remark in the former predawn hours , Draconid meteor can appear anytime after night .
A Draconid meteor falls to Earth as auroras dance through the sky.
That ’s because their radiant point — the configuration from which they appear to start — is Draco , the dragon , which can be found in the northern sky . Draco is a circumpolar constellation , meaning it appears to revolve aroundPolaris , the North Star , once every 24 hours . Draco is , therefore , always visible in the Northern Hemisphere under clear-cut skies .
agree to theAmerican Meteor Society , the Draconids are a variable meteor shower , meaning a minor display of shooting whiz is have a bun in the oven , with a slight probability of stiff body process . The Draconids typically produce about 10 meteoroid per hour during the shower ’s peak , according toEarthSky.org . That makes the evening of Oct. 8 an excellent opportunity to go stargaze with the potential to see a few shooting maven .
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As one of the largest northern constellations , Draco is best visualized this time of the yr as a crank serpent ’s tail , shape a vague Z human body above the Big Dipper in the due north - northwest sky . The constellation is home to deep - sky sights , include thestunning Cat ’s Eye Nebula(NGC 6543 ) , the Tadpole Galaxy ( UGC 10214 ) and the Spindle Galaxy ( M102 ) , accord toConstellation-Guide.com .
The timing for the top of the Draconid meteor shower is favourable for skywatchers . On Oct. 8 , a wax crescent moon will be seeable with Venus in the west , which will subside a few hour after sunset . That entail it does n’t matter when you bet north , since there will be small moonshine to bleach the sky .
Like all meteor shower , the Draconids go on whenEarthpasses through a cloud of rocky debris left behind by a comet . In this pillowcase , that ’s Comet 21P / Giacobini - Zinner , which passes through thesolar systemand crosses Earth ’s orbit once every 6.5 eld , accord toNASA .
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