Every year our skies are illuminated by returning meteor showers, from the Lyrids to the Quadrantids, from the Orionids to the Geminids.
If the weather conditions are in our favor and the moon is not too bright, then there is a chance that you will be able to see shooting stars in all their glory.
Here's our guide to the must-have meteor showers in 2018, including the spectacular lyrid star shower that will peak by the morning of April 22, 2018.
What is a meteor shower?
A meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through a stream of debris that orbits a comet. Meteors are sometimes called shooting stars, although in reality they have nothing to do with stars, but how beautiful they are, these star showers!
Calendar - starfall forecast in 2018
quadrantides
Quadrantides have the potential to be the most intense stellar shower of the year, they usually do not subside due to their short duration and maximum activity (6 hours). The average hourly rates to be expected under dark skies is 25. These meteors do not usually have permanent gaseous plumes, but often produce bright fireballs. Due to the high northern tilt (celestial latitude), these meteors are difficult to see from the southern hemisphere.
Speed: average - 42.2 km / sec
Peak: night, April 21-22, 2018
Lyrids
The Lyrids are a medium-strength star shower that is very difficult to predict. Usually these meteors do not have permanent plumes, but they can create fireballs and you can still see a bright long short trail behind some of them. These meteors are best seen from the northern hemisphere, where the aurora is high in the sky at dawn. Activity from this shower is also visible from the southern hemisphere, but at a slower rate.
Speed: average - 48.4 km / sec
The Lyrids will be the next major meteor shower!
This Aquarid
This Aquarids is a strong shower of stars as seen from the southern tropics. From the equator to the north, they usually produce average speeds of 10-30 km per hour before dawn. Activity is consistently good for about a week, concentrated on the night of maximum activity. These are fast meteors that produce a high percentage of permanent plumes but few fireballs.
Speed: speed - 66.9 km / sec. Peak at night.
July 29-30, 2018
Southern Delta Aquarids
Delta Aquarids is another strong stellar stream that is best seen from the southern tropics. North of the equator, the auroras are located lower in the southern sky, so their rates are slower than in the south. These meteors are predicted throughout the week, tentatively around the night of the maximum. These are usually weak meteors that lack both a permanent plume and fireballs.
Speed: average - 41 km / sec. Peak at night
July 29-30, 2018
Alpha Capricornidae
Alpha capricornids are active from 3 July to 15 August with a "plateau-like" maximum centered on 30 July. This star shower is not very strong and rarely produces more than five stars per hour. What is remarkable about this shower is the number of bright fireballs created during the period of its activity. This flow is clearly visible on both sides of the equator.
Speed: slow - 24 km / sec. Peak night.
August 11-12 2018
Perseids
The Perseids are the most popular meteor shower, they come on warm August nights, they are very clearly visible from the northern hemisphere. The Perseids are active from July 17 to August 24. They hit a strong high on August 12 or 13, depending on the year. Normal rates seen in rural areas range from 50-75 stars per hour maximum. Perseids are particles released from a comet during its many returns to the inner solar system. They are called the Perseids because the region of the sky where the meteors seem to originate is near the constellation Perseus the hero when he is at his most active.
Speed: 60 km / sec. peak night
October 9-10 2018
Southern Taurids
The Southern Taurids are a long-term stellar shower that reaches a barely perceptible maximum on October 9 or 10. The stream has been active for more than two months, but rarely produces more than five stars per hour, even at peak activity. The Taurids (both branches) are fireball rich and are often responsible for the increase in fireball reports from September to November.
Speed: slow - 28 km / sec. peak night
October 20-21 2018
Orionids
The Orionids are a moderate downpour that sometimes reaches high activity. In a normal year, the Orionids produce a maximum of 10-20 stars. In exceptional years, such as 2006-2009, the peaks were on par with the Perseids (50-75 stars per hour). Recent forecasts have shown low to medium manifestations of this stellar shower.
Speed: 67 km / sec. peak night
November 11-12 2018
Northern Taurids
This star shower is very similar to the southern Taurids, which was active a little later in the year. When two stellar streams are active at the same time in late October and early November, there is sometimes a noticeable increase in the number of fireballs. It is observed that there is a seven-year periodicity with these fireballs. 2008 and 2015 was a wonderful "combat" activity.
Speed: average - 30 km / sec. peak night
November 16-17 2018
Leonids
The Leonids are best known for producing meteor storms in 1833, 1866, 1966, 1999 and 2001. These outbursts of meteor activity are best seen when the parent object, comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, is near perihelion (closest approach to the sun). But this is not fresh material that we see from the comet, but rather debris from earlier returns, which also happens to be the densest. Unfortunately, it looks like the earth won't encounter dense debris clouds until 2099. So when the comet returns in 2031 and 2064, there will be no meteor storms, but perhaps some good Leonid activity when the forecast exceeds 100 stars per hour. The best we can hope for before 2030 is about 15 meteors per hour and an occasional faint burst as the ground passes close to the debris trail itself.
Speed: speed - 71 km / sec. peak night
December 13-14 2018
geminids
The Geminids tend to be the strongest meteor shower of the year, and enthusiasts and fans alike will certainly be looking forward to December 13th and 14th on their calendars. This is one of the major stellar showers and provides good activity until midnight as the Gemini constellation is well placed from 10pm. Geminids are often very bright and intensely colored. Due to their average or rather slow speed, permanent plumes of gas are usually not visible. These meteors are also visible in the southern hemisphere, but only in the middle of the night and at a reduced speed.
Speed: average - 35 km / sec. peak night
December 21-22 2018
Ursids
Ursids are often neglected due to the fact that it peaks before the New Year holidays, and the weather often does not allow to enjoy the spectacle, and the forecasts for them are much less than those of the Geminids, which peak just a week before the Ursids. Observers typically see 5-10 meteors per hour during the late morning hours on the day of peak activity. Flashes occur periodically when forecasts exceed 25 stars per hour. This star shower is a strict northern hemisphere event, as the aurora does not clear the horizon, or does so at the same time as morning twilight begins, as seen from the southern tropics.
Speed: average - 32 km / sec
Tags:
The meteor shower, or Perseid meteor shower, occurs every year in August. According to scientists, in August 2017, it will be possible to observe the meteor shower from August 10 to 20. The peak of activity falls on August 12-14.
Astronomers say that this year's meteor showers will be extraordinarily beautiful. According to experts, one meteor will fall every "minute".
According to scientists, the average speed of the Perseid meteorites is 214,365 km/h. Most of them are the size of a grain of sand. So far, the researchers note, none of the Perseid meteorites have fallen to Earth.
Entering the Earth's atmosphere, the Perseids heat up and burn up. Most of the fragments are visible when they are about 97 kilometers from the surface of our planet. Comet Swift-Tuttle gives a special brightness to the meteor shower. The Earth passes through its tail every year. The tail of the comet loses particles of cosmic rocks, pieces of ice, etc., which, falling into the Earth's atmosphere, burn out and leave beautiful fiery lines and flashes.
Meteor showers occur annually in August. To observe them, you do not need any special equipment. It is important that the sky is clear, and then the meteor shower can be seen even from the balcony. But, of course, it is best to watch the meteor shower away from illuminated settlements.
Another meteor shower - Capricornids - will last all of August and end on September 15 .. And although meteorites from the Capricornids shower do not enter the atmospheric flow as often as Perseid meteorites, these meteorites burn out just as brightly. You can watch the Capricornida meteor shower all over Russia.
The Perseids begin to fall from August 9, and reaching their apogee by August 12-13, gradually, as they move away from the Earth, fade away by the 20th. The magical spectacle is the result of falling meteorite rocks, cosmic dust and chunks of ice from passing meteors. The Perseids as a meteor shower originates from the constellation Perseus.
The “icing on the cake” - the Swift-Tuttle comet, whose tail, in fact, loses space rocks, gives us a special brightness to the stream, giving us this stellar firework. It was on the basis of the Perseid stream and the Swift-Tuttle comet in particular that the discovery was made that the meteor shower "falls" from the comet's tail.
Needless to say, you won’t see such beauty during the day? Put out the lights in the house, go out to the balcony, street, garden, park or nature, look at the sky and enjoy the peace. Remember that the Perseids will only return in a year.
Where will you see and how to watch the Perseid meteor shower?
The Perseid meteor shower is best viewed, of course, by aligning with the constellation Perseus. In this part of the sky you will be able to observe the maximum number of falling meteors. To get started, find the constellation Ursa Major (Dipper) and the North Star in the sky. Ladle - a constellation in the shape of the kitchen tool of the same name, in the shape of the letter "J" of seven stars.
If everything is more or less clear with the Bucket, then we are looking for the North Star, drawing a line to the right from the edge of the bucket: you must reach the edge of the Small Bucket. The North Star is the extreme star of the "handle" of the bucket of the constellation Ursa Minor. From the North Star, draw a line further - you will stumble upon the constellation Cassiopeia (a cluster of stars in the shape of the letter W). Below is the constellation Perseus.
The Perseids have been known to mankind for about two thousand years. Lambert Adolphe Jacques Ketele is considered to be the discoverer of the Perseid stream. The absolute record for falling meteors in the entire history of observing the Perseids was noted in 1839 - 160 fallen meteors per minute! So, prepare a wish list. The nights from August 9 to 13 are definitely worth taking a break from the hardships of life and turning your eyes to the sky.
This week, the brightest astronomical performance of the year will unfold in the skies above the Earth - a meteor shower called the Geminids.
The Geminids are one of the largest meteor showers known to science. On average, about a hundred meteors fly over the Earth per hour, and in some years bursts of up to 200 meteors are observed.
This "starfall" is not only the largest of the year, but also the brightest - meteors are visible much better than, for example, in summer, when the second most important meteor shower, the Perseids, takes place. That's just a prerequisite in order to admire the falling "stars" is a clear sky, and many Russians may have problems with this.
When to watch
Geminid activity will peak this year on the night of December 13-14. Starting from midnight and until four o'clock on Thursday morning, the sky will be teeming with meteorites. Every minute at least one or two celestial bodies will fly over the Earth, so you will definitely have time to make a wish under the falling “star”.
At the same time, you don’t have to wait for the 13th - meteors will begin to sparkle in the sky from Monday night, however, of course, in much smaller quantities. If you missed the night of the Geminids, then you should not despair either - you can watch the falling stars even on the night of Friday and Saturday.
How to watch
The beauty of the Geminids is that, unlike most astronomical phenomena, you do not need special equipment to observe the meteor shower - the meteor shower will be visible to the naked eye.
You can admire them from anywhere in the world. True, not at any point it will look the same. We are the luckiest of all - the maximum number of meteorites will be visible from the northern hemisphere of the Earth, and the more spectacular the spectacle will be, the closer to the north pole you are. Residents of the southern hemisphere will see almost half as much.
You need to wait for the appearance of meteors from the southeastern part of the sky, in the region of the constellation Gemini. They will not fly towards the Earth, but in the same direction as our planet, so their speed will be relatively low (35 km / s). This means that you will have time to examine the meteors and, if desired, even capture the event on the camera.
From starfalls to lunar eclipse in August 2017Starfall, starfall...
Luckily, friends say...
N. N. Dobronravov
August is the time of starfalls. This month, the stars shine brighter than usual in the night sky, and meteors that have not been seen all year are visible. In the coming weeks, residents of all Russian cities will see several amazing astronomical phenomena at once - two bright starfalls and a lunar eclipse.
Capricornidae
When: beginning of August
The entire last month of summer and another half of September in the night sky you can see a unique meteor shower - the Capricornids. It will be visible next to the Capricorn constellation until September 15, but its peak activity occurs in early August, so observations are best made in the first week of the month. 
Capricornids can be found in the constellation Capricorn
Although the Capricornids were discovered by the Hungarian astronomer de Concolli as early as 1871, this meteor shower has been little studied. Researchers believe that at the peak of meteor activity, you can see only 5-6 meteors per hour, but they are all very bright and noticeable.
We owe many modern conveniences to space. Starfall claims to be one of the most unusual: astronomers have proven that it consists of three equivalent meteor showers, stretched in different directions: that is why the Capricornids can be observed from anywhere on Earth.
In order to see the meteor shower, you do not need special equipment: it is so bright that it is noticeable from dusk to dawn with the naked eye. Finding the source of the meteor shower in the sky, the constellation Capricorn, is quite difficult, since there is not a single bright star in it. First you need to find the constellation Eagle: in August it is one of the brightest in the sky, and its main star, Altair, forms the Summer-autumn triangle with Vega and Deneb. Under the Eagle is Capricorn - it looks like a big smile. It is here that you can see the Capricornidae. You can watch the meteor shower from the comfort of your home: although Capricorn itself is completely inconspicuous, the meteor shower will be bright and spectacular.
Moon eclipse
At 21.20 on August 7, Moscow time, residents of almost all Russian cities, except for the Far Eastern Territory, will be able to observe a beautiful and rare phenomenon - a partial lunar eclipse. It got this name because the Moon does not enter the Earth's shadow completely, but only partially. In this case, that part of the Moon, on which the Earth's shadow falls, will look dark, and the rest will be in partial shade and illuminated by the sun's rays.
Residents of almost all Russian cities will see a partial lunar eclipse.
“It will be an unusually beautiful phenomenon,” notes astronomer Anatoly Ryabtsev. “An interesting fact: at the same time, being on the Moon, you can see a partial eclipse of the Sun by the Earth.”
The lunar eclipse will last about 1 hour 55 minutes, and everyone will have time to admire the spectacle seen from the windows of their homes and even take photos. Experts advise: it is best to look at this astronomical phenomenon through a telescope, but even if you do not have special equipment, this event will forever remain in your memory.
Perseids
The Perseids are one of the brightest and most intense star showers: at the peak of its activity, up to 60 flaming meteors can be seen in the sky in one hour - 1 meteor every minute! 
The Perseids are one of the brightest meteor showers.
The meteor shower will last 10 days, from August 10 to 20, but the largest number of meteors will be noticeable from August 12 to 14. You can see them with the naked eye: often shooting stars merge into whole fireballs and lines, which makes the meteor shower surprisingly beautiful and unusual. The Perseids deservedly occupy the first place among all meteor showers in terms of the number of shooting stars and fireballs - giant meteors that shine brighter than Venus.
The Perseids owe their beauty to the comet Swift-Tuttle, through whose tail the Earth passes every year. The smallest particles of the comet's tail, consisting of ice, dust and various cosmic rocks, burn up in the atmosphere and descend to Earth in starfall. The comet itself approaches the Earth only once every 135 years, and its next appearance is expected only in 2127, but even the burning plume of a celestial body looks very impressive: all astronomy lovers will appreciate the meteor shower.
You can see a fascinating phenomenon in the sky next to the constellation Perseus. Everyone can find it. To do this, you need to draw an imaginary line from the extreme star of the “bucket handle” of Ursa Major through the North Star. A little higher you will see Cassiopeia - the constellation in the form of a capital letter "W". Directly under this constellation is Perseus, in the area of \u200b\u200bwhich meteors will fall.
STAR RAIN 2017
7: Partial lunar eclipse.
The moon will pass through the Earth's penumbra, and a small part of it will pass through the full shadow.
12-13: Meteor shower.
The famous Perseid meteor shower with a frequency of up to 60 meteors per minute.
21: Total solar eclipse.
The Moon will completely eclipse the Sun, making its corona (outer layers of the atmosphere) visible.
September.
It will happen at 20:02 UTC, when the Sun will shine directly on the equator and around the world, day and night will be approximately the same length. This will be the first day of autumn (autumnal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring (spring equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.
October.
7: Meteor shower.
The Draconid meteor shower differs from the rest in its low frequency (only about 10 meteors per hour) and in that it is better to observe it in the early evening, and not early in the morning.
19: Uranus at opposition.
Although this planet will be as close to Earth as possible, it will only be visible as a tiny bluish-green dot - we are too far apart. Unless you have access to a powerful astronomical telescope.
21–22: Meteor shower.
The Orionid meteor shower allows you to observe about 20 meteors per hour.
November.
4–5: Meteor shower.
The Taurid meteor shower has a frequency of only 5-10 meteors per hour, but is unusual in that it consists of two branches.
13: Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter.
These two bright planets will be extremely close - before dawn, they can be observed in the east at a distance of only 0.3 degrees from each other.
17-18: Meteor shower.
The Leonid meteor shower, at its peak - about 15 meteors per hour.
December.
3: Full moon, super moon.
The Moon will be on the far side of the Earth, fully illuminated by the Sun. This will be the only supermoon in 2017 when the Moon is very close to the Earth.
13–14: Meteor shower.
The Geminid meteor shower is truly the king of all meteor showers. It will be possible to observe up to 120 multi-colored meteors per hour!
Occurs at 16:28 UTC when the Earth's South Pole is tilted towards the Sun. This will be the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere.
21–22: Meteor shower.
The Ursids meteor shower has a frequency of 5 to 10 meteors per hour.
Telescopes and other astronomical instruments are not required to observe the meteor shower, so anyone can enjoy the night starry spectacle of summer. It is better to conduct observation in nature, for example, in a field, in a country house or in a village. However, cloudiness and rain can interfere even there. It is believed that meteor showers have a very positive effect on human energy. It is also customary to make wishes during the meteor shower.
For an observer in central Russia around midnight, the constellation Perseus is located in the northeastern part of the sky. In the evening, it starts its journey from the eastern horizon, rises very high by morning, so that "shooting stars" become visible throughout the sky.
The history of the discovery of the Perseids
The name Perseids comes from the name of the constellation Perseus. The Perseid meteor shower has been known to mankind for about 2 thousand years. The first mention of them is contained in Chinese historical annals dating back to 36 AD. Also, the Perseids were often mentioned in Japanese and Korean chronicles of the 8th-11th centuries. In Europe, the Perseids were called the "Tears of St. Lawrence", since the festival of St. Lawrence, which takes place in Italy, falls on the most active meteor shower period - August 10th.
