Arietids

Arietids
Appearance of the eastern sky at 5:00 am on June 7, 2000 from a mid-northern latitude observing site.
Discovery date1947[1]
Radiant
ConstellationAries
Right ascension03h 02m [2]
Declination+25°
Properties
Occurs duringMay 22 – June 24[2]
Date of peakJune 7–8
Velocity39–41[3][2] km/s
Zenithal hourly rate60 (radar)[1]
~1 (visual)
See also: List of meteor showers

The Arietids are a strong meteor shower that lasts from May 22 to July 2 each year, and peaks on June 7. The Arietids, along with the Zeta Perseids, are the most intense daylight meteor showers of the year.[3] The source of the shower is unknown, but scientists suspect that they come from the asteroid 1566 Icarus,[3][4] although the orbit also corresponds similarly to 96P/Machholz.[5]

First discovered at Jodrell Bank Observatory in England during the summer of 1947, the showers are caused when the Earth passes through a dense portion of two interplanetary meteoroid streams, producing an average of 60 shooting stars each hour, that originate in the sky from the constellation Aries and the constellation Perseus.[1] However, because both constellations are so close to the Sun when these showers reach their peak, the showers are difficult to view with the naked eye.[3] Some of the early meteors are visible in the very early hours of the morning, usually an hour before dawn.[6] The meteors strike Earth's atmosphere at speeds around 39 km/s.[3]

Radiant migration 2019
Date Radiant Degrees west
of the Sun
May 18 01:48 (027) +21[7] 26 (HD 10883)
May 25 02:14 (034) +22
western Aries[8]		 26 (HD 13572)
June 1 02:36 (039) +23
central Aries[9]		 27 (HD 16198)
June 8 03:02 (046) +25
eastern Aries[2]		 28 (HD 18737)
June 15 03:24 (051) +26[10] 30 (60 Arietis)
June 22 03:51 (058) +27
western Taurus[11]		 30 (HD 283022)

By June 22 the radiant has migrated to the constellation Taurus (3h 51m +27) which is the same constellation that the Beta Taurids peak on June 28.[11]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Kronk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d Meteor Activity Outlook for June 8-14, 2019
  3. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference NASA2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference spaceweather was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ohtsuka2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference newsgroup was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Meteor Activity Outlook for May 18-24, 2019
  8. ^ Meteor Activity Outlook for May 25-31, 2019
  9. ^ Meteor Activity Outlook for June 1-7, 2019
  10. ^ Meteor Activity Outlook for June 15-21, 2019
  11. ^ a b Meteor Activity Outlook for June 22-28, 2019