Crestone Weather Center
Crestone, Colorado 

(photo courtesy of NASA)

Meteor Showers and Solar Eclipses

- Solar Eclipses for 2023 and 2024 -


On October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will cross western and southern regions of the U.S., including in Colorado, in the 4 Coroners region. During an annular eclipse, the moon passes between the sun and Earth, creating a "ring of fire" effect. Then the total eclipse path on Apr. 8, 2024, goes from Texas to Maine. This one will mainly miss our state.

- Meteor Showers -

Lyrids Meteor Shower
(posted by Keno on March 18, 2023)

The Lyrids are a medium strength shower that usually produces good rates for three nights centered on the maximum. These meteors also usually lack persistent trains but can produce fireballs and are best seen from here in the northern hemisphere where the radiant is high in the sky at dawn. Activity from this shower can be seen from the southern hemisphere too, but at a lower rate. (info from: American Meteor Society)


*To see the Lyrids in the sky: Meteor showers appear to originate from the radiant (see below), but meteors can appear in any part of the sky. As with most meteor showers, the peak viewing time will be before dawn. The shower will slowly become visible in the early morning hours on April 14 and increase in numbers until the best day to see the Lyrid meteors will be extremely early in the morning on Sunday, April 23, according to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke.

Since many ask "What's the difference meteors vs meteorites?": When meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors. When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it's called a meteorite.

2023 Major Meteor Showers (Class I)

Shower	Radiant/Direction*	Activity Period	Max Dates	# per hr*	Moon (Peak Nite)	Comet
Quadrantids (QUA)	Draco (NE)	Jan 1- Jan 17	Jan 2- 3	20 to 80	At   %	2003 EH
Lyrids (LYR)	18 +33°	Apr 14- Apr 30	Apr 22-23	10 to 20	At 9%	Thatcher
Eta Aquarids (ETA)	22:30 -1°	Apr 19- May 28	May 5-6	10 to 30	At 100%	Halley
Delta Aquarids (SDA)	22:42 -16.3°	Jul 12- Aug 23	Jul 30	17 to 25	At 95%	96P/Machholz
Perseids (PER)	03:13 +58°	Jul 17- Aug 24	Aug 12-13	60 - 90	At  10%	Swift-Tuttle
Draconid Orionids (ORI)	Draco (N) 06:21 +15.6°	Oct 7 -17 Sept 23- Nov 27	Oct.20-21	25+ 15	At  37%	21P/Giacobini-Zinner Halley
Southern Taurids (STA) Northern Taurids (NTA)	03:35 +14.4° 03:55 +22.8°	Sept 28 - Nov 20	Nov 4 - 5 Nov 11- 12	5 to 10	At 54% At 2%	2P/Encke
Leonids (LEO)	10:17 +21.6°	Nov 4- Dec 2	Nov 17-18	10 to 20	At 23%	Temple-Tuttle
Geminids (GEM)	07:24 +32.3°	Dec 4- Dec 17	Dec 13-14	60 to 120	At 1%	3200 Phaethon
Ursids (URS)	14:36 +75.3°	Dec 14- Dec 25	Dec 21-23	10	At   74%	8P/Tuttle
Quadrantids (QUA)	15:20 +49.7°	Dec 26, 2023 - Jan 3, 2024	Jan 3, 2024	20 to 80	At 51%	2003 EH

* Direction point from which meteors appear to originate in the sky/Number per hour max is for a moonless rural sky

 

There are meteor showers taking place every day/night of the year, but many are hard to see. The meteor showers listed above are the easiest to observe and provide the most activity. All of these showers are best seen after midnight. Some are not even visible until after midnight. Particular attention should be noted to the moonlight conditions. Showers that peak with the moon at half or more full will be affected by the moonlight and will be difficult to observe. While the dates noted above for when each shower is best seen - remains close to the same dates year after year, while the moonlight conditions change considerably from one year to the next. Crestone Current Weather Conditions