Two meteor rains were recorded in Rio Grande do Sulbetween the night of Monday (28) and the dawn of this Thursday (31). According to the National Observatory, it is the southern and Alpha Capricornids Delta rains.
The phenomenon was captured by Astronomical Chat Project Camerasin Santa Maria, and by the Astronomy Club of the Farroupilha Federal Institute (Iffar), in Santo Ângelo, in the northwestern Gaucho.
According to the astronomical chat, There were 481 records. Of these, 227 meteors were captured by a single high resolution camera, a member of the Global Meteor Network, installed at Santa Maria Tecnoparque.
The other 254 meteors were recorded by 3 cameras of the Brazilian Meteor Monitoring Network (Bramon), located at Tecnoparque and the Iffar Santo Ângelo campus. See the records of the rains below:
According to the National Observatory, the rain of Capricornid Alpha Meteors reached the apex on Wednesday night. “What is remarkable about this rain is the number of meteors with brilliant fire balls produced during its period of activity. This rain is also seen on both sides of Ecuador,” explains Dr. Marcelo de Cicco, coordinator of the Meteor Monitoring Project, linked to the National Observatory.
The rain of southern aquarid delta meteors had the peak at dawn on Thursday (31). It has a rate of 15 to 25 meteors per hour at the apex. Number larger than Alpha Capricornids, which has 5.
Alpha Capricornids takes place until August 15th. The southern aquarid delta should end August 23.
The National Observatory guides people who want to see the event, who are looking for Locations with dark sky, far from brightness. Another tip is to focus on the constellations of Capricorn and Aquarium, which can increase the chances of observing the meteors.
What are meteors?
Meteors are small celestial bodies that cross space and penetrate the earth’s atmosphere, partially or completely burning due to interaction with the atmosphere and oxygen.
Luminosity in the sky resulting from the phenomenon is known as “Single Star”. A rain of meteors occurs when several meteors cross the night sky originating from a common point called radiant.
