Clear Skies and Comet Tails

Astronomers love to get lucky. It’s a true art of patience, “waiting for the stars to align,” both metaphorically and physically. Despite Arizona’s more than 300 days of sun each year, a storm may roll over and obscure our view, as we experienced with the lunar eclipse in March and with the solar eclipse in April 2024. Maybe T. Corona Borealis — The Blaze Star — will burst as a nova when we have an excellent view of the Northern Crown this year; maybe Earth will be halfway around the sun, and the stars gracing our night sky will be from the opposing hemisphere of our Milky Way galaxy; or perhaps you’ve been looking forward to a planetary conjunction to image two planets in one frame, and the full moon decides to cover it up, shining blindingly across your star party. But sometimes astronomers do get lucky.

Statistically speaking, April tends to afford Arizona astronomers clear skies, and the deep chill of winter nights soon give way to more agreeable observing temperatures. It seems like we’re starting to get lucky.

Then there’s that blasted moon. Many beginning astronomers hone their skills on the lunar craters, but soon find the bright glow of neighboring Luna a hindrance to celestial events and deep-sky observing. For this reason the Prescott Astronomy Club will host public Starry Nights Star Parties on or near the new moon, affording the darkest skies possible. Visit prescottastronomyclub.org to find the next public event you can attend.

While weather is unpredictable and the moon is like clockwork, these are both short-term considerations. Periodically the universe sends us longer-duration events, such as comets. A comet may take hundreds or even thousands of years to come near Earth on its elliptical path around the Sun, then disappear again into the vast outer reaches of our solar system. Even after they are longer visible to ur eyes or telescopes, comets leave traces of their journey floating in space. Blasted by the solar wind, the comet’s tail begins to disintegrate and vaporize, and tiny particulates reminiscent of snow, sand and dust linger, till acted on by another celestial body. If that body happens to be the atmosphere of the Earth, we might just get a show.

The Lyrid meteor shower peaks this year around the night of April 21-22. Usually producing around twenty meteors per hour, these shooting stars will burn in our upper atmosphere and produce bright trails across the night sky. Luckily the waning moon will be below the horizon for most of that night, rising in the east at 4am.

The Lyrids are named for where they appear in the sky, near the constellation Lyra, the Lyre. A small, simple constellation, it’s easy to locate, anchored by the bright star Vega. Look to the east in the hours after midnight, and pan upward to the zenith. The brightest star you find will be Vega and, weather permitting, you may enjoy one of the best meteor showers of the year!