Draconid Meteor Shower Lights Up The Night Monday, Tuesday: Watch For Dragon's Breath [1]

By: Roxanne Palmer, 10/07/2013

Tonight, Draco will breathe a little fire in the sky. It’s time again for the Draconids, the meteor shower that appears to spew from the dragon-shaped constellation. Meteors should be visible starting at nightfall in the northern latitudes on Monday and Tuesday night – but only if you manage to get away from the lights of a city. The Draconids’ real origin point is the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. The comet is partially named after the French astronomer Michel Giacobini, who first discovered the comet in 1900; in his honor, the meteor shower is sometimes referred to as the Giacobinids. The comet makes one circuit of its orbit – which takes it out past Jupiter -- every 6.6 years. When Earth passes through the material left in its wake, the debris falls through our atmosphere as burning meteors.

 

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