American Meteor Society
Meteor Activity Outlook for June 5-11, 2021
David Young captured this nice flaring meteor at 11:39 UT (4:39 PDT) on April 29, 2021, from Fremont, California, USA.…
Archive: News
Meteor Activity Outlook for May 29-June 4, 2021
During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Wednesday June 2nd. On this date the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises near 02:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). This weekend the waning gibbous moon will rise during the early evening hours and will create difficult conditions for view meteor activity the remainder of the night.
Meteor Activity Outlook for May 22-28, 2021
During this period, the moon reaches its full phase on Wednesday May 26th. On this date the moon is located opposite the sun and remains above the horizon all night long. This weekend the waxing gibbous moon will set during the early morning hours, leaving a small opportunity to view in dark conditions between moon set and morning twilight.
Meteor Activity Outlook for May 15-21, 2021
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Wednesday May 19th. On this date the half-illuminated moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and sets near 2:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). This weekend the waxing crescent moon will set during the early evening hours and will not interfere with meteor observing.
Meteor Activity Outlook for May 8-14, 2021
During this period the moon reaches its new phase on Tuesday May 11th. On this date the moon is located near the sun and is invisible at night. This weekend the waning crescent moon will rise during the early morning hours but will not interfere with meteor observing as it will be too thin and only in the sky an hour or two prior to sunrise.
Viewing the Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower in 2021
In 2020, the full moon coincided with the shower's maximum and the display was muted. This year, conditions are better as the much less bright waning crescent moon will be located 10 degrees south of the radiant at maximum activity.
Meteor Activity Outlook for May 1-7, 2021
During this period the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Monday May 3rd. On this date the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises near 2:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). This weekend the waning gibbous moon will rise during the early morning hours and will spoil any observing attempts once it has risen. As the moon reaches its last quarter phase, the glare will not be so bad and successful meteor observations can be conducted if you keep the moon out of your field of view.
Viewing the Lyrids in 2021
The normal Lyrid display, seen under moonless conditions, usually offers a peak of around 10 meteors per hour in addition to the normal random meteor rate of about 5 per hour.
Meteor Activity Outlook for April 17-23, 2021
During this period the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Tuesday April 20th. On this date the moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and sets near 03:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). As the week progresses the waxing gibbous moon will encroach into the late morning sky, limiting the opportunity to view under dark skies.
Meteor Activity Outlook for April 3-9, 2021
During this period the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Sunday April 4th. On this date the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises near 3:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). As the week progresses the moon will rise later each night, providing a growing window of opportunity to view under dark skies between dusk and moonrise.
Space Debris Reentry spotted over Oregon on Thursday, 25 March 2021 ~ 9pm PDT
The AMS received over a lot of reports of a bright fiery object traveling over Oregon on Thursday, 25 March 2021 around 9pm PDT. It was the remaining of a Falcon 9 second stage from the "Starlink Launch 4" mission launched in February 2020.
Meteor Activity Outlook for March 20-26, 2021
During this period the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Sunday March 21st. On this date the moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and sets near 02:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). As the week progresses the moon will interfere with the more active hours of the morning sky, especially toward dawn.
Meteor Activity Outlook for March 13-19, 2021
During this period the moon reaches its new phase on Saturday March 13th. On this date the moon is located near the sun and is invisible at night. Later in this period, a waxing crescent moon will enter the evening sky but will not interfere with meteor observing, especially during the more active morning hours.
Meteor Activity Outlook for February 13-19, 2021
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Friday February 19th. This weekend the slender waxing crescent moon will set during dusk, leaving the remainder of the night free of interfering moonlight.
Meteor Activity Outlook for February 6-12, 2021
During this period, the moon reaches its new phase on Thursday February 11th. On that date the moon is located near the sun and is invisible at night. This weekend the waning crescent will rise during the early morning hours but will not cause any interference to viewing meteor activity as long as it is kept out of one’s field of view while observing.
Meteor Activity Outlook for January 30-February 05, 2021
During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Thursday February 4th. At this time, the half-illuminated moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun, thus it will rise near 01:00 local standard time. This weekend the nearly full moon will rise just after the end of dusk and will lie above the horizon all night long. As lunar interference is present all night long, this is the worst time to try and view meteor activity as the lunar glare will obscure all but the brighter meteors.
Viewing the Quadrantid Meteor Shower in 2021
The Quadrantids can be one of the strongest displays of the year, yet they are difficult to observe. The main…
Meteor Activity Outlook for December 26, 2020-January 1, 2021
During this period, the moon reaches its full phase on Tuesday December 29th. At this time, the moon is located opposite the sun in the sky and will lie above the horizon all night long. This weekend the waxing gibbous moon will set during the morning hours and will leave a small period of time to view under dark conditions between moon set and dawn.
Meteor Activity Outlook for December 19-25, 2020
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Tuesday December 22nd. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and will set near midnight local standard time. This weekend the waxing crescent moon will set during the evening hours and will not interfere with viewing the stronger meteor activity that occurs during the morning hours.
Viewing the Ursid Meteor Shower in 2020
Location of the Ursid (URS) radiant on December 21/22, looking slightly east (right) of due north. The Ursid meteor shower…
Meteor Activity Outlook for December 12-18, 2020
During this period, the moon reaches its new phase on Monday December 14th. At this time, the moon is located near the sun and will be invisible at night. This weekend the slender waning crescent moon will rise at dawn and will not interfere with viewing meteor activity.