China News Service Client, Beijing, April 23 (Reporter Shangguan Yun) In the past few days, the Lyra Meteor Shower has once again brushed the screen: many netizens said they are very looking forward to this historic meteor shower, and even made an early viewing strategy.

　　Perhaps it was influenced by some film and television dramas. In the eyes of many people, the meteor shower is a symbol of romance and beauty, and it is also the time to make a wish. But in fact, the meteor shower is really beautiful in the night sky, but the "wish" statement is just a beautiful imagination. Moreover, the formation of the meteor shower has little to do with the constellation.

Ancient Lyra Meteor Shower

　　Lyra is one of the most splendid constellations in the Milky Way in the northern sky. It is named after a harp shaped like ancient Greece. It is also one of the 48 constellations listed by the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy.

Meteor shower data map: April 20, 2018 local time, Fehmarn, Germany, Lyra meteor shower across the sky.

　　Although it is small in size, it is not difficult to recognize: the protagonist on the side is the famous Vega, very bright. In general, Lyra is easy to see on summer nights in the northern hemisphere.

　　Compared with the three traditional meteor shower quadrant meteor showers, Perseus meteor shower, and Gemini meteor shower, the flow of Lyra meteor shower is not large, but there are more bright meteors and fire meteors, which are active meteor showers in the northern hemisphere in spring.

　　Generally speaking, the active period of this meteor shower lasts from April 16 to 25 every year. In history, they once had a "brilliant record" of 60-100 meteors per hour breaking the sky.

　　"The Lyra meteor shower is one of the oldest known meteor showers, with a history of 2,700 years of observation." Gao Shuang, a doctor of astronomy and popular science writer, said that the earliest recorded meteor shower in Lyra can be traced back to 687 BC. There are records.

How did the meteor shower form?

　　It is generally believed that the production of meteor showers is the result of friction between "meteoroids" and the Earth's atmosphere. The fundamental reason for the formation of meteor showers is due to the "brokenness" of comets.

　　Comets are mainly composed of ice and dust. In layman's terms, it is like a "snowball" filled with dust and sand particles, starting from the edge of the solar system and circling around the sun, taking a long and thin oval track.

Data map: On January 4, the hills and star tracks on the Peacock River in Korla, Xinjiang Bayinguoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture (superimposed synthesis). On that day, the meteor shower in the quadrant ushered in tremendously. China News Service issued by Xue Bing

　　"When the comet is close to the sun, because the temperature of the sun is extremely high, they will have a long comet tail in the direction away from the sun, and the whole looks like a 'broom'." Gao Shuang said that in the process, The components of the "snow" in the comet evaporate, and the dust particles will be left floating in space.

　　This is like a big truck driving out of a construction site, driving down some sand while driving. The earth revolves around the sun, and once a year, it will pass through the "sand" left by comets. Some "sand" meets the earth and enters the atmosphere to burn and glow. This is the meteor shower.

　　Due to the relatively fixed direction of these dust particles and the like into the earth, the meteor shower looks like it burst from a certain point in the night sky. This point or this small area of ​​sky is called the radiation point of the meteor shower. The meteor shower is usually named after the constellation in the sky area where the meteor shower radiation point is located.

Long and rich history of observation

　　The meteor shower was also noticed and observed by humans very early.

　　In ancient China, there were about 180 meteor shower-related records, among which there were about 9 meteor shower records in Lyra. For example, "Lu Zhuanggong's seventh summer and April Xinmao night, the stars disappeared, and the stars fell like rain."

　　"The Leo Meteor Shower in 1833 is probably the most spectacular meteor shower in history. During the 9-hour meteor shower, according to estimates, everyone can see hundreds of thousands of meteors." Gao Shuang introduced.

　　At present, in the history of human observation, the seven most famous meteor showers in the world include Leo Meteor Shower, Gemini Meteor Shower, Perseid Meteor Shower, Orion Meteor Shower, Taurus Meteor Shower, Taurus Meteor Shower, and one is Lyra Meteor Shower.

Data map: In the early morning of August 14, 2019, the star trail map and the Perseid meteor under multiple exposures in Yangtiangang National Forest Park, Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province. From the evening of August 13 to the early morning of 14th, the Perseid meteor shower, one of the three major meteor showers in the northern hemisphere, known as "Tears of Saint Laurent," struck as romantically as expected. Photo by Zhao Chunliang

　　Among them, the Leo meteor shower is more spectacular. Gao Shuang said that there will be a grand event in about 33 years, when it will really feel as if the meteor is falling like rain in the sky. Other meteor showers are not so spectacular. It is good to see 10 in one night in a very good observation environment.

Make a wish come true? This is just a beautiful imagination

　　Probably because of the "face value" of the meteor shower, shortly after it was discovered, many beautiful legends became popular.

　　Among them, there is a saying that is interesting and romantic: because meteors pass by accident, seize the time at the moment to make a wish to the meteor, so that they can die with your wish, so that the wish will be realized.

　　It sounds very touching, but this is just a conjecture made by people in the past when they did not understand science, and they represented a kind of wish.

　　"Wishing certainly doesn't make any sense. As mentioned before, 'sand grains' burning into the atmosphere has nothing to do with people's lives. In fact, there are many 'sand grains' burning into the earth's atmosphere every day, but we may feel No, "Gao Shuang said.

　　What if I want to watch the meteor shower? Gao Shuang said that in general, the brightness of meteors is very dim. If there are a few places in the city where the lights are bright, the stars cannot be seen, of course, it is unlikely to see meteor showers. Therefore, watching the meteor shower is going to a relatively barren place in the wild. Due to weather and other reasons, it may even be possible to wait for several hours without seeing meteor showers. (Finish)