May’s Mooned-out Meteor Shower and a Solar Activity Update

May 2020  :  Dave Huestis

I always look forward to observing a good display of shooting stars. I’ve watched countless “burning rocks” plummet through the Earth’s atmosphere in the 45 years I’ve been an amateur astronomer. The experience doesn’t get old, except perhaps when the expected peak of activity falls far short of forecasts.

I hope the weather gods cooperated with April’s Lyrid meteor shower back on the night of April 22-23. Unfortunately, the May Eta Aquarids on the night of May 5 to the early morning of the 6th will be severely hampered by an almost Full Supermoon, the last of 2020’s supermoons. The meteors, remnants of Halley’s Comet, enter the Earth’s upper atmosphere head-on at 41 miles per second. We can expect to see no more than 10-15 swift and yellow shooting stars per hour under a bright moonlit sky.

(Note: In researching the shower characteristics for this May’s Eta Aquarids among several sources, I did find discrepancies regarding the peak morning of activity. Some sources had the peak occurring on the morning of the 5th, while others stated the 7th. The Eta Aquarids do present a spread out peak, so depending upon the weather I would recommend observing on either of the three mornings if you have the time. Regardless, the bright Moon will affect your meteor counts. At least Aquarius will be above the southeastern horizon with the Moon in the southwest. I’m trying to be optimistic here!)

The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation of Aquarius, not a very prominent star pattern. Around 4:00 a.m. Aquarius will be located about 12 degrees above the east-southeast horizon. The shower’s radiant point is in the Water Urn asterism (looks like a Y-shaped group of stars). While the meteors emanate from this region of the sky, scan around the entire sky to maximize your chances of observing one.

It’s even possible you may see a few bright “earthgrazers,” shooting stars that blaze long and slow along the horizon. And because the Eta Aquarids are very fast meteors, forty percent of them leave long persisting dust trains when they disintegrate. So, despite the bright moonlight, all is not lost for the Eta Aquarids this year.

The Full Moon on the 7th at 6:45a.m. goes by several names, many of which are derived from Native American cultures. May’s full moon is known as the Full Flower Moon because spring flowers were heralding a new season, Other names less frequently used are Full Corn Planting Moon and the Milk Moon.

Solar Minimum Endures

Since my last update on the Sun’s Deep Minimum persistence, sunspot activity on the solar disk continues to be low. Here is the data for the last five years:

Beginning on January 1, 2020, one group of sunspots was of the new Cycle 25 and was present on the solar disk for nine days. It was a new cycle region because it formed at a high latitude on the solar surface and its magnetic polarity was reversed from Cycle 24. The most individual spots that appeared on any given day during the nine-day run was three.

Spot activity then ceased for 14 days with the Sun being spotless once again.

Then for another nine-day period beginning on January 24, an old Cycle 24 spot group formed. This activity was followed by 34 spotless days, after which a new Cycle 25 group formed and lived for just three short days.

This back and forth of the appearance of new and old solar cycle spots is typical of cycle transition. It is important to note that near the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next, spot groups of both polarities may and do coincide.

Beginning on March 10 there were eight spotless days. Then a single spot group formed and only survived for one day. It was a new Cycle 25 spot. Eleven spotless days followed. The last two days of March ended with another new Cycle 25 spot group.

While the appearance of reversed magnetic polarity spots seems to be increasing, who knows what our life-giving star has in store for us in the near future.

As I mentioned a few months ago, it is important to monitor our Sun’s activity. Whether solar activity is high or low, extreme ranges in either direction can pose serious risks to life on our precious Earth.  A recent report on SpaceWeather.com reported that cosmic rays are intensifying because during high solar activity coronal mass ejections (CMEs) protect the Earth from this hard radiation, and during solar activity decline the cosmic rays reach Earth and penetrate deep into our atmosphere. In addition, Earth’s weakening magnetic field lines are also contributing to increased cosmic ray incursion. The article stated, “Commercial flight crews traveling over Earth’s poles experience as much as 12% more radiation than they did just a few years ago.”  

Corona virus or cosmic rays. We humans can’t seem to catch a break.

Keep your eyes to the skies and be well.