Meteor Activity Outlook for March 29-April 4, 2025

Tiffany Effinger captured this bright fireball on her security camera on November 25, 2024, at 5:42 EST (10:42 UT) from Bakersville, North Carolina USA. ©Tiffany Effinger.

Meteor activity picks up a bit during April as the Lyrids become active during the month. The Lyrids are active from the 15th through the 29th, with a pronounced maximum on the 22nd. Sporadic rates during April are steady as seen from both hemispheres with southern observers enjoying more activity than can be seen from the mid-northern hemisphere. The eta Aquariids will become active the second half of the month, adding a few swift meteors to the late morning scene.

During this period, the moon reaches its new phase on Saturday March 29th. At that time the moon will be close to the sun and will not be visible at night. As the week progresses the waxing crescent moon will enter the evening sky and will begin to interfere with meteor observing during the evening hours, especially during the late stages of this period. The estimated total hourly rates for evening observers this weekend should be near 3 as seen from mid-northern latitudes (45N) and 3 as seen from tropical southern locations (25S). For morning observers, the estimated total hourly rates should be near 7 as seen from mid-northern latitudes (45N) and 10 as seen from tropical southern locations (25S). The actual rates seen will also depend on factors such as personal light and motion perception, local weather conditions, alertness, and experience in watching meteor activity. Note that the hourly rates listed below are estimates as viewed from dark sky sites away from urban light sources. Observers viewing from urban areas will see less activity as only the brighter meteors will be visible from such locations.

The radiant (the area of the sky where meteors appear to shoot from) positions and rates listed below are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning March 29/30. These positions do not change greatly day to day so the listed coordinates may be used during this entire period. Most star atlases (available online and at bookstores and planetariums) will provide maps with grid lines of the celestial coordinates so that you may find out exactly where these positions are located in the sky. I have also included charts of the sky that display the radiant positions for evening, midnight, and morning. The center of each chart is the sky directly overhead at the appropriate hour. These charts are oriented for facing south but can be used for any direction by rotating the charts to the desired direction. A planisphere or computer planetarium program is also useful in showing the sky at any time of night on any date of the year. Activity from each radiant is best seen when it is positioned highest in the sky, either due north or south along the meridian, depending on your latitude. Radiants that rise after midnight will not reach their highest point in the sky until daylight. For these radiants, it is best to view them during the last few hours before dawn. It must be remembered that meteor activity is rarely seen at its radiant position. Rather they shoot outwards from the radiant, so it is best to center your field of view so that the radiant lies toward the edge and not the center. Viewing there will allow you to easily trace the path of each meteor back to the radiant (if it is a shower member) or in another direction if it is sporadic. Meteor activity is not seen from radiants that are located far below the horizon. The positions below are listed in a west to east manner in order of right ascension (celestial longitude). The positions listed first are located further west therefore are accessible earlier in the night while those listed further down the list rise later in the night.

These sources of meteoric activity are expected to be active this week

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The center of the large Anthelion (ANT) radiant is currently located at 13:28 (202) -09. This position lies in southern Virgo, 1 degree northeast of the 1st magnitude star known as Spica (alpha Virginis). This radiant is best placed near 0200 local daylight-saving time (LDST), when it lies on the meridian and is located highest in the southern sky. Rates at this time should be near 2 per hour no matter your location. With an entry velocity of 30 km/sec., the average Anthelion meteor would be of slow velocity.

The eta Ophiuchids (EOP) were discovered by Dr. Peter Jenniskens and his Cameras for All Sky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS). The weak shower is active from March 12 through April 5 with maximum activity occurring on March 18. The current position of this radiant is 18:01 (270) -17. This area of the sky lies in northwestern Sagittarius, 8 degrees south of the 3rd magnitude star known as nu Ophiuchi. This area of the sky is best positioned for viewing during the last dark hour prior to dawn. Hourly rates are expected to always be less than 1 no matter your location. With an entry velocity of 71 km/sec., these meteors would have a swift velocity.

The nu Cygnids (NCY) were discovered by Jürgen Rendtel and Sirko Molau of the international Meteor Organization. These meteors are active from March 22 to April 23 with maximum activity occurring on April 21^st. The current position of this radiant is 19:19 (290) +32, which lies in eastern Lyra, 3 degrees east of the 3^rd magnitude star known as Sulafat (gamma Lyrae). This area of the sky is best positioned for viewing during the last dark hour prior to dawn. Hourly rates are expected to be less than 1 no matter your location. With an entry velocity of 44 km/sec., these meteors would have a medium velocity.

The zeta Cygnids (ZCY) were also discovered by Jürgen Rendtel and Sirko Molau of the international Meteor Organization. These meteors are active from March 21 to May 1st with maximum activity occurring on April 5th. The current position of this radiant is 19:54 (299) +40, which lies in western Cygnus, 4 degrees west of the 2nd magnitude star known as Sadr (gamma Cygni). This area of the sky is best positioned for viewing during the last dark hour prior to dawn. Hourly rates are expected to be less than 1 no matter your location. With an entry velocity of 44 km/sec., these meteors would have a medium velocity.

The delta Pavonids (DPA) were discovered by Michael Buhagiar from Australia in the 1970’s. These meteors are active from March 21 through April 6, with maximum activity occurring on March 31st. The current position of the radiant lies near 20:26 (307) -60. This area of the sky lies in northern Pavo, 4 degrees south of the 2nd magnitude star known as Peacock (alpha Pavonis). These meteors are best seen during the last dark hour prior to dawn when the radiant lies in the southeastern sky. With an entry velocity of 59km/sec., the average meteor from this source would be of fast velocity. Expected rates are less than 1 per hour during this period. Due to the far southern location, these meteors are poorly seen from the northern hemisphere.

Sporadic meteors are those meteors that cannot be associated with any known meteor shower. All meteor showers are evolving and disperse over time to the point where they are no longer recognizable. Away from the peaks of the major annual showers, these sporadic meteors make up the bulk of the activity seen each night. As seen from the mid-northern hemisphere (45N) one would expect to see during this period approximately 5 sporadic meteors per hour during the last hour before dawn as seen from rural observing sites. Evening rates would be near 2 per hour. As seen from the tropical southern latitudes (25S), morning rates would be near 8 per hour as seen from rural observing sites and 2 per hour during the evening hours. Locations between these two extremes would see activity between these listed figures.

The list below offers the information in tabular form of the showers that I feel are within reach of the visual observer to discern. Hourly rates are often less than one, so these sources are rarely listed as visual targets in most meteor shower lists. If you are like me and wish to associate as many meteors as possible with known sources, then you will appreciate these listings. Before listing meteors from these obscure sources, you should attempt to prove these meteors belong to them and are not chance alignments of sporadic meteors. You can note parameters such as duration, length, radiant distance and the elevation of each meteor to help compute the probability of shower association.  It should be remembered that slow meteors can be seen from fast showers, but fast meteors cannot be produced from slow showers. Slower showers are those with velocities less than 35/km per second. Slow meteors can appear from fast showers when they appear close to the radiant or low in the sky. The table located on page 22 of the IMO’s 2025 Meteor Shower Calendar is a big help in aiding in the identification of meteors. If you record the length and duration of each meteor, you can use this chart to check the probability of the meteor belonging to a shower of known velocity. If the angular velocity is similar to the figure in the table, then your meteor probably belongs to that shower. Rates and positions are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning.

You can keep track of the activity of these meteor showers as well as those beyond the limits of visual observing by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal. You can move the sky globe to see different areas of the sky. Colored dots indicate shower meteors while white dots indicate sporadic (random) activity. The large orange disk indicates the position of the sun so little activity will be seen in that area of the sky.

Class Explanation: A scale to group meteor showers by their intensity:

• Class I: the strongest annual showers with Zenith Hourly Rates normally ten or better.
• Class II: reliable minor showers with ZHR’s normally two to ten.
• Class III: showers that do not provide annual activity. These showers are rarely active yet have the potential to produce a major display on occasion.
• Class IV: weak minor showers with ZHR’s rarely exceeding two. The study of these showers is best left to experienced observers who use plotting and angular velocity estimates to determine shower association. These weak showers are also good targets for video and photographic work. Observers with less experience are urged to limit their shower associations to showers with a rating of I to III.
  

Tags: Anthelion Meteors April Meteor Activity April Meteor Showers delta Pavonids eta Ophiuchids March Meteor Activity March Meteor Showers Meteors Nu Cygnids Zeta Cygnids

Robert Lunsford

Bob has been interested in the stars as far back as he can recall His first experience with meteors was a biggie, the 1966 Leonid shower. In 1980, a major awaking occurred. He received a sample copy of Meteor News. He was amazed to learn there was a group actually devoted strictly to meteor observing! He joined the group also started to view some of the minor showers list among the pages of Meteor News. Lastly, he was contracted by Springer Publishing in 2007 to write a book on observing meteors. The book is now available and hopefully will be a useful guide to all interested in the enjoyable field of meteor observing.