JAKARTA – As in previous years, also in 2023 a series of astronomical phenomena will color the skies of Indonesia. One of them is the meteor shower phenomenon which generally attracts many people to be able to witness it.
In 2023, there will be at least 43 meteor showers occurring in Indonesia. However, not everything can be seen perfectly. This is because there is the moon as a source of natural light which can reduce the intensity of observing meteor showers.
The phenomenon of the meteor shower itself can be most observed when the moon is less than 10 days old (before the initial lump / big moon) or more than 25 days old (when the moon enters its final waxing phase).
The following is the weather for meteor showers that can be observed in Indonesia, especially for the Main or Major Meteor Shower types. That is to say a meteor shower with an intensity of more than 10 meteors/hour at the zenith. At least, there are nine such meteor showers to be witnessed in 2023.
Guadrantid
The Quadrantid meteor shower was active from December 27, 2022 to January 13, 2023, peaking on the morning of January 4. This meteor shower can be observed on January 4 at 0300 WIB in the northeast and begins to fade as the sun rises.
The meteor shower gets its name from the radiant located in the asterism quadrans muralis, which is currently part of the constellation Bootes. The source of this meteor shower is from asteroid 2003 eh1 and comet c/1490 y1. The intensity at the zenith reaches 110 meteors/hour with speeds reaching 147,600 km/hour.
Lyris
This meteor shower gets its name from the radiant found in the constellation Lyra. The source of this meteor shower comes from comet c/1861 g1 (Thatcher). The intensity at the zenith reaches 18 meteors/hour with speeds reaching 176,400 km/hour.
The lirids are active from 13 April to 1 May, with a peak in the early hours of 23 April. This meteor shower can be observed from April 22 at 10:30 p.m. in the northeast, culminates in the north at 04:00 WIB, and fades out in the northwest at sunrise.
Eta- Aquarius
With zenith intensities reaching 50 meteors/hour and velocities reaching 237,600 km/hour, the Eta-aquaroid meteor shower was active from April 18 to May 28, peaking around April 6. This meteor shower can be observed on May 6 at 0300 WIB in the east and begins to fade as the sun rises.
The meteor shower gets its name from the radiant found in the star Eta-Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius. The source of this meteor shower comes from comet 1p/Halley which orbits the sun with a period of 76 years.
Delta- Aquaroid (Delta- Aquaroid South/ Delta- Aquaroid South)
The meteor shower gets its name from the radiant located in the star delta-aquarii in the constellation Aquarius. The addition of the word “south” indicates that the trajectory of this meteor shower is in the southern hemisphere, different from the Eta-aquaroids found on the celestial equator and the Lota-aquaroids found in the northern hemisphere.
The source of this meteor shower comes from comet 96p/machholz which orbits the sun with a period of 5.3 years. The intensity at the zenith reaches 25 meteors/hour with speeds reaching 147,600 km/hour. Delta aquariid is active from July 12 to August 24 and peaked on July 31 in the early morning hours. This meteor shower can be observed on July 30 in the southeast after sunset, culminates around 02:00 WIB in the south, and fades out in the southwest as the sun rises.
Perseid
This meteor shower gets its name from the radiant found in the constellation Perseus. the source of this meteor shower comes from comet 109p/swift tuttle which orbits the sun with a period of 133 years. The intensity at the zenith reaches 100 meteors/hour with speeds reaching 212,400 km/hour.
The Perseids are active from July 17 to August 25 and peak around August 13 at dawn. This meteor shower can be observed on August 13 in the northeast at midnight, culminating in the north at 0500 WIB and fading in the northwest at sunrise.
Orionidas
The meteor shower gets its name from the radiant in the constellation Orion. The source of this meteor shower comes from comet 1p/Halley which orbits the sun with a period of 76 years.
The intensity at the zenith reaches 20 meteors/hour with speeds reaching 237,600 km/hour. Orionid becomes active from October 2 to November 8 and peaks around October 22 at dawn. This meteor shower can be observed on October 21 in the east around 2200 WIB, culminating in the north at 0400 WIB and fading in the northwest as the sun rises.
Leonid
This meteor shower gets its name from the radiant found in the constellation Leo. the source of this meteor shower comes from comet 55p/tempel tuttle which orbits the sun with a period of 33 years. The intensity at the zenith varies between 10-15 meteors/hour with velocities reaching 255,600 km/hour.
Leonid is active from November 6 to December 1 and peaked around November 18 in the morning. The meteor shower can be seen on November 18 at midnight from the east and fades in the north as the sun rises.
Geminides
Leonid is active from December 4 to 20 and peaked around December 15 in the morning. This meteor shower can be observed on December 14 at 20:30 WIB from the northeast, culminating at 02:00 WIB in the north and fading in the northwest as the sun rises.
This meteor shower gets its name from the radiant found in the constellation Gemini. The source of this meteor shower comes from the asteroid 3200 phaeton which orbits the sun with a period of 1.4 years. Intensity at zenith reaches 150 meteors/hour with velocities reaching 126,000 km/hour
Urs
Finally, there is the Ursid meteor shower which is active from December 16 to 26 and peaks around December 23 in the morning. This meteor shower can be observed on December 23 at 01:00 from the north and fades in the north with sunrise. Although unfortunately the observers who are located south of 5°ls cannot witness this phenomenon.
The meteor shower itself is named after the radiant found in the constellation Ursa Minor. The source of this meteor shower comes from comet 8p/tuttle which orbits the sun with a period of 13.6 years. And the intensity at the zenith reaches 10 meteors/hour with speeds reaching 118,800 km/hour.
Minor meteor shower
In addition to the nine major meteor showers above, another 34 meteor showers that will color Indonesian skies throughout 2023 are minor meteor showers.
This meteor shower has an intensity of less than or equal to 10 meteors/hour and varies at the zenith. Minor meteor showers can be divided into three, namely class II, class III and class IV.
Class II is a collection of meteor showers with an intensity of less than 10 meteors/hour. Where there will be about 12 such meteor showers occurring in Indonesia throughout 2023.
Then there is Class III, a collection of meteor showers whose intensity varies, and there will be six of them appearing in Indonesia throughout 2023. And finally Class IV, a group of meteor showers with an intensity below 5 meteors/hour but which can sometimes reach more than 10 meteors/hour. This type of meteor shower will occur quite frequently, i.e. 16 times during 2023.
