Meteor shower to be visible in Azerbaijan

A "?-Puppid" meteor shower will be visible in April, with its peak activity expected between April 22 and 24, AzerNEWS reports.

The Department of Astrophysics at the Faculty of Physics of Baku State University notes that the meteor shower is observed more clearly in the Southern Hemisphere, though under favorable conditions it can sometimes be seen from lower latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

The "?-Puppids" occur when Earth passes through dust particles left behind by the comet 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup. This comet orbits the Sun roughly every five years and releases large amounts of small particles during each approach. When Earth crosses a dense region of this debris, a meteor shower becomes visible.

One of the most notable features of this meteor stream is its unpredictability: in some years almost no meteors are observed, while in others sudden outbursts may occur, producing dozens of meteors per hour.

These meteors enter Earth's atmosphere at a relatively moderate speed of about 18 km per second. Compared to faster showers such as the Lyrids, this lower velocity can make them appear slower and leave longer-lasting trails. The radiant of the meteor shower is located in the southern constellation Puppis, which is why it is best observed from the Southern Hemisphere.

In Azerbaijan, including Baku, observation is considered difficult because the radiant remains very close to or below the southern horizon. However, under very clear skies and from locations with an unobstructed southern view, a few meteors may still be visible near the horizon.

The best time for observation is during nighttime hours, especially after midnight.

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