The Virginids are a
meteor shower
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extr ...
. There are many major and minor meteor shower streams that occur during the Virginid Complex,
including the Alpha Virginids, Gamma Virginids,
Eta Virginids, Theta Virginids, Iota Virginids,
Lambda Virginids,
Mu Virginids, Pi Virginids, and Psi Virginids,
and March Virginids,
emanating mostly from the constellation
Virgo between February and May.
Collectively, the shower normally lasts from late January to mid-April
and into early May,
peaking in March and April,
with one to two meteors per hour on average.
The main
radiant
Radiant may refer to:
Computers, software, and video games
* Radiant (software), a content management system
* GtkRadiant, a level editor created by id Software for their games
* Radiant AI, a technology developed by Bethesda Softworks for '' ...
shifts southeastwards from central
Leo in late January to central
Virgo near
Spica in mid-May.
Alpha Virginids
The Alpha Virginids occur between March 10 and May 6, peaking between April 7 and April 18, with five to ten meteors per hour. They were first detected in 1895.
Gamma Virginids
The North and South Gamma Virginids are a slow-moving minor meteor shower stream,
although the May Gamma Virginids and Daytime Gamma Virginids are faster-moving.
The source of the North and South Gamma Virginid streams are thought to be
2002 FC and
2003 BD44
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
, respectively.
It usually spans from April 5 to April 21, peaking on April 14 and April 15, with less than five meteors per hour. It was first discovered in 1895.
Eta Virginids
The Eta Virginids occur between February 24 and March 27, peaking around March 18 with only one to two meteors per hour. The shower was first detected in 1961.
Theta Virginids
The Theta Virginids occur between March 10 and April 21, peaking around March 20, with only one to three meteors per hour. The shower was first observed in 1850 and identified in 1948.
Iota Virginids
The Iota Virginids are a minor daytime meteor shower stream.
Lambda Virginids
The Lambda Virginids are a minor meteor shower stream.
Mu Virginids
The Mu virginids are a minor meteor shower stream, visible in April and early May. The shower typically lasts from April 1 to May 12, peaking around April 24 to April 25. Its radiant is near
Libra, peaking with seven to ten meteors per hour.
Pi Virginids
The Pi Virginids occur between February 13 and April 8, peaking between March 3 and March 9, with two to five meteors per hour. The shower was first observed in 1908 and identified in 1948.
Psi Virginids
The Psi Virginids are a minor daytime meteor shower stream.
March Virginids
The March Virginids are a minor meteor shower stream; the source of the Northern March Virginids is thought to be
1998 SJ70
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
.
The
Beta Leonids
Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...
, lasting from February 14 to April 25, peaking around March 20 with three to four meteors per hour, were also referred to as the "March Virginids".
References
{{Meteor showers
Meteor showers
Virgo (constellation)
January events
February events
March events
April events
May events