The Camelopardalids meteor shower
Key facts
- Peak
- around 24 May, only in some years
- Active
- around 23–25 May, when it appears
- Rate at peak (ZHR)
- usually none; about 15 at the 2014 display
- Speed
- about 16–20 km/s
- Radiant
- Camelopardalis (between the Pole Star and the Plough)
- Parent body
- Comet 209P/LINEAR
Dates shift slightly from year to year. This year's peak is in the events calendar, and the meteor-shower planner shows how high the radiant climbs from where you live, night by night.
The Camelopardalids are remembered for the shower that might have been. In May 2014 a new meteor shower was forecast that some predictions said could be a storm. What arrived was a modest but genuine display, and the science it produced was valuable.
The parent comet. Comet 209P/LINEAR was discovered in 2004 by an automated sky survey searching for near-Earth asteroids. It is a small, faint comet with an orbit of about five years. In 2012, calculations showed that Jupiter's gravity had moved its orbit so that dust trails it had shed during the 1800s and early 1900s would cross Earth's path on 24 May 2014. Forecasts ranged from a weak shower to hundreds of meteors an hour, with a consensus of one or two a minute.
What happened. Observers in North America, where the event fell in darkness, saw far fewer meteors than hoped: the rate peaked at about 15 an hour. Radar and video networks showed why. The dust was there, right on schedule, but most of it was made of very small particles, producing meteors around magnitude 6 or 7, too faint for the naked eye. The comet itself is weak, and seems to have released little coarse dust in the past. A few bright Camelopardalids were seen, and many were captured on camera and by radar.
Why so slow? The comet's orbit is very similar to Earth's in direction and tilt, so the dust almost catches Earth up from behind. It enters the atmosphere at about 16 to 20 kilometres per second, among the slowest of any shower. Slow meteors have less energy and so glow more faintly for their size.
What to expect. In most years nothing. Further encounters with the comet's trails are possible in some future years, and forecasters will give notice.
Viewing. The radiant lies in Camelopardalis, the Giraffe, a large, faint constellation near the Pole Star. It is circumpolar from the UK, so it never sets, and the whole night is usable if a return is predicted.
Viewing tips
- Check forecasts: this shower appears only when Earth meets one of the comet's trails.
- Look anywhere in the sky; trace meteors back towards the area near the Pole Star.
- Expect slow, faint meteors, so choose the darkest site you can reach.
- Run a camera: video caught far more Camelopardalids than eyes did in 2014.
- In northern Britain, short May nights leave little darkness, so plan around the darkest hour.
Read about the parent: Comet 209P/LINEAR, and the other comets behind meteor showers.