The September Lyncids meteor shower
Key facts
- Peak
- around 13 September
- Active
- about 10 September to 8 October
- Rate at peak (ZHR)
- about 3
- Speed
- 60 km/s
- Radiant
- Lynx (between Capella and the Plough)
- Parent body
- Unknown
Dates shift slightly from year to year. This year's peak is in the events calendar.
The September Lyncids are a weak shower that radiates from Lynx, one of the faintest constellations in the northern sky. They are a good example of the many small showers that video networks have measured precisely in recent decades.
The constellation. Lynx was introduced in the late seventeenth century by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius, who is said to have named it because only someone with the eyesight of a lynx could see its stars. It fills the gap between Capella in Auriga and the Plough in Ursa Major.
What we know. The shower is on the international working list of visual showers, with a peak around 13 September and activity lasting into early October. Its meteors are fast, at about 60 kilometres per second, which means the meteoroids travel on steeply tilted or backward orbits compared with Earth's. The parent body is unknown, although the orbit suggests a long-period comet.
What to expect. Around three meteors an hour at best. The shower overlaps with the September Epsilon Perseids, whose radiant is not far away in Perseus, and with the sporadic background, which is relatively strong in the early mornings of autumn. Telling September Lyncids apart requires noting carefully where each meteor appears to come from.
Viewing from the UK. The radiant is well placed from the UK, rising high in the north-east after midnight and remaining up until dawn. Mid-September nights are dark, often still mild, and suit a long session.
Viewing worldwide. This is a northern shower; the radiant is far enough north that it barely rises from southern temperate latitudes.
Showers of this size will not impress casual watchers, but each one is a separate trail of debris with its own unknown parent, and careful counts help to refine their timing.
Viewing tips
- Watch after midnight, when Lynx is high in the north-east.
- Find the gap between Capella and the front feet of the Great Bear.
- Plot meteors on a chart to separate Lyncids from September Epsilon Perseids.
- Expect fast, mostly faint meteors.
- Combine your watch with the September Epsilon Perseids around 9–13 September.