APOD: Lyrid Meteor Streak (2020 Apr 23)

[APOD Robot]

Lyrid Meteor Streak

Explanation: Earth's annual Lyrid Meteor Shower peaked before dawn yesterday, as our fair planet plowed through debris from the tail of long-period comet Thatcher. In crisp, clear and moonless predawn skies over Brown County, Indiana this streak of vaporizing comet dust briefly shared a telephoto field of view with stars and nebulae along the Milky Way. Alpha star of the constellation Cygnus, Deneb lies near the bright meteor's path along with the region's dark interstellar clouds of dust and the recognizable glow of the North America nebula (NGC 7000). The meteor's streak points back to the shower's radiant, its apparent point of origin on the sky. That would be in the constellation Lyra, near bright star Vega and off the top edge of the frame.

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[orin stepanek]

We have incoming; aw it burned up! Looks like it was
of a fair size to light up like that; nice catch by the
photographer!

[sillyworm 2]

We gave it a short attempt... around 12 midnight...up north past the main light pollution....crisp cold evening....25 minutes in...nothing... back home.Had it not been 27 degrees....maybe we would have stayed longer.Nothing like up at our Michigan residence...zero light pollution.

[neufer]

Solomon Eagle striding through plague ridden London with a brazier on his head.

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<<Streaking is the act of running nude through a public area for publicity, as a prank, as a dare, or as a form of protest. Streaking is often associated with sporting events, but can occur in more secluded areas. Historical forerunners of modern-day streakers include the neo-Adamites who travelled naked through towns and villages in medieval Europe, and the 17th-century Quaker Solomon Eccles who went nude through plague ridden London with a burning brazier on his head, trying to fumigate the air.

Fines of between £10 and £50 were imposed on streakers by British and Irish magistrates in the early 1970s. The offences used for prosecution were typically minor, such as the violation of park regulations. Nevertheless, the chief law in force against streaking in England and Wales at that time remained the 16th-century vagrancy law, for which the punishment in 1550 had been whipping.

The term "streaking" was popularized by a reporter for a local Washington, D.C. news station as he watched a "mass nude run" take place at the University of Maryland in 1973. That nude run had 533 participants. As the collected mass of nude students exited Bel Air dorm, the reporter, whose voice was broadcast live over the station via a pay phone connection exclaimed... "they are streaking past me right now. It's an incredible sight!" The next day it was out on the Associated Press wire as "streaking" and had nationwide coverage.>>