The Plough Asterism

 

The Plough Asterism;
Canon 600d DSLR and EOS 18-55mm zoom lens on a Skywatcher Gti EQ mount.
Image credit: Pip Stakkert.

" The team was out on mass on the night of the predicted meteor maximum, to capture a Lyrid Meteor or two. Unfortunately, we didn't see one but we did get lots of light-subs of the 'Plough Asterism', part of  Ursa Major, the Great Bear Constellation. However, the LVST software defined radio at the JPO, did pick up lots of radar reflections from Lyrid meteor plasma created by friction in the upper atmosphere somewhere over the Southern France" - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Screen Capture, using Spectrum Lab Software: of a reflected radar beam generated from Dijon, in France. The plasma, created by the Lyrid meteor, probably no bigger than a grain of sand, is opaque to radar and so reflective. The LVST, via its Yagi Aerial, is able to detect such reflections. Interestingly, we had been picking up reflections from Lyrids for a number of days. All of them showed very little frequency spread, implying little to no doppler effects and implying the Lyrid shower was entering the atmosphere from a consistent direction and not moving towards or away from the Jodrell Plank Observatory.