Andromedids

The Andromedids meteor shower is associated with Biela's Comet, the showers occurring as Earth passes through old streams left by the comet's tail. The comet was observed to have broken up by 1846; further drift of the pieces by 1852 suggested the moment of breakup was in either 1842 or early 1843, when the comet was near Jupiter. The breakup led to particularly spectacular showers in subsequent cycles (particularly in 1872 and 1885).

Andromedids
Parent body3D/Biela
Radiant
ConstellationUpper Pisces
(South of Triangulum Galaxy and Andromeda)
Right ascension01h 23m
Declination+28°
Properties
Occurs duringSeptember 25 – December 6
Date of peakNovember 6
Velocity18.1 km/s
Zenithal hourly rate<2

In the early 19th century, before the break-up of comet 3D/Biela, the radiant was in Cassiopeia. In the last century the radiant of the modern weaker meteor shower was generally in the constellation of Andromeda as the name of the shower suggests, but due to its age and diffuseness meteors may appear to come from the neighbouring constellations, such as Pisces (near the star Upsilon Piscium), Triangulum and Cassiopeia.

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