File:Radiantrp.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
radiant
Sign in to saveAlso known as apparent radiant
the point from which meteors appear to originate
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, radiant is referenced by 91 other articles, and connects out to Coma Berenicids, Earth and comet.
It is catalogued under the topic Meteor showers.
Its subject is documented across 46 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- meteor shower
- Subclass of
- point
Show 2 more facts
- facet of
- meteor shower
- described by source
- National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Image of a meteor shower, with the radiant marked by 'ᴏ' The radiant or apparent radiant of a meteor shower is the celestial point in the sky from which (from the point of view of a terrestrial observer) the paths of meteors appear to originate. The Perseids, for example, are meteors which appear to come from a point within the constellation of Perseus.
Meteor paths appear at random locations in the sky, but the apparent paths of two or more meteors from the same shower will diverge from the radiant. The radiant is the vanishing point of the meteor paths, which are parallel lines in three-dimensional space, as seen from the perspective of the observer, who views a two-dimensional projection against the sky. The geometric effect is identical to crepuscular rays, where parallel sunbeams appear to diverge.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “radiant” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.