The Arietids are a strong meteor shower that lasts from May 22 to July 2 each year, and peaks on June 7. The Arietids, along with the Zeta Perseids, are the most intense daylight meteor showers of the year.[3] The source of the shower is unknown, but scientists suspect that they come from the asteroid 1566 Icarus,[3][4] although the orbit also corresponds similarly to 96P/Machholz.[5]
First discovered at Jodrell Bank Observatory in England during the summer of 1947, the showers are caused when the Earth passes through a dense portion of two interplanetary meteoroid streams, producing an average of 60 shooting stars each hour, that originate in the sky from the constellation Aries and the constellation Perseus.[1] However, because both constellations are so close to the Sun when these showers reach their peak, the showers are difficult to view with the naked eye.[3] Some of the early meteors are visible in the very early hours of the morning, usually an hour before dawn.[6] The meteors strike Earth's atmosphere at speeds around 39 km/s.[3]
By June 22 the radiant has migrated to the constellation Taurus (3h 51m +27) which is the same constellation that the Beta Taurids peak on June 28.[11]
