The Virginids are a meteor shower. There are many meteor showers that fall under the name Virginids, Including Eta Virginids, Theta Virginids, Alpha Virginids, and Pi Virginids. Leonid Meteor Shower A meteor shower, also known as a meteor storm, is a celestial event where a large number of meteors are seen within a very short period of time. ...
Although it had long been known that abundant activity was present from the Virginid area during March and April, Hoffmeister's study was the first to attempt to identify the individual streams.
The first apparent observation of the Theta Virginids was made by Robert P. Greg and A. Herschel during the interval of 1850-1867, when it became apparent that a radiant was active during March 5-17, from RA=190 deg, DEC=+1 deg.
The first orbit represents that of the stream detected during the 1961-1965 survey, which was referred to as the "Northern Virginids." The other orbits are from the 1968-1969 survey and possess nearly identical durations, though the dates of nodal passage and the radiant positions were different.
The Virginids are a stream of very long duration being active from early February until late May. Virginid meteors will appear to emanate from a very large radiant 15° in RA by 10° in Dec and will travel at a fairly slow speed across the sky.
The Virginid stream has several maxima where the ZHR may reach between 5 and 10 meteors per hour but I can find no listing for an actual date of maximum for any of the sub-maxima.
Virginid meteors should be easy to identify with there slow speed and large radiant size.
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