Radiant (meteor shower) Radiant (meteor shower) 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 converge at the radiant. The radiant is the vanishing point of the meteor paths, which are parallel lines in three-dimensional space, as
Point plotting |"x"| from the origin and along the positive direction if "x"≥0, and the other direction otherwise. In the same way one picks the point on the "y" axis corresponding to the number "y". The line parallel to the "y" axis going through the first point and the line parallel to the "x" axis going through the second point will intersect at precisely one point, which will be called the point with coordinates ("x", "y"). Point plotting Point plotting is an elementary mathematical skill required in analytic geometry. Invented by René Descartes and originally used to locate positions on military maps,