by bintangkecil on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 | News, World | No Comments

The 2009’s Leonid Meteor shower is expected to peak on Tuesday, November 17th. The shower is expected to be small, but should produce a sprinkling of meteors over the United States. Because the moon will also be in the new phase, this could be the best Leonid shower in several years.

Leonids are bits of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Every 33 years the comet visits the inner solar system and leaves a stream of dusty debris in its wake. Many of these streams have drifted across the November portion of Earth’s orbit.

“We’re predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the Americas, and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.

The first stream is expected to be seen at about 4 am Eastern Time, 1 am Pacific Time.

Region of visibility of the 2009 Leonid outburst:

“A remarkable feature of this year’s shower is that Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of the planet Mars,” says Cooke.

Along with the moon being in the new phase, Mars also happens to be passing by the Leonid radiant at the same time of the shower, making this shower especially visually appealing.

The next stream crossing straddles the hour 2100-2200 UT, shortly before dawn in Indonesia and China. At that time, Earth will pass through a pair of streams laid down by Comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1466 and 1533 AD. The double crossing could yield as many as 300 Leonids per hour.

“Even if rates are only half that number, it would still be one of the best showers of the year,” says Cooke.

Make sure you don’t miss it!

Tags: 2009 leonid meteor, 2009 leonid meteor shower, 2009 meteor shower, Comet Tempel-Tuttle, leonid, leonid meteor shower, leonid perseid meteor shower, leonids, meteor shower, meteor shower november 2009

by nate on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 | Attraction, Entertainment, News, Weather, Weird, World | No Comments

Go outside, it would begin around 1 am (prime time). The brightest object in that direction is the planet Venus. It looks like a star going supernova. Above Venus lies Saturn, and below, near the horizon, is Jupiter. Every 10 minutes or so you’ll see a meteor streak among these planets. The meteors are pieces of Halley’s Comet.

What are meteor showers?

An increase in the number of meteors at a particular time of year is called a meteor shower.

Comets shed the debris that becomes most meteor showers. As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet’s orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower. Depending on where Earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from a particular place in the sky, maybe within the neighborhood of a constellation.

Meteor showers are named by the constellation from which meteors appear to fall, a spot in the sky astronomers call the radiant. For instance, the radiant for the Leonid meteor shower is located in the constellation Leo. The Perseid meteor shower is so named because meteors appear to fall from a point in the constellation Perseus.

What are shooting stars?

“Shooting stars” and “falling stars” are both names that people have used for many hundreds of years to describe meteors — intense streaks of light across the night sky caused by small bits of interplanetary rock and debris called meteoroids crashing and burning high in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Traveling at thousands of miles an hour, meteoroids quickly ignite in searing friction of the atmosphere, 30 to 80 miles above the ground. Almost all are destroyed in this process; the rare few that survive and hit the ground are known as meteorites.

When a meteor appears, it seems to “shoot” quickly across the sky, and its small size and intense brightness might make you think it is a star. If you’re lucky enough to spot a meteorite (a meteor that makes it all the way to the ground), and see where it hits, it’s easy to think you just saw a star “fall.”

How can I best view a meteor shower?

If you live near a brightly lit city, drive away from the glow of city lights and toward the constellation from which the meteors will appear to radiate.

For example, drive north to view the Leonids. Driving south may lead you to darker skies, but the glow will dominate the northern horizon, where Leo rises. Perseid meteors will appear to “rain” into the atmosphere from the constellation Perseus, which rises in the northeast around 11 p.m. in mid-August.

After you’ve escaped the city glow, find a dark, secluded spot where oncoming car headlights will not periodically ruin your sensitive night vision. Look for state or city parks or other safe, dark sites.

Once you have settled at your observing spot, lay back or position yourself so the horizon appears at the edge of your peripheral vision, with the stars and sky filling your field of view. Meteors will instantly grab your attention as they streak by.

How do I know the sky is dark enough to see meteors?

If you can see each star of the Little Dipper, your eyes have “dark adapted,” and your chosen site is probably dark enough. Under these conditions, you will see plenty of meteors.

What should I pack for meteor watching?

Treat meteor watching like you would the 4th of July fireworks. Pack comfortable chairs, bug spray, food and drinks, blankets, plus a red-filtered flashlight for reading maps and charts without ruining your night vision. Binoculars are not necessary. Your eyes will do just fine.

Tags: halley s comet, meteor shower, meteor shower october 2009, meteor shower tips, Orionid, Orionid Meteor Shower, orionid meteor shower 2009

by wildcherry on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 | News, World | No Comments

I’ve posted a video of The Perseid Meteor Shower. It is also called the “Tears of St. Lawrence” because it occurs roughly about the same date as St. Lawrence’s death on August 10.
Astronomers are estimating a double peak this year for viewers in the eastern portion of North America on Wednesday morning the 12th of August 2009. One peak should occur around 1:00 a.m. EST and the other peak around 5:30 a.m. EST.

” The Perseids (pronounced /ˈpɜrsiː.ɨdz/ us dict: pûr′·sē·ĭdz) are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids are so called because the point they appear to come from, called the radiant, lies in the constellation Perseus. Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a meteor stream.

The stream in this case is called the Perseid cloud and it stretches along the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it passed by the Sun. Most of the dust in the cloud today is approximately a thousand years old. However, there is also a relatively young filament of dust in the stream that was pulled off the comet in 1862. The rate of meteors originating from this filament is much higher than for the older part of the stream.” taken from Wikipedia

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