MetaFilter posts tagged with astronomy and meteors

The Leonid Meteor Shower 2009

nickyskye — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:34:18 -0800

NASA's Fluxtimator helps calculate the meteor shower activity in your area. There will be one of the biggest meteor shower events of our lifetime, the Leonid Meteor shower of 2009. Start time: this Monday November 16, 2009 at 11:00pm EST. End Time: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 4:00am EST (best 2am to 4 am EST). An Atomic Age song in mp3 to celebrate: What Is A Shooting Star. What Is A Shooting Star, written by Hy Zaret and Lou Singer and originally recorded by Tom Glazer for the 1959 album Space Songs. National Geographic says, "you may see anywhere from 30 to 300 shooting stars an hour, depending.." NASA and Caltech say up to 500 an hour. Quoting Orin K, a friendly, generously informative astronomy geek on FaceBook: "If you can see stars directly over head, you will see the brighter meteors only. It's best to get out of town or go to a larger park with trees If you are interested in finding a USA or Canada dark sky site near you, check out this site:http://cleardarksky.com/csk/ and an interesting Calif example observing spot off Rte 40- http://cleardarksky.com/c/AmbyCtCAkey.html?1 Find this on google maps with satellite and terrain views. Use the light pollution map choice to find dark areas near you. Use the sites by state or miles, mouse over pins for site name, dbl click to find next 48 hr forecast of seeing conditions. Black and blue pins are darker sites. Makes Maps, etc. Also, google and install - Cartes du Ciel - free software. Also, well before you leave, check out ( when it is working! ) - the GOES 12 live view satellite 6 hr visible and infrared 6 hr animation to see the cloud flow patterns in your area of interest: http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/goeseastconus.html Get advice from local astronomy clubs. Take Lawn Chairs or thick foam pads, sleeping bags, layered clothing, wool caps, hand warmers, warm drinks. camera, 24mm lens at f2.8 with 20 second or more exposure, on tripod, and shutter cable trigger or 10 second count down shutter release. No binoculars or telescopes needed - just look up. The head stars of Constellation Leo will be rising after the Gemini Twins and the planet Mars in the northeast after midnight. Record brightness and direction of travel. Do clear nights Nov 16-19, but 11PM to dawn on 17 into 18 is best. Also think badly of ground fog, local light domes from cities, farmyard lights. As Ever, Orin, near Chicago." What do the colors under the "light pollution" column mean? Viewing suggestions in California l on the East Coast. The most famous depiction of the 1833 Leonid meteor showers. Previously

“A most dread portent took place, the sun gave forth its light without brightness.”

stbalbach — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:33:17 -0800

The Atlantic has an interesting article about the high probability of "space rocks" hitting the earth, possibly as high as a 1 in 10 chance of a major catastrophe each century. Not a new theme, but the article has some new developments suggesting it is more common than once thought. Includes a 10 minute video.

Great Balls of Fire!

spock — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 10:25:52 -0800

Fireballs are not altogether uncommon. They are often associated with known meteor showers (and other times not). They are sometimes "earth crosser" asteroids, cometary debris, or simply man-made space junk. Sometimes they are extremely well documented. The March 7, 2003 Park Forest fireball/meteorite (pdf) was recovered and recorded by police car cameras: (AVIs: 1, 2, 3) Perhaps the most incredible is the one that got away on August 10, 1972. Recorded by many still and movie cameras as it was seen in daylight over the Grand Tetons, it was also recorded by a previously secret satellite during it's 1-1/2 minute skip off the earth's atmosphere. See also: How to observe, and report fireballs.

Shooting Stars

digaman — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 09:32:47 -0800

Step away from the computer. Go outside. Have a look. The annual Perseid meteor shower is gracing our skies for the next 48 hours, looking better than ever, as Earth passes through a filament trailing from a comet's tail. (Hopefully, the comet won't smash into us in 2126.)

June 2004...The Beginning Of The End?

lsd4all — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 12:19:25 -0800

this is the end as we know it. Aussie Bloke describes upcoming catastrophic meteor showers. A mysterious Australian astronomer is ranting about something earth shattering in on the horizon, odd naval fleet movement, strange economic activity and interesting meteor activity. Truth or hoax, What does it all mean?

Perseid meteor shower

tomcosgrave — Tue, 12 Aug 2003 07:13:16 -0800

Perseid shower will peak in the (very) small hours of tomorrow morning...
We're in for a treat this year because Mars, at the closest it has been to Earth in almost 60,000 years, is also in sight. But the moon might cause smaller, fainter Perseid objects to be all but invisibile. If you're in Europe or North America, or elsewhere in the north hemisphere, you should be able to see something...

Leonid Meteor Storm 2002

y2karl — Sat, 16 Nov 2002 23:35:06 -0800

They're back--and promise to as brighter or brighter than last year:
NASA scientists' predictions for the 2002 Leonid meteor storm.

Such meteor storms rarely happen in consecutive years, but 2001 and 2002 are exceptions. Experts have just released their predictions: Depending on where you live (Europe and the Americas are favored) Leonid meteor rates in 2002 should equal or exceed 2001 levels.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the Moon will be full when the storm begins on Nov. 19th. Glaring moonlight will completely overwhelm many faint shooting stars. Indeed, I often hear that the Moon is going to "ruin the show."

We shall see.

DailyBread — Mon, 12 Aug 2002 11:19:05 -0800

Perseid Meteor Shower-(Peaks Sunday & Monday) "The August Perseids are among the strongest of the readily observed annual meteor showers, and at maximum activity can yield 50 or 60 meteors per hour. However, observers with exceptional sky conditions often record even larger numbers. Also, during an overnight watch, the Perseids are capable of producing a number of bright, flaring and fragmenting meteors, which leave fine trains in their wake."

sandor — Tue, 20 Nov 2001 12:29:50 -0800

Bloink! Leonids touchdown in northwest Indiana.

y2karl — Tue, 13 Nov 2001 19:24:00 -0800

On Nov. 18, 2001, sky watchers somewhere will see a dazzling storm of Leonid meteors. And Leonid Observing Tips. It's the rainy season where I live so I'm pessimistic about my chances but maybe some of you have a shot at seeing them. Posted here as a PSA.