Author Topic: Keep a look out for..... (Read 97629 times)

Wally · « **Reply #60 on:** November 07, 2008, 09:35:04 AM »

Quote from: Sybil on November 07, 2008, 07:17:31 AM

Space Weather News for Nov. 6, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

TAURID METEOR SHOWER: The annual Taurid meteor shower is underway and it could be a good show. 2008 is a "swarm year" for the Taurids. Between Nov. 5th and 12th, Earth is due to pass through an unusually dense swarm of gritty debris from parent comet 2P/Encke. When a similar encounter happened in 2005, sky watchers observed a slow drizzle of midnight fireballs for nearly two weeks. Whether 2008 will be as good as 2005, however, remains to be seen. In 2005, the swarm encounter was more central; Earth passed through the middle of the cloud. In 2008, forecasters believe we are closer to the outskirts. How much this will affect the shower, no one knows. The best time to look is during the hours around midnight when the constellation Taurus is high in the sky.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps and photos of the ongoing shower.

These displays always seem to be at their best when I'm sleeping. We did manage to get the kids up early for a better than usual Leonid meteor shower a few years a go. As I recall that one was good at a reasonable hour of around 5 a.m.

Mimi · « **Reply #61 on:** November 07, 2008, 09:40:14 AM »

And I missed the latest fireballs for the same reason!

Mimi · « **Reply #62 on:** November 24, 2008, 04:39:30 PM »

NASA Science News for November 24, 2008

Venus and Jupiter are converging for a spectacular three-way conjunction with the crescent Moon, a rare gathering some astronomers are calling 'the sky show of the year.' Today's story tells when and where to look.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/24nov_skyshow.htm?list984649

Mimi · « **Reply #63 on:** December 09, 2008, 06:57:38 PM »

NASA Science News for December 9, 2008

Not all full Moons are the same. This Friday's is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/09dec_fullmoon.htm?list984649

Mimi · « **Reply #64 on:** December 12, 2008, 11:10:37 AM »

Space Weather News for Dec. 12, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

WEEKEND METEORS: Earth is entering a stream of debris from extinct comet 3200 Phaethon, and this is causing the annual Geminid meteor shower. The shower is expected to peak on Dec. 13th and 14th. Normally, as many as 100 meteors per hour shoot out of the constellation Gemini, but this year a bright Moon will interfere with the display, reducing hourly counts to only 20 or so. That's could still be a nice show. For best results, watch the sky from 10 pm local time on Saturday night (Dec 13th) until dawn on Sunday morning (Dec. 14th).

BIGGEST FULL MOON OF THE YEAR: The Moon that's causing trouble for the Geminid display happens to be biggest full Moon of 2008, as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than lesser Moons we've seen earlier this year. An astronomer would say this is a "perigee Moon" because it occurs at perigee, the side of the Moon's elliptical orbit closest to Earth. Go outside tonight and take a look. The meteor rate may be low, but the lunar beauty index is off the charts.

Mimi · « **Reply #65 on:** February 05, 2009, 03:14:20 PM »

Space Weather News for Feb. 5, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

COMET TAIL: Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3) is approaching Earth and putting on a good show for amateur astronomers. Yesterday, Feb. 4th, observers witnessed a "disconnection event." A gust of solar wind tore off part of the comet's tail in plain view of backyard telescopes. Photos of the event are featured on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com. Activity in the comet's tail and atmosphere will become even easier to see in the weeks ahead as Lulin nears closest approach on Feb. 24th. At that time the comet will lie only 38 million miles from Earth and it should be visible to the naked eye. In the meantime, please note that Feb. 5th-7th, is an especially good time to find Comet Lulin in the pre-dawn sky. The comet is gliding beautifully close to the naked-eye double star Zubenelgenubi. Just point your binoculars at the double star and the comet will materialize right beside it. Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos, sky maps and more information.

Mimi · « **Reply #66 on:** February 08, 2009, 06:38:14 AM »

Space Weather News for Feb. 8, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

DUSKY LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Monday, Feb. 9th, the full Moon will pass through the outskirts of Earth's shadow, producing a penumbral lunar eclipse. The event will be visible to the naked eye as a dusky shading of the northern half of the Moon. Maximum eclipse occurs between the hours of 1400 and 1520 UT (6:00 am - 7:20 am PST). The timing favors observers in east Asia, Australia, Hawaii and western parts of North America. Visit http://spaceweather.com for a visibility map, animations, and more information.

COMET LULIN UPDATE: The plasma tail of Comet Lulin, torn off by a solar wind gust on Feb. 4th, has already grown back. Also, observers in dark-sky locations report that the comet is now visible to the naked eye as a pale "fuzzy patch" in the constellation Libra before dawn. The comet is brightening as it approaches Earth for a 38-million-mile close encounter on Feb. 24th. See the latest images in the Comet Lulin Photo Gallery: http://spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_lulin_page7.htm

Mimi · « **Reply #67 on:** February 16, 2009, 02:40:34 PM »

Quote

Space Weather News for Feb. 16, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

WEEKEND FIREBALLS: A daylight fireball over Texas on Sunday, Feb. 15th, triggered widespread reports that debris from a recent satellite collision was falling to Earth. Those reports were premature. Researchers have studied video of the event and concluded that the object was more likely a natural meteoroid about one meter wide traveling more than 20 km/s--much faster than orbital debris. Meteoroids hit Earth every day, and the Texas fireball was apparently one of them.

There's more: On Friday, Feb. 13th, people in central Kentucky heard loud booms, felt their houses shake, and saw a fireball streaking through the sky. This occurred scant hours after another fireball at least 10 times brighter than a full Moon lit up the sky over Italy. Although it is tempting to attribute these events to debris from the Feb. 10th collision of the Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 satellites, the Kentucky and Italy fireballs also seem to be meteoroids, not manmade objects. Italian scientists are studying the ground track of their fireball, which was recorded by multiple cameras, and they will soon begin to hunt for meteorites.

Videos, eye-witness reports and more information about these events may be found at http://spaceweather.com.

Richard Myers · « **Reply #68 on:** February 16, 2009, 05:11:14 PM »

Interesting that there are so many all of a sudden.

Lewis · « **Reply #69 on:** February 16, 2009, 05:39:49 PM »

Quote from: Richard Myers on February 16, 2009, 05:11:14 PM

Interesting that there are so many all of a sudden.

That is the exact same thing I was thinking.

Lewis · « **Reply #70 on:** March 30, 2009, 08:29:03 AM »

Lights In Sky Prompt Flood Of Calls In Md., Va., N.C.

Callers from Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina described brilliant, streaking lights followed by an explosion-like sound around 9:45 p.m. Sunday.

One 11 News viewer in Carroll County e-mailed to say she "spotted a large fireball in the western sky. It started out being about star brightness, then increasingly got brighter and greener. As it got green, it had an orange sparkling tail...We saw it go almost all the way to the ground before losing sight of it in the trees."

Source

LindaRS · « **Reply #71 on:** March 30, 2009, 11:15:51 AM »

That's a bit far from Groom Lake (Area 51) but could still be government experimental aircraft.

Wally · « **Reply #72 on:** March 30, 2009, 02:48:28 PM »

Speaking of lights in the sky, as we were out listening for Woodcock a few evenings ago, an object the size of Venus or Jupiter moved across the sky from west to east. I suspected it was the International Space Station, because it was larger than any satellite I had ever seen. My son verified it later when he went to the NASA website where you can track its movements, and found that the location and timing was right on. We had looked for it before unsuccesfully, so this was an unexpected bonus to our successful Woodcock venture.

JimB · « **Reply #73 on:** October 20, 2009, 06:55:17 AM »

October 19, 2009: The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show.

"Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the Orionids," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour."

The best time to look is before sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 21st. That's when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream. Observing is easy: Wake up a few hours before dawn, brew some hot chocolate, go outside and look up. No telescope is required to see Orionids shooting across the sky.

Source

Vicki · « **Reply #74 on:** October 20, 2009, 04:10:06 PM »

Wouldn't you know, it's suppose to drop into the thirties starting tonight.

But, we're up for the challenge - with peppermint tea instead of hot chocolate.

Vicki · « **Reply #75 on:** October 21, 2009, 08:34:10 AM »

We did it, and son & I loved it! (Not sure about husband's feelings, but he was a trooper and sat with us for awhile.) We dressed in our warmest clothes, wrapped up in 2 heavy blankets on the garden swing and stared at the eastern sky (as suggested) for 40 minutes starting at 5am - determined to see 20 before we went inside.

Orion was high in the sky and in the south, so I wonder how many we missed but I wasn't about to lay on the cold ground to see the whole sky. We read that they were called Orionids because if you traced the tail across the sky they would appear to have Orion as their originating point, but only about half of them did. Some weren't even close, which puzzles me. Anyway, it was fun and inspiring. Thanks for the heads up! (pun intended

Bonus: A pack of coyotes were yipping about a half mile from us.

JimB · « **Reply #76 on:** October 21, 2009, 07:42:06 PM »

If I knew that tonight was gonna be cloudy I would have done the same thing last evening. The article said that tonight was best. However, clouds and rain are moving here

I'm glad you got to enjoy them.

I was able to see the peresids in August camped out underneath the stars on an island 14 miles from shore. I got in on the tail end of them but wow they kept showing up long enough that I couldn't stay up any longer and had to get back to bed.

When watching meteors I often think of what happened in 1833.

Vicki · « **Reply #77 on:** October 22, 2009, 06:21:54 AM »

Camped out under the stars on an island ... can't get much better than that! Throw in a meteor shower and that must have been spectacular! (I'm guessing that is what the Peresids are? I've not heard of that.)

We are new to star gazing. We started about 5 years ago when son was 3 - he was allowed to sit in the garden swing and star gaze until there were 3 stars in the evening sky.

Now he anxiously waits for earlier nights in the winter so he can use his telescope on the moon, and can see the stars before bed time. We have a few books on constellations so we are learning.

I was up with son at 4ish this morning and peaked out at the bright starry sky on my way back to bed hoping to see one streak of light but not tempted to linger in the cold. Sorry we couldn't share our view. We have tried over the past several years to catch night happenings only to be disappointed by clouds.

Mimi · « **Reply #78 on:** November 16, 2009, 07:28:32 AM »

Space Weather News for Nov. 16, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

LEONID METEOR SHOWER: The Leonid meteor shower peaks on Tuesday, Nov. 17th, with a new Moon providing ideally-dark viewing conditions. Forecasters expect a relatively mild display (20 to 30 meteors per hour) over North America followed by a much stronger outburst (100 to 300 per hour) over Asia. No matter where you live, the best time to look is during the dark hours before sunrise on Tuesday morning.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for full coverage of the Leonids, including live audio from a meteor radar, a live chat with a NASA meteor scientist, sky maps, photos and more.

1833 Meteor Shower in the news:

http://www.pe.com/localnews/sbcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_meteor16.431f9a3.html

JimB · « **Reply #79 on:** November 16, 2009, 07:43:34 AM »

There is nothing like stepping your backdoor to do a real check of the weather and sky conditions. However, if you're ever anticipating an event that needs clear skies to view you might consider this clear sky forecaster. It takes a bit of figuring out at first but it does come in handy...

http://cleardarksky.com/csk/