Brand new meteor shower tomorrow night! May 23 - 24
W9GFO
Posts: 4,010
Just passing this along:
Camelopardalid meteor shower (209P-IDS)
According to NASA, May 23rd and 24th could be a big day for meteor observers. That's when Earth is expected to pass through a cloud of debris from comet 209P/LINEAR, producing a never-before-seen meteor shower. Meteor rates could exceed 200 per hour, and some forecasters have even mentioned the possibility of a meteor storm.
To view the Camelopardalid meteor shower or also referred as 209P-IDS, choose an observing location which gives a wide view of the sky with as few obstructions as possible. If you're viewing from the city, try to observe where artificial lights obstruct the least. Meteor watching is basically an unaided-eye event but binoculars are handy for watching trails (persistent trains) that may hang in the sky for one or more seconds after a meteor's passage. Luckily, the waning crescent moon will be a nonfactor for the viewing.
The best time to watch these meteors is on Friday evening, May 23rd and continue until morning twilight on Saturday morning, May 24th. Midnight to 2 am is forecasted as the peak for the shower. This could be anything from nothing to an impressive shower to a storm. Best location for the Portland viewers are L.L. Stub Stewart State Park, Milo McIver State Park, east side of the Cascades, North Plains, and east of Sandy.
The point in the sky from which meteors in showers appear to radiate is called the meteor shower radiant. The 209P-IDS meteors will appear to radiate near the constellation Camelopardalis and 10 degrees from Polaris. The radiant will be visible all night but don't concentrate just on that one area, but rather, let your gaze wander over a large portion of the northern sky. Meteors that appear near the radiant will have short paths while those that begin farther out have much longer ones. Viewing through city lights will reduce their numbers considerably but the brighter ones will show up nicely. An observer might see such a meteor anywhere in the sky but the direction of motion, when traced back, will point to the radiant. For the Camelopardalid meteor shower, the motion of the meteor would be pointed towards near the star Polaris. A meteor that does not point back to the known radiant for a given shower is known as a sporadic and is not considered part of that shower.
As the Earth passes through debris paths left by comets hurtling past the Sun. The results of these intersections are called meteor showers: when tiny particles burn up in the Earths atmosphere. We see them as bright streaks across the night sky and name them shooting stars, intense streaks of light across the night sky, caused by small bits of interplanetary ice, 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 the atmospheres friction, 30 to 80 miles above the ground. Most are destroyed during entry; the rare few that survive and hit the ground are known as meteorites.
While observing the possible meteor shower, enjoy the wonderful conjunction of the waning crescent moon and Venus towards the eastern horizon before sunrise.
Enjoy! Jim Todd
Camelopardalid meteor shower (209P-IDS)
According to NASA, May 23rd and 24th could be a big day for meteor observers. That's when Earth is expected to pass through a cloud of debris from comet 209P/LINEAR, producing a never-before-seen meteor shower. Meteor rates could exceed 200 per hour, and some forecasters have even mentioned the possibility of a meteor storm.
To view the Camelopardalid meteor shower or also referred as 209P-IDS, choose an observing location which gives a wide view of the sky with as few obstructions as possible. If you're viewing from the city, try to observe where artificial lights obstruct the least. Meteor watching is basically an unaided-eye event but binoculars are handy for watching trails (persistent trains) that may hang in the sky for one or more seconds after a meteor's passage. Luckily, the waning crescent moon will be a nonfactor for the viewing.
The best time to watch these meteors is on Friday evening, May 23rd and continue until morning twilight on Saturday morning, May 24th. Midnight to 2 am is forecasted as the peak for the shower. This could be anything from nothing to an impressive shower to a storm. Best location for the Portland viewers are L.L. Stub Stewart State Park, Milo McIver State Park, east side of the Cascades, North Plains, and east of Sandy.
The point in the sky from which meteors in showers appear to radiate is called the meteor shower radiant. The 209P-IDS meteors will appear to radiate near the constellation Camelopardalis and 10 degrees from Polaris. The radiant will be visible all night but don't concentrate just on that one area, but rather, let your gaze wander over a large portion of the northern sky. Meteors that appear near the radiant will have short paths while those that begin farther out have much longer ones. Viewing through city lights will reduce their numbers considerably but the brighter ones will show up nicely. An observer might see such a meteor anywhere in the sky but the direction of motion, when traced back, will point to the radiant. For the Camelopardalid meteor shower, the motion of the meteor would be pointed towards near the star Polaris. A meteor that does not point back to the known radiant for a given shower is known as a sporadic and is not considered part of that shower.
As the Earth passes through debris paths left by comets hurtling past the Sun. The results of these intersections are called meteor showers: when tiny particles burn up in the Earths atmosphere. We see them as bright streaks across the night sky and name them shooting stars, intense streaks of light across the night sky, caused by small bits of interplanetary ice, 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 the atmospheres friction, 30 to 80 miles above the ground. Most are destroyed during entry; the rare few that survive and hit the ground are known as meteorites.
While observing the possible meteor shower, enjoy the wonderful conjunction of the waning crescent moon and Venus towards the eastern horizon before sunrise.
Enjoy! Jim Todd
Comments