Archives for the 'meteors' Category
Perseid Meteors
Published on 11 Aug 2009 at 10:57 am.
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Filed under meteors, observing, skywatching.
Every year, in mid-August, the Earth passes near the orbit of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The comet, itself, is seldom seen. It was last easily viewed by amateur astronomers in 1992 and 1993. With an orbital period of about 133 years, the comet will next be in the inner Solar System in the year 2126, when it […]
Watch for Taurid Meteors
Published on 5 Nov 2008 at 3:11 pm.
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This is the time of year for the Taurid meteor shower. There are actually two Taurids, the North Taurids and the South Taurids, which peak about a week apart. Both are associated with material shed by Comet 2P/Encke. Comet Encke is a bit different from may comets in that it was not […]
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A burst of bolides
Published on 9 Sep 2008 at 4:31 pm.
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Dr. Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office has reported an unusual burst of meteor activity for this past morning. Over a period of four hours, over two dozen bright meteors were recorded appearing to come from about the same part of the sky. These meteors were quite bright, as bright as Jupiter or Venus, […]
Tunguska, one century later
Published on 30 Jun 2008 at 4:10 pm.
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On the morning of June 30, 1908, people throughout the world were minding their own business. Then, a great fireball streaked across the sky over a remote part of Asia. Soon after a titanic explosion rocked Siberia. The explosion was heard for great distances, and it was even detected by its overpressure […]
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2007 Geminid Meteors
Published on 3 Dec 2007 at 8:46 pm.
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Near the middle of every December we get the Geminid Meteor shower. I wrote about the Geminids last year, but they are one of the year’s best meteor showers, so they are worth writing about again.
This year, the Geminids peak on the morning of December 14, however a few can be seen from December 6 […]
The Alpha Aurigid Meteor Shower
Published on 29 Aug 2007 at 12:27 am.
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Earlier this month, the Earth passed through a swarm of meteoroids shed by Comet Swift-Tuttle, giving rise to the Perseid Meteor Shower. Comets are a mixture of ice, rock, and dust. As they swing by the Sun, the ices melt (sublimate) and act to cause the comet to shed some of the solid […]
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2007 Perseid Meteors
Published on 9 Aug 2007 at 12:55 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under meteors, skywatching.
Every August the Earth passes through a swarm of material shed by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. This debris, mostly very small things about the size of a rice grain or sand grain, strikes the Earth’s atmosphere at 60 km/s. At that speed, they compress and ionize the air, creating a glowing spot streaking across the […]
