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Stargazers, get thee to the closest open space you can find! Astronomers say tonight may be the best time to view the Perseid meteor shower — one of the most spectacular (and reliable) of the annual meteor showers. The shower, which is visible across the nation, is not expected to peak until Saturday night. But the peak coincides with a full moon, meaning that night's dazzling display of tiny streaks of light shooting across the sky — sometimes as fast as 60 to 120 meteor streaks per hour — won't be so dazzling. The light of the moon will get...

A surprise meteor shower spotted in February was likely caused by cosmic "bread crumbs" dropped by an undiscovered comet that could potentially pose a threat to Earth, astronomers announced today (July 27). The tiny meteoroids that streaked through Earth's atmosphere for a few hours on Feb. 4 represent a previously unknown meteor shower, researchers said. The "shooting stars" arrived from the direction of the star Eta Draconis, so the shower is called the February Eta Draconids, or FEDs for short. The bits of debris appear to have been shed by a long-period comet. Long-period comets whiz by the sun very...

Portuguese scientists have found a depression on the Atlantic Ocean floor they think may be an impact crater. The roughly circular, 6km-wide hollow has a broad central dome and has been dubbed the "Fried Egg" because of its distinctive shape. It was detected to the south of the Azores Islands during a survey to map the continental shelf. If the Fried Egg was made by a space impactor, the collision probably took place within the past 17 million years... It lies under 2km of water about 150km from the Azores archipelago. The depressed ring sits roughly 110m below the...

Tuesday evening, residents across Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Suffolk, Va., dialed 911 to report what sounded what a large explosion. Today, a NASA scientist explained that it might have been a meteor. The area is home to several military bases, so residents are accustomed to loud sounds. This was out of the ordinary, though; several 911 callers reported a loud noise that rattled their screen doors and windows. One woman told the local television station, WAVY, that it felt like an earthquake. That's not uncharacteristic for a sonic boom created by a meteor, said Joe Zawodny, a senior research scientist...

'Numerous export enquiries' for Meteor missile, says UK MoD By Craig Hoyle With development work on MBDA's Meteor entering its final year, the UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the beyond visual-range air-to-air missile has attracted strong international interest. "Meteor has been the subject of numerous export enquiries from around the world, with some nations considering the possibility of making an order," the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support organisation said in its Desider publication. Being developed for partner nations France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK as a replacement for the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM, the Meteor weapon system...

Remember Halley's comet? Twenty-five years ago thousands of people peered through telescopes to see it whiz by. Early Saturday morning stargazers will have the chance to see bits of the comet rain down during the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Meteor showers are named after the constellation that their radiant is in, in this case -- the constellation Aquarius. The shower stems from the "water jar" near one of the constellations brightest stars, Eta Aquariid. NEWS: Did the Greeks See Halley's Comet First? The Eta Aquarids are created by bits of material from Halley's Comet as it travels through the...

Explanation: The Peekskill meteor of 1992 was captured on 16 independent videos and then struck a car. Documented as brighter than the full Moon, the spectacular fireball crossed parts of several USA states during its 40 seconds of glory before landing in New York. A video of the fireball beyond a high school football game in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, is pictured above. The resulting meteorite is imaged here, and was found to be composed of dense rock and has the size and mass of an extremely heavy bowling ball. If you are lucky enough to find a meteorite just after...

QUADRANTID METEOR ALERT: Earth is about to pass through a narrow stream of debris from shattered comet 2003 EH1, source of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. "Peaking in the wee morning hours of Tuesday, Jan. 4, the Quads have a maximum rate of about 100 per hour (varies between 60 and 200)," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "What makes this year so special is that the Moon is New on the night of the peak, so there will be no interference from moonlight." PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE: After the meteor shower, observers in Europe, northern Africa, the Middle...

Skywatchers, grab your blankets. December's night sky spectacular will feature the best meteor shower of 2010 as well as the only total lunar eclipse of the year -- sights that should outshine any New Year's Eve fireworks display in terms of sheer wonder. The massive Geminid meteor shower returns every year, so you'll have more chances if the cold proves too daunting on the night of Dec. 13. But anyone in North America who skips the total lunar eclipse on the night of Dec. 20 will be missing what promises to be the best lunar eclipse show until April...

The people of southern Serbia were disturbed by a flash of light and clamor, which were reportedly caused by a falling meteor. Blinding lightning was also seen by residents of northern Macedonia and southeastern Kosovo. Part of the meteor fell in the region of Grdelica Gorge in southern Serbia. Witnesses claim that they've seen a lighting object falling over the Sarajevo bridge at the entrance of Grdelica Gorge. The light was blinding accompanied by a deafening noise, Radio-Television Serbia reports. Regional information centers in Nis and Vranje say the meteor ripped through the sound barrier over Surdulica village towards...

An ancient meteor strike on Mars has revealed the first direct evidence of how warm liquid water may have shaped a habitable underground environment. Images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed the first carbonate rocks found inside Leighton Crater at a level that was once buried 4 miles (6 km) below the red planet's surface.

PICTURE: MBDA reveals clipped-fin Meteor for F-35 By Stephen Trimble MBDA has revealed a slightly modified Meteor that would allow four of the beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles to be stored inside the Lockheed Martin F-35. A miniature Meteor mock-up featuring four clipped fins appeared for the first time in the company's display at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington DC. The missile's total fin area is reduced by roughly 20% compared with the original design, says Rob Thornley, MBDA sales and business development executive. The new shape allows the Meteors to squeeze into the...

**Update -- Intel Hub -- RSOE EDIS is reporting that a 1,000 strong search team was tasked with finding the impact area and so far have been unable to locate it... Such a colossal event, so little media coverage. Around 3:10PM Sunday afternoon residents of Colombia were awestruck when the clear sky was cracked open by a massive fireball that exploded upon impact leaving a 300 foot wide crater and a lot of rattled nerves.

During my morning run at 5:56 am Central Daylight Time, I witnessed the brightest meteor that I have ever seen. It was early dawn and still relatively dark. It passed to the north of Mahomet, Illinois (near Champaign) from the east, heading west. It lasted for a while and if I had been alert enough, I might have had enough time to get the camera out which I carry & get a picture. However, that didn't happen & it takes the thing a while to boot up anyway. There was some green during part of of the meteor's flight, so...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Stargazers who cast their eyes skyward Thursday should enjoy two-for-one celestial treats. A heavenly threesome will appear after dusk, when a trio of planets glides above a fragile crescent moon. Later, the fabled Perseid meteor shower will adorn the night with up to 50 shooting stars an hour. "This is the astronomy night of the summer," said Arnold Pearlstein, who writes an astronomy column for the Sun Sentinel and teaches science for Miami-Dade schools. "The Perseid is one of the top showers of the year." The show begins at twilight, with the glow of the setting...

Showers are expected Thursday, but not the wet kind that have plagued Seattle all summer. The Perseid meteor shower will be visible Thursday night, and viewing conditions should be optimal. The meteor shower appears every year as the Earth enters a band of dust that trails the comet Swift-Tuttle. It's one of of the more reliable night-sky events for stargazers in Seattle, and this year's show could be easier to watch because of clear skies and limited moonlight.

Every August, just when many people go vacationing in the country where skies are dark, the best-known meteor shower — the Perseid meteor shower — makes its appearance. The "shooting stars" promise to deliver an excellent show this year to anyone with clear and dark skies away from urban and suburban lights. The best time to watch for meteors will be from the late-night hours of Wednesday, Aug, 11 on through the predawn hours of Aug. 13 – two full nights and early mornings. Patient skywatchers with good conditions could see up to 60 shooting stars an hour or more....

A Bosnian man who claims he is being targeted by extraterrestrials after a series of meteorite strikes on his house has now been hit by a sixth space rock in the space of a few years. _______________________________________ Radivoje Lajic first came to international attention in 2008, shortly after the fifth meteorite had crashed into the roof of his house in the northern village of Gornji Lajici. And now, within the past month, another rock has hit the roof of his house, in defiance of all the odds - making it six strikes since the plague of meteorites began in 2007....

Chelsea Clinton Wedding Guest List Revealed Posted by Devon Thomas NEW YORK (CBS) It's wedding season and Hillary and Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea has her guest list all sorted out. The First Daughter, 30, who is getting married on July 31 to Marc Mezvinsky, is throwing a wedding bash that will reportedly have up to 500 guests, including some of the biggest names in politics and entertainment. Just who made the cut? According to the Hudson Valley News, guests include President Obama, singer Barbra Streisand, filmmaker Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw, and media moguls Oprah Winfrey and Ted...

Armageddon? Not yet, many fervently hope. Last night, only two weeks after President Obama publicly ridiculed conservatives across America by explaining how after signing health-care reform into law he looked up to check whether an asteroid was streaking through the sky...