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Astronomy Picture for Today (meteor shower peak this weekend)
nasa ^ | 08/11/2006 | dg

Posted on 08/11/2006 12:57:30 PM PDT by HOTTIEBOY

Every year at this time the Earth passes thruogh the dust tail left by commet Swift-Tuttle. The reasult is the anual Perseid meteor shower.


Credit & Copyright: Fred Bruenjes

Most of the particles are no bigger than a grain of sand.They enter the atmosphere at altitudes above 70 miles or so, and light up the sky as they streak through the atmosphere at over 140,000 miles per hour instantly vaprizing and ionizing the atoms along its path.



Viewers in dark location can expect to see 60 or more "falling stars" this weekend. The Pereid shower got its name because the shower seems to come from the constilation Perseus.


Credit & Copyright: Jimmy Westlake (Colorado Mountain College)

Dark skies are favored for viewing meteor showers -- so many are pessimistic about this year's Perseids. While the Perseid meteor shower is scheduled to peak this weekend, bright light from an almost full Moon will also flood the night and mask the majority of relatively faint meteors. Still, skygazing in the evening before the Moon rises (before about 10 PM local time) could reveal spectacular earthgrazing meteors. Persisting even later into the moonlit night can reward northern hemisphere watchers looking for occasional Perseid fireballs. In fact, astronomer Jimmy Westlake imaged this bright Perseid meteor despite the combination of moonlight and auroral glow over Colorado skies in August of 2000.



TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; space; spellcheck
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1 posted on 08/11/2006 12:57:31 PM PDT by HOTTIEBOY
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To: KevinDavis; fnord; rdb3; MNJohnnie; thoughtomator; Woman on Caroline Street; RightWhale; ...

apod ping


2 posted on 08/11/2006 12:58:35 PM PDT by HOTTIEBOY (I'm your huckleberry)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

That last pic is awesome!


3 posted on 08/11/2006 1:00:47 PM PDT by AFreeBird (... Burn the land and boil the sea's, but you can't take the skies from me.)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

These meteors are very fast and usually burn blue-white to white.


4 posted on 08/11/2006 1:01:34 PM PDT by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

I love the one that looks like a spear!


5 posted on 08/11/2006 1:02:19 PM PDT by najida (The internet is for kids grown up-- Where else could you have 10,000 imaginary friends?)
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To: RightWhale

The middle pic is a true color pic.

The initial green color is thought to be the glow from oxygen in the atmosphere at altitudes above 100 kilometers or so, while sodium atoms and other constituents of the cometary dust grain itself contribute to the orange hues.


6 posted on 08/11/2006 1:03:52 PM PDT by HOTTIEBOY (I'm your huckleberry)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

Thanks for the reminder! I hope i am somewhere far enough away from the city lights to see it!


7 posted on 08/11/2006 1:09:04 PM PDT by Toby06 (True conservatives vote based on their values, not for parties.)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

Thanks, HottieBoy. I love the Perseids. Too bad I'm not out in the desert this year ... but, maybe I can get there over the weekend...


8 posted on 08/11/2006 1:10:59 PM PDT by La Enchiladita (Make your choice and save your tears....AM YISRAEL CHAI!)
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To: Toby06

this may be a special treat for the younguns on your camping trip.


9 posted on 08/11/2006 1:11:41 PM PDT by HOTTIEBOY (I'm your huckleberry)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

I have pretty good color vision, but I have never seen anything but white trails from this shower. The aurora picture below looks realistic in color, although the red is usually more red when there is red at all.


10 posted on 08/11/2006 1:14:20 PM PDT by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: Toby06

CORRECTION!!!!

That is supposed to read: 60 or more meteors per hour.


11 posted on 08/11/2006 1:15:11 PM PDT by HOTTIEBOY (I'm your huckleberry)
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To: RightWhale

I am sure it is long exposure time.

Being in North Carolina, I very rarely see auroras this far south.

Unless, like a few years back, we have intense solar activity with alot of flairs.


12 posted on 08/11/2006 1:17:37 PM PDT by HOTTIEBOY (I'm your huckleberry)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

The red auroras are rare, but when the aurora is energetic, which is also when it moves farther south, it often has considerable red. The nightly aurors we see in Fairbanks are usually simply pale green. I saw an orange one once that looked like a McDonald's arch and it was nearly stationary for a couple hours. It was 40 below then, but I watched it the whole time. No camera unfortunately.


13 posted on 08/11/2006 1:22:40 PM PDT by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

Cool beans. I love meteor showers.


14 posted on 08/11/2006 2:05:58 PM PDT by Lucky9teen (Ask not what the government can do for you. Ask why it doesn't.)
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To: HOTTIEBOY

My husband just asked me if I knew what quadrant of the sky to look toward...........since i have no idea, I thought I would ask you. We're on the Atlantic coast near the VA/MD state line........


15 posted on 08/11/2006 2:11:28 PM PDT by Gabz (Taxaholism, the disease you elect to have (TY xcamel))
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To: HOTTIEBOY; patton

very cool! hope we can see some, though
we are not way out in the country.


16 posted on 08/11/2006 3:34:13 PM PDT by leda (Life is always what you make it!)
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To: Gabz

Pretty much out of the NE but the moon, I'm afraid, is gonna make it a wash.


17 posted on 08/11/2006 4:28:15 PM PDT by Roccus
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To: Roccus

Thank you so much........my husband actually just asked me if I had gotten an answer.

But I do agree with you that the moon is going to put a huge damper on it.

Thanks again.


18 posted on 08/11/2006 4:36:02 PM PDT by Gabz (Taxaholism, the disease you elect to have (TY xcamel))
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To: Gabz

Just get a lounge chair, foot toward the NE, hubby and some adult beverages or sweet tea and Horsts "The Planets" lay back and enjoy!


19 posted on 08/11/2006 4:57:25 PM PDT by Roccus
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To: Roccus

LOL!!!!!

We'll be doing it from the upstairs deck, otherwise the treeline and streetlight will get in the way........let alone the danged bugs.


20 posted on 08/11/2006 5:19:41 PM PDT by Gabz (Taxaholism, the disease you elect to have (TY xcamel))
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