New Meteor Shower on Earth and the Moon

Spaceweather.com ^ | 5/21/14 | Dr. Tony Phillips

[messierhunter]

Anticipation is building as Earth approaches a cloud of debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR. This weekend, meteoroids hitting Earth's atmosphere could produce a never-before-seen shower called the "May Camelopardalids" peaking with as many as 200 meteors per hour.

Earth won't be the only body passing through the debris zone. The Moon will be, too. Meteoroids hitting the lunar surface could produce explosions visible through backyard telescopes on Earth.
...
According to NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, the best time for amateur astronomers to scan the Moon for lunar meteors is after 0800 UT (4 a.m. EDT) on May 24th.

[messierhunter]

If I get anything I definitely will.

[sevinufnine]

Hoping to catch a glimpse of the meteor itself was quite a let down. Hopefully the meteor shower will not match that let down.

[Bigg Red]

Looks like it’s 4AM.

[Boonie]

Thanks.....

[kitchen]

[GeronL]

thanks

[adaven]

Won’t the moon be below the horizon when the shower is expected?

[kitchen]

Depends where you live. Try this.

Since nobody has ever heard of Camelopardalis, here's a cheat sheet.

[MHGinTN]

@ to 4 AM on Saturday morning.

[MHGinTN]

There are a few rather large chunks in this mass of debris that could make surface impact though ...

[MrB]

Looks like “Muslim outreach” to me.

[Smokin' Joe]

My 1848 Ackerman's Natural History shows a picture of a cameleopard--commonly known as a giraffe today.

Who knows when the constellation was named? But it is likely the meteor shower will be present in that part of the sky.

Ackerman antedates Origin of Species...

[Lurker]

Loved that line.

[Talisker]

And yes, many lunar impacts have been observed before, including during meteor showers.

No, and No.

[Yosemitest]

A few things to look at and consider:

Comet 209P/LINEAR Earth Flyby Simulation ( 0:26 )
By SpaceRef on May 18, 2014
This simulation was created by Associate Professor Paul Wiegert of Western University's Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX).
It shows the path of Comet 209P/Linear.
The resulting Carmelopardalis meteor shower scheduled to peak overnight on May 23rd could be spectacular for residents of North America.


The Changing Orbit of Comet 209P/LINEAR
By AstroGrav on May 16, 2014
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the changing orbit of Comet 209P/LINEAR between the years AD 1700 and AD 2100.
The comet's orbit is currently inclined at an angle of approximately 20 degrees to the Earth's orbit,
and the omega symbols on its orbit indicate the ascending node and the descending node,
which are the points where it crosses the plane of the Earth's orbit.
To the left, the comet is above the plane of the Earth's orbit, and to the right, the comet is below the plane of the Earth's orbit.

In AD 1700, the points where the comet crossed the plane of the Earth's orbit were very far from the Earth's orbit.
As time passes, the comet's orbit is significantly changed due mainly to the gravitational influence of the planet Jupiter,
and as a consequence, the points where the comet crosses the plane of the Earth's orbit move significantly.
By AD 1787, one of these points (the descending node) had moved very close to the Earth's orbit, and is visible below the Sun in this video.
It stayed in this position until AD 1845, when it moved away.
In AD 2012, the descending node again moved very close to the Earth's orbit, and is visible below the centre of Monoceros in this video.
It will remain in this position until AD 2046.
There is no possibility of a collision with the Earth, because the comet and the Earth always arrive at the comet's descending node on different dates.

Comet 209P/LINEAR is the comet associated with the Camelopardalid meteor shower of 23rd/24th May 2014.


QUESTIONS: Comet 209P/LINEAR
Feb 27, 2014 By Yosemitest

[The Cajun]

Guess I'll be dragging out the old refractor.

[messierhunter]

Uh, proof?

[messierhunter]

Yes, and yes.
http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/02sep_lunarperseids/

[messierhunter]

Yes, I discuss the changing orbit of 209P at about 15 minutes into this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kcuxcn9BYE

[messierhunter]

Any excuse to enjoy astronomy is a good excuse. Don’t forget to try to observe the meteor shower by naked eye as well, it will be peaking shortly before 4 am.