Halley's Comet Returns ...In Bits and Pieces...the annual Orionid meteor shower

spacescience.com ^

[Colosis]

Thanks for the tip - I'll be watching.

[Coop]

I remember going out on the balcony 2-3 years ago to watch this with my wife. We saw plenty of the normal shooting stars, but then one large one appeared to be heading directly down on top us (of course, still WAY up in the sky) before exploding in a large fireball. It was incredibly impressive!

[eccentric]

Thanks for the reminder and the laugh (if it's cloudy go back to bed). We lay outside on the trampoline to watch these in the summer. October isn't as much fun, shiver....

[callisto]

Heads up!...The sun released TWO X-class solar flares with corresponding CMEs on Friday. This should set the stage for a BEAUTIFUL comet show with Northern Lights for backdrop.

Break out the cameras or go to spaceweather.com for a montage of photos that should be posted the next day.<P.

[Coop]

Thanks for the reminder. We'll be out there, wrapped in blankets!

[Republic]

Thanks for the tip! I'm gonna set the alarm and watch the show!

[Zuben Elgenubi]

This is my second favorite shower and it's been quite beautiful the past few years. I'll be up at the peak. But wait for the Leonids in November. Now that's going to be a terrific show for sure.

[callisto]

I'm hoping that we get a magnificent display like the Perseids last year when the geomagnetic storm hit during the shower.

The Extraordinary Geomagnetic Perseid Meteor Shower

[Howlin]

Is this tomorrow Sunday or next Sunday Sunday?

[callisto]

tomorrow Sunday ... tonight! break out the lawn chairs!

[blam]

Thanks, I'll be watching. Looks like perfect weather conditions here too.

[steveo]

... perhaps unleashing a meteor shower of thousands of shooting stars per hour.

They ALWAYS say that!

[Howlin]

Thanks, will do! And there's another one in November, right?

[callisto]

Leonids...the remnants of comet Temple-Tuttle.

"We're very confident that Leonid storms are coming in 2001 and 2002," says forecaster David Asher of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. "Peak rates during those years should reach at least 10,000 meteors per hour when Earth passes through debris streams from comet Tempel-Tuttle."courtesy of NASA

[MistrX]

What ever happened to the astronomy pic of the day?

[callisto]

Ask and ye shall receive: Astronomy Picture Of The Day

And if you'd like todays:

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured , along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2001 October 20

The Radio Sky: Tuned to 408MHz
Credit: C. Haslam et al., MPIfR, SkyView

Explanation: Tune your radio telescope to 408MHz (408 million cycles per second) and check out the Radio Sky! You should find that frequency on your dial somewhere between US broadcast television channels 13 and 14. In the 1970s large dish antennas at three radio observatories, Jodrell Bank, MPIfR, and Parkes Observatory, were used to do just that - the data were combined to map the entire sky. Near this frequency, cosmic radio waves are generated by high energy electrons spiraling along magnetic fields. In the resulting false color image, the galactic plane runs horizontally through the center, but no stars are visible. Instead, many of the bright sources near the plane are distant pulsars, star forming regions, and supernova remnants, while the grand looping structures are pieces of bubbles blown by local stellar activity. External galaxies like Centaurus A, located above the plane to the right of center, and the LMC (below and right) also shine in the Radio Sky.

Tomorrow's picture: Sky Sombrero

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

[MistrX]

Beautiful! Thank you.

[Amelia]

Sounds like a good night to camp out! (Wonder where we packed the sleeping bags??)

[oceanperch]

I know huh...and every year I go out like Linus in the Pumkin Patch and wait.