Posted on 08/06/2009 1:05:39 PM PDT by TaraP
METEOR UPDATE: Perseid meteors are now hitting Earth's upper atmosphere with a speed of 58 to 60 km/s, about 130,000 mph. That's the result of triangulation by a dual-station meteor monitoring system operated by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. Last night the system detected five fireballs that provided the data for this speed estimate...
EARLY PERSEIDS: The Perseid meteor shower is slowly intensifying as Earth plunges deeper in Comet Swift-Tuttle's debris stream. On August 4th, amateur astronomer Thomas Ashcraft caught an early arrival using an all-sky camera at his observatory near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Click on the image to play a movie with sound effects:
I’m honestly jealous. I would love to see something like that. I’m one of the fools that sites on the wrap around porch during storms to see lighting and such. I was lucky enough to watch a small tornado go right down the street once like a darn car.
Have you seen the reports of the Black hole actually firing some sort of force that destoys or expodes anything in it’s path. Thereby creating more and more of these meteors. Very weird
Definetly..Yes I have heard this as well!
It was just in my sister’s back yard with my dad, stepmom, and 3 of my sisters families. It was a good time.
I was most amazed at the number of coyotes in the area these days. I might hear a couple at night around my house at night but we heard dozens down there.
>I was most amazed at the number of coyotes in the area these days.
>I might hear a couple at night around my house at night
>but we heard dozens down there.
Interesting article here about coyotes in urban areas (link). It’s written for the LA area, but I’m sure it would apply to just about anywhere else.
http://www.laalmanac.com/environment/ev15c.htm
spaceping,self
WooHoo! The Perseids! I just hope we have a clear night or two in the next week so we can see them!
Killjoy! ;o)
This can only mean one thing. My birthday will shortly be here! Peak of the Perseids this year is the night of August 12. On the 13th, I’ll turn 56.
A couple years back we had a late BBQ and then laid on blankets in the backyard. We had four little ones - under the age of 7 - and it was so cool how excited they got when they saw a falling star. Some were so impressive that even the adults got excited at times.
OMG! I just watched Nick Cage in “Knowing” last night. (Boolah-Boolah).
I’m not looking up until it is over. Does anyone remember “Day of the Triffids”?
Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who actually think meteors are stars that 'shoot' through the sky. I operate a volunteer astronomy program in my area and am frequently amazed at the basic things people don't know about our planet and/or space.
I have been an amateur astronomer for 40 years now and have only seen maybe 2 Perseid showers. Either the weather has been bad, the Moon too bright, or something else has come up to keep me from seeing this shower. I did get to see the big Leonid shower back in 99 and I can’t even describe that.
I would describe it as almost frightening. At times we felt like running for cover. There were occasional orange or red 'fireballs'. Green ionization trails. Shadows cast on the ground from the bright streaks. Long, lingering smoke trails that twisted in the wind. An unbelievable show.
I have coyotes in my area...One impaticular seems to be very smart...People throw some food items into the field behind my house..I watch him he looks around to see if anyone is coming, then he goes and picks up the items and stores them...He is doing grocery shopping and storing his food in a litle cubby hole for himself..(No sharing)
Since he finds this food so easy to find, he does not hunt
He just sits and waits until the sun goes down and stores the food people throw to him over the fence....
Not the best idea, but he is the only one that comes no other cyotoes this for the last 8 months...
The Perseid meteor shower is slowly intensifying as Earth plunges deeper in Comet Swift-Tuttle's debris stream.
 |
||
| · join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · | ||
I always enjoy watching the Perseid meteor shower, but where did summer go?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.