On September 1 people in Western North America might be able to see the Aurigid meteor shower. I say might since no one really knows much about the comet that gives us this shower.
First, a quick review. As a comet travels around the sun it warms up and begins to outgas - that [...]
The 2007 Aurigid Meteor Shower
August 22nd, 2007 · No Comments
Tags: General
Orionid Meteor Shower This Weekend
October 19th, 2006 · No Comments
From SpaceWeather.com:
This weekend, a mild but pretty flurry of meteors will shoot out of the constellation Orion. The source is Halley’s Comet. Although the comet itself is far away, ancient clouds of dust from the comet are nearby, and Earth is about to run through them. The best time to look is Saturday morning, Oct. [...]
Tags: General
2006 Perseid Shower (Plus a Bonus Feature)
August 8th, 2006 · No Comments
This year’s Perseid shower will likely not worth the effort of getting up early to look. The full Moon will be up at the same time, washing out any meteors that you might see (2007 will be much better though, so mark your calendars).
There is something that is worth a little time to try to [...]
Tags: General
Delta Aquarid meteor shower(s)
July 25th, 2006 · No Comments
On Friday (July 28th) the Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks. This shower is a bit of a mystery - the source of the meteors is unknown. The best time is between midnight and dawn, so go out early Friday morning and look south. These meteors are pretty faint, so a fairly dark location [...]
Tags: Everyday Space
The Return of Halley’s Comet (sort of)
May 5th, 2006 · 1 Comment
Sure, the comet won’t return until 2062 or so, but as it travels it leaves bits of itself along the way. These bits (actually very small dust particles), continue to orbit the sun in Halley’s path in a wide trail of dust.
Well, we’re about to plow into that dust trail, which will give us the [...]
Tags: Space Science
