Post by Deleted on May 22, 2014 21:44:46 GMT
New meteor shower may burst into meteor storm Friday night
It’s something old creating something new: On late Friday night into Saturday morning, North America will likely see a brand new meteor shower called the Camelopardalids – with a compelling chance that these gentle shooting stars could become a torrential meteor storm and provide quite a light show.
These new meteors are dusty remnants of Comet209P/LINEAR, discovered in 2004.
“The general consensus is that this week’s Camelopardalids will be comparable to a very good Perseid meteor shower with an added possibility of a storm,” says Geoff Chester, astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory. “I’m planning to be out watching.”
With clear skies, sky gazers may see meteor activity late Friday night – at about 10:30 p.m. – according to Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Astronomers predict the peak will occur from 2 to 4 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on Saturday morning, but Cooke believes gazers can catch shooting stars all the way through dawn, when the sunrise washes them out.
It’s something old creating something new: On late Friday night into Saturday morning, North America will likely see a brand new meteor shower called the Camelopardalids – with a compelling chance that these gentle shooting stars could become a torrential meteor storm and provide quite a light show.
These new meteors are dusty remnants of Comet209P/LINEAR, discovered in 2004.
“The general consensus is that this week’s Camelopardalids will be comparable to a very good Perseid meteor shower with an added possibility of a storm,” says Geoff Chester, astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory. “I’m planning to be out watching.”
With clear skies, sky gazers may see meteor activity late Friday night – at about 10:30 p.m. – according to Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Astronomers predict the peak will occur from 2 to 4 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on Saturday morning, but Cooke believes gazers can catch shooting stars all the way through dawn, when the sunrise washes them out.
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Full article (The Washington Post)
This may actually be a pretty neat sight to see. Europe probably won't see much, though.
