OT: Perseids Meteor Shower - Look Up In The Sky Tonight

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody!

 

Tonight is one of the peak nights to observe the Perseids Meteor Shower! This

year we have the advantage of a slender crescent moon, which means that

moonlight will not hinder the celestial show. So look up in the sky this evening

and make a wish upon a shooting star ☺

 

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http://www.msnbc.com/news/444253.asp?pne=msn

 

.... GOOD VIEW IN 2002

 

In 2002, Earth is expected to encounter the core of the Perseid swarm,

where meteoroid concentration is densest, next Monday. This is when the Perseids

put on their best show as the meteors appear to diverge from a patch of sky near

the Double Cluster in Perseus. This is actually an illusion of perspective,

since that is the direction toward which Earth’s orbital motion carries us at

this time of the year.

At the same time, the meteoroids are traveling on parallel paths nearly

perpendicular to the Earth’s orbit. The combined speeds of Earth and the

meteoroids cause the Perseids to rush into our atmosphere at average speeds of

37 miles per second (60 kilometers per second).

The bane of meteor observers is bright light, natural or artificial. The

moon will be a slender crescent and will set during the evening hours, and will

be no hindrance to Perseid viewing this year.

For an observer with access to a wide-open view of a clear, dark sky,

meteors should appear at an average rate of about one every minute or two.

Veteran observers, however, say that the Perseids tend to appear in bunches:

several over an interval of minute or two, followed by a lull of several more

minutes before the sky again “bears fruit.â€

....

 

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*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

http://www.alittleolfactory.com