Upcoming celestial & astronomical events

[Jose_sixpac]

Great thread, i like the shot of Comet Lulin.


Good read I look forward to spying the Zodiacal light for the first time.

We will be outside most of next month up in NW NY, Ill keep an eye peeled, can't wait for the new Hubble data in Sept maybe?

[eatyualive]

new moon landing shots.

http://wechoosethemoon.org/#

sites a little slow. but once you get to where it stops. click on the highlighted button for photo gallery. some really amazing shots.

[chimp]

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...htm?list967226

The peak won't be until 8-11-12 but it has already begun.

[pharmer]

perseid meteor showers will peak August 12th

[Beastmaster]

BUMP for the Perseids

[chimp]

Overcast here

[Doctor D]

Cloudy here!

[Jose_sixpac]

here too, no clearing untill the weekend.

[Scratch]

I just got in an hour of observing.

Saw two long, bright, earth grazers and one
short flash.

The clouds just rolled in so that's it for now.

[Scratch]

Pretty good show out there right now.
Counted 15 in the last hour.
2 of those were bright enough to leave
a smoke trail in the sky.

[Tripp]

It was overcast this year where I am for the Persieds, shame. Last year was great!

[Doctor D]

(Yeah, I know, a bit late.)

http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/

There are the Orionids that will peak early morning on October 21st. After that, the Leonids, which I never forget since they fall on my birthday!

Leonids peak the night of Nov 17th, morning of the 18th.

[Ras Asad]

Tonight, after midnight....
if youve clear skies, it should be good! but the following couple nights you should see some to.
lol

The Orionid meteor shower is underway. Earth is passing through a stream of dusty debris from Halley's Comet, and this is causing meteors to shoot out of the constellation Orion. Earlier today, amateur astronomer Jefferson Teng photographed an Orionid fireball over Shanghai, China:


"I woke up early in the morning to observe the shower through my bedroom window," says Teng. "This one was quite bright considering the light pollution in Shanghai."
Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Wednesday, Oct. 21st, with dozens of meteors per hour. The best time to look is during the dark hours before sunrise. For best results, get away from city lights, but as Teng discovered, country darkness is not absolutely necessary. full story

http://spaceweather.com/

October 19, 2009: The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show.


"Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the Orionids," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour."


The best time to look is before sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 21st. That's when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream.



Observing is easy: Wake up a few hours before dawn, brew some hot chocolate, go outside and look up. No telescope is required to see Orionids shooting across the sky.


Right: An Orionid meteor photographed on Oct. 21, 2008, by amateur astronomer Rich Swanson of Sierra Vista, Arizona. [more]
Orionids appear every year around this time when Earth orbits through an area of space littered with debris from the ancient comet. Normally, the shower produces 10 to 20 meteors per hour, a modest display. The past few years, however, have been much better than usual.


"Since 2006, the Orionids have been one of the best showers of the year, with counts of 60 or more meteors per hour," says Cooke.

According to Japanese meteor scientists Mikiya Sato and Jun-ichi Watanabe, 2006 marked Earth's first encounter with some very old debris.


"We have found that the [elevated activity of 2006] was caused by dust trails ejected from 1P/Halley in 1266 BC, 1198 BC, and 911 BC," they wrote in the August 2007 edition of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. In their paper "Origin of the 2006 Orionid Outburst," Sato and Watanabe used a computer to model the structure and evolution of Halley's many debris streams stretching back in time as far as 3400 years. The debris that hit Earth in 2006 was among the oldest they studied and was rich in large fireball-producing meteoroids.


Repeat encounters produced good displays in 2007 and 2008—and "the meteoroids are expected to approach Earth [again] in 2009," say Sato and Watanabe. They note that these old broad streams tend to produce equally broad showers, lasting several nights around the peak. So, if clouds interfere on the 21st, try again on the 22nd or 23rd.

Above: Orionid meteors stream from the elbow of Orion the Hunter. Because the shower's radiant point is close to the celestial equator, sky watchers in both hemispheres can enjoy the show. [larger map]
The phase of the Moon favors a good show. The Moon is almost new and completely absent from the pre-dawn sky at the time of the shower's peak. Bright moonlight will not be a problem.
Last but not least, the display will be framed by some of the prettiest stars and planets in the night sky. In addition to Orionids, you'll see brilliant Venus, red Mars, the dog star Sirius, and bright winter constellations such as Orion, Gemini and Taurus. Even if the shower is a dud, the rest of the sky is dynamite.
Set your alarm and enjoy the show.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...tm?list1328386


2009 Orionid Photo Gallery

[Tripp]

Proper overcast here... might check the weather for tomorrow!
Doos post

[Scratch]

"Nearly ideal' viewing conditions for Leonid meteor shower
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Nearly+ideal+viewing+conditions+Leonid+meteor+show er/2226732/story.html

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...eonids2009.htm


Grab a blanket and get outside early Tuesday morning.

[Mushxmagik]

hehehe Ready for 2nite!!!! cant wait for this! should be beautiful!!!!!

[MycoMistress]

It's crystal clear out...time to go...

[Scratch]

Wow, what a show!!! Saw 3 small short flash
meteors, then the big group hit. A group of
about 80 meteors hit all at the same time.
Surprise of a lifetime to see 80 meteors fill the
sky all at once. Never seen anything like it.

Then I realized those meteors were all in
formation and heading south. Wrong direction
for Leonids, must have been a group from
the Birdinoids.