Night Sky Viewing ahead

[Cardiffgal]

Aurigid Meteor Shower, September 1

What a fantastic month for skywatching. On August 12th, we've got the Perseid meteor shower. On August 28th there'll be a total lunar eclipse. And on September 1st, there might be another meteor shower to enjoy: the Aurigids.

Unlike the dependable Perseids, the Aurigid meteor shower is unpredictable. They're a stream of particles left behind by Comet Kiess (C/1911 N1). This is a long period comet that has only visited the inner solar system twice within the last two thousand years. Its last visit is believed to have been 83 BC.

On September 1, 2007, the Earth will pass through the dusty trail left behind by Comet Kiess, and it might be a spectacular show. Or it might be a non-event.

"We have so little experience with ancient debris from long-period comets," notes Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "Almost anything could happen—from a fizzle to a beautiful meteor shower."

Astronomers have predicted that the peak of the shower will occur at approximately 1136 UTC (7:36 am EDT), and last for about 2 hours. It should be visible to observers in Western North America, the Pacific, and Eastern Asia.

One prediction calculated that there could be as many as 100 meteors an hour. That's pretty good, but not at meteor storm levels, like the Leonids. One unique attribute about the Aurigids is that they leave a brilliant blue-green streak in the sky. Scientists think this might be because Comet Kiess is such a long period comet, spending much of its time in the darkness of the outer Solar System, its particles are relatively untouched by the Sun
So, I can't guarantee anything. But the weather should still be warm on September 1st. School hasn't started, and many of you will be looking for an excuse to enjoy the night sky with your friends and family.
Now you've got something to do. Go see the Aurigid meteors.
Original Source: NASA Science


I will be flying home from Maui on the night of September 1st sure hope they will be visible from 35,000 ft!

Please google for the lunar eclipse information, it should be visible from North America which missed last years lunar eclipse,

[saxman]

Thanks for the reminder , i cant wait. i LOVE the night sky when it rains Meteors. i saw about 10 at the same time this last week . They say it was only pratice for the sept 1st shower.

[Dee]

Total lunar eclipse to occur on Tuesday (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070826/lunar_eclipse_070826/20070826?hub=SciTech)

Associated Press

Updated: Sun. Aug. 26 2007

DENVER — The Earth's shadow will creep across the moon's surface early Tuesday, slowly eclipsing it and turning it shades of orange and red. The total lunar eclipse, the second this year, will be visible in North and South America, especially in the West. People in the Pacific islands, eastern Asia, Australia and New Zealand also will be able to view it if skies are clear.

People in Europe, Africa or the Middle East, who had the best view of the last total lunar eclipse in March, won't see this one because the moon will have set when the eclipse begins at 4:51 a.m. EDT. It will take an hour to reach full eclipse stage.

An eclipse occurs when Earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's light. It's rare because the moon is usually either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit.

Since the Earth is bigger than the moon, the process of the Earth's shadow taking a bigger and bigger "bite" out of the moon, totally eclipsing it before the shadow recedes, lasts about 3 1/2 hours, said Doug Duncan, director of the University of Colorado's Fiske Planetarium. The total eclipse phase, in which the moon has an orange or reddish glow, lasts about 1 1/2 hours.

The full eclipse will be visible across the United States, but East Coast viewers will only have about a half-hour to see it before the sun begins to rise and the moon sets. Skywatchers in the West will get the full show.

In eastern Asia, the moon will rise in various stages of eclipse.

During the full eclipse, the moon won't be completely dark because some light still reaches it around the edges of the Earth. The light is refracted as it passes through our atmosphere, scattering blue light -- which is why the sky is blue -- but sending reddish light onto the moon.

"When someone asks why is it (the moon) red, you can say because the sky is blue," Duncan said.

The next total lunar eclipse occurs Feb. 21, 2008, and will be visible from the Americas, Europe and Asia.

[Cardiffgal]

As some of you may remember I lost a very dear friend, my very best friend, in January. She took her own life. She loved sunsets and moonsets and was a Cancer child, so last night I watched the Lunar Eclipse in her honor. I drove to spend the evening with her mother. I arrived about 9:30pm. We had pizza and talked and the time passed pretty quickly. I brought my telescope, my star gazing bino's, two cameras, my ipod and my iphone. I WAS READY. At about 1:30am we made popcorn and laid out under the night sky to watch the show. It did not disappoint. We saw several meteors, the eclipse started right on time just before 2:00am and was just finishing up when I went to bed at 5:30am this morning.

I am back home now with my dogs and with wonderful memories of a night and early morning I will not soon forget.

Did anyone else see it? I will try to post a few photos later. They are not great but they will help me remember one early morning in August 2007.

[Dee]

It started here about five in the morning CG, when unfortunately daylight was already coming on so it wouldn't have been nearly as spectacular as what you saw with your friend's mom.

[Dar]

We set our alarm for 2:00 and were able to watch it out our bedroom window while lying in bed. We set the clock to snooze every 20 minutes, so even though we'd doze off, we would wake back up to watch it in pieces.
I left my house at 4:30 as usual and go to watch the rest of it as I drove to the gym. WAY COOL! It was a spectacularly clear night, and when the moon was covered the stars were especially gorgeous!!