SPACEWEATHER RADIO: The US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar is scanning the skies over North America. When a Perseid meteor passes overhead--"ping"--there is an echo. Tune into Spaceweather Radio for a live audio feed from the radar facility. PERSEIDS UPDATE: If it's dark where you live, go outside and look for meteors. Earth is still inside the debris stream of Comet Swift-Tuttle and, as a result, the Perseid meteor shower is still active. Indeed, the show could be better tonight, Aug. 12th, than it was last night, Aug. 11th, when Jimmy Westlake caught this fireball flying over Steamboat Springs, Colorado: "This is one of two Perseid fireballs that fell during a spike in activity between 1:30 and 2:30 o'clock MDT on August 12, 2009," says Westlake. The "spike" was anticpated by forecasters. A filament of dust shed by Perseid parent Comet Swift-Tuttle in 1610 drifted across Earth's path and Earth ran into it around 0800 UT (1 am PDT, 2 am MDT) on August 12, 2009. Evidence is mounting that there might have been an uptick in Perseid meteor rates at that time. Stay tuned for updates. UPDATED: 2009 Perseid Photo Gallery [Previous Perseids: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2001] TOP SECRET: Not every light that streaks across the night sky is a Perseid. Some of them are spy satellites. Here's one gliding over Maghaberry, Northern Ireland, on August 10th: "I went out to look for Perseids and instead I saw Lacrosse 3," reports photographer John McConnell. Lacrosse 3 is a US National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite. Although it is top-secret, it often attracts attention to itself when sunlight glints brightly from its solar panels, rumored to span 45 meters from tip to tip. The solar arrays power a synthetic aperture radar, which can image Earth's surface with meter-resolution even through clouds. Some web sites claim that the radar can also sense objects underground, but that's just speculation. "I couldn't mistake Lacrosse 3 because it was so bright," says McConnell. "This is even better than Perseids!" Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for spy-flybys of your hometown. 2009 Noctilucent Photo Gallery [previous years: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003] July 2009 Aurora Gallery [previous Julys: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003] Explore the Sunspot Cycle |