Where's Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name of that star? Get the answers from mySKY--a fun new astronomy helper from Meade. . ORIONID METEORS: Earth is entering a stream of dusty debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the annual Orionid meteor shower. The display, feeble now but intensifying, is expected to peak on Oct. 21st. If the Orionids of 2007 are anything like 2006, sky watchers can expect to see dozens of bright meteors during the dark hours before dawn next Sunday. Mark your calendar! AURORA WATCH: The gentlest of solar wind streams hit Earth last night. The impact produced no geomagnetic storm, but it was enough to make some nice auroras over Nuuk, Greenland: Photo details: Pentax K10D, Pentax DA 14mm lens, ISO 100, 96 sec "These were not the best auroras we've seen this year, but they were still beautiful," says photographer Thomas Bojer Eltorp. Another, more powerful solar wind stream is due Oct. 19th and it may yield a more widespread and intense display. Stay tuned! October 2007 Aurora Gallery [September Aurora Gallery] [Aurora Alerts] COMET LONEOS: Comet LONEOS (C/2007 F1) is plunging toward the sun and solar heating is doing its work: pieces of the 8th-magnitude comet are boiling off. "We were surprised to see blobs moving in the tail," report Filipe Alves, Jan Lameer and Jose Ribeiro at the AstroQueyras Observatory in the French Alps. This 24-minute time-lapse movie shows the view through the observatory's 8-inch telescope on Oct. 12th: Comet LONEOS makes its closest approach to the sun just outside the orbit of Mercury on Oct. 29th. At that time it may become faintly visible to the unaided eye--a 4th magnitude fuzzball with an increasingly active tail. Meanwhile, the comet is a good target for mid-sized backyard telescopes--if you can point your 'scope low enough. "This comet is so close to the horizon, it is almost too low for my equipment," says astrophotographer Mike Holloway of Van Buren, Arkansas. "How low? I I had to ask my neighbor across the field to move his cows so they don't block the view. Well, maybe it's not quite that bad! I did manage to capture this image on Oct. 11th using a 5-inch refracting telescope." LONEOS LINKS: [ephemeris] [3D orbit] [Sky maps: Oct. 14, 15, 16, 17] |