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THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT: You can now experience
the Perseid meteor shower on your iPhone. It's cloud-proof!
Learn more and give
it a try. |
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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.
PERSEID FIREBALL:
"On August 9th I photographed 17
Perseids," reports John Chumack of Dayton, Ohio. "The
best one was a fireball of magnitude -8, about 40 times brighter
than Venus. It had a double explosion, too!"
"The Perseid meteor shower is definitely underway," he
says.
It should get even better in the nights ahead. Members of the International
Meteor Organization are now counting more than 25 Perseids per hour:
data. The rate
is expected to increase almost 10-fold on the night of August 11th
and 12th when Earth passes through a denser-than-usual filament
of comet dust crossing Earth's orbit. Oberving tips may be found
in the Science@NASA story "The
Perseids are Coming."
2009
Perseid Photo Gallery
[previous Perseids: 2008,
2007, 2006,
2005, 2004,
2001]
EVOLUTION OF AN IMPACT:
Since July 19th, when Anthony Wesley of Australia discovered the
scattered remains of a mystery
impactor in the high clouds of Jupiter, amateur astronomers
around the world have been photographing the planet every night.
"German astronomer Hans Joerg Mettig has converted some of
the best images into polar projections," says Theo Ramakers,
"and I have stitched them together to make a movie." Click
on the image to set the scene in motion:
Animations: large,
small, zoom
The 3-week animation, which begins with Wesley's discovery image,
shows the cindery cloud expanding, swirling, and ultimately being
torn into three or more pieces by turbulent south polar winds. "The
spot has really progressed dramatically," says Ramakers.
No one knows how the movie will end. Planetary scientists say the
debris could evolve in interesting and unexpected ways before it
finally disperses some weeks from now. Astronomers who wish to contribute
scenes can monitor the cloud near Jupiter's System II longitude
210°. For predicted times when it will cross the planet's central
meridian, add 2 hours to Sky and Telescope's predicted
transit times for Jupiter's Great Red Spot.
more images: from
Mike Hood of Kathleen, Georgia; from
George Tarsoudis of Alexandroupolis - Evros, Greece; from
W.Verhesen of Sittard, The Netherlands; from
Glenn Jolly of Gilbert, Arizona; from
Alphajuno of League City, Texas;
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
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