THIS WEEKEND--THE LEONID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is entering a stream of debris from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, source of the annual Leonid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Nov. 17th and 18th with rates as high as 15 meteors per hour. The best time to look is during the dark hours before sunrise on Saturday and Sunday. [sky map] [full story] [live counts]
Leonids are famous for fireballs--that is, exploding meteors brighter than Venus. An epic outburst of Leonid fireballs in 1998 cemented the shower's repupation. This year's fireball count is lower, but not zero. Hermann Koberger photographed one this morning over Fornach, Austria:
"After the fireball exploded, its smokey debris was photographically visible for 30 minutes," says Koberger. "This sequence of 1 minute exposures shows the evolution of the smoke."
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
SOUTHERN LIGHTS: Last weekend, Nov. 10th, a stream of fast-moving solar wind hit Earth's magnetic field, igniting a ring of auroras around the South Pole. Minoru Yoneto saw the red-purple glow all the way from Queenstown, New Zealand:
"We were lucky to catch another Southern Lights display during my stargazing tour," says Yoneta. "Our guests were excited to photograph them using their own cameras."
Queenstown is at 45 degrees south latitude--a considerable distance from the South Pole. That's why the auroras looked red. Auroras circling the South Pole must reach very high above Earth's surface to be visible half a hemisphere away. At altitudes greater than ~200 km, auroras turn red. The ruby glow occurs when high energy particles from space hit oxygen atoms at the top of the atmosphere. Ionized molecular nitrogen adds a dash of purple to the high-altitude palette.
More red Southern Lights are possible on Nov. 18th or 19th when a new stream of solar wind is expected to arrive. The gaseous material is flowing from a relatively small hole in the sun's atmosphere. Queenstown stargazers, charge your cameras! Free: Aurora Alerts
A GIFT FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Don't just see the Northern Lights, wear them! To support their cosmic ray balloon program, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus have flown a payload of Northern Light Pendants to the edge of space. This one reached an altitude 109,908 feet above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $79.95. The students are selling these pendants to pay their helium bill. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. All sales support the Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray ballooning program and hands-on STEM research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education