PERSEID METEOR UPDATE: Last night, NASA's network of all-sky meteor cameras recorded 139 Perseid fireballs over the USA. At the same time, members of the International Meteor Organization counted more than 90 Perseids per hour in ideally dark-sky sites. These facts suggest that the Perseid meteor shower is peaking on August 13th, as expected. If it's dark where you live, be alert for Perseids! [photo gallery]
THE MOOOO-N VS. PERSEID METEORS: Right now, Earth is passing through a stream of debris from giant Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Bright moonlight has spoiled the show for many observers--but not for these sky watchers in the Nalati Grasslands of Xinjiang, China, where Jeff Dai waited until moonset to photograph the display:
"In the early morning of August 13th, as the moon set in west, the meteor shower become more active," says Dai. "Many lovely cows seemed to enjoy the meteor shower a lot."
Indeed, the trick to seeing the Perseids this year is to wake up early--very early--about an hour before dawn when the Moon is low and the shower's radiant is high in the sky. During the brief window of darkness between moonset and sunrise, Perseid meteor counts will jump up to their normal values undeterred by mooooonlight.
Realtime Meteor Photo Gallery
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APOLLO 11 PROOF SILVER DOLLARS: The students of Earth to Sky Calculus weren't even born when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon in 1969 years ago. Nevertheless, they "get it." On July 20th, the students launched 50 Apollo 11 silver dollars to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray balloon. The coins touched the edge of space 50 years to the day after Neil and Buzz made footprints in the Sea of Tranquillity:
You can have one for $197.95. The students are selling these coins to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Quantities are limited and more than half have already been sold. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
A GREEN FRAGMENT BREAKS OFF THE SUN (NOT REALLY): On August 11th, photographer Thom Peck was watching the sun set over the hills west of Poway, California, when a green fragment broke away from the solar disk. He recorded the split using his Canon Rebel T6i digital camera snapping pictures as fast as 1/4000s:
Appearances notwithstanding, the sun is still intact. What happened? The green color of the eruption is the key clue.
"It was a green flash," explains Peck, "caused by refraction in the atmosphere."
Just on the other side of that hill lies the Pacific Ocean--and the Pacific Ocean is a great place to find green flashes. Temperature gradients in the air above the sea surface magnify tiny differences in the atmospheric refraction of red and green light, creating a verdant mirage.
Realtime Green Flash Photo Gallery
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