Camelopardalids meteor shower set to be astronomical 'show of the year'
comments
Astronomers are expecting a new meteor shower to light up the sky above America tonight.
No one has seen it before, but the shower could put on a show that would rival the prolific Perseid meteor shower in August.
The Camelopardalids shower would be dust resulting from a periodic comet, 209P/LINEAR.
Scientists are anticipating a new meteor shower, the May Camelopardalids, that could put on a show that would rival the prolific Perseid meteor shower in August.
COMET 209P
Comet 209P/LINEAR was discovered in February 2004 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project, a cooperative effort of NASA, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, and the US Air Force.
It is a relatively dim comet that dips inside the orbit of Earth once every five years as it loops around the sun.
While orbiting, the closest it comes to the Sun is 0.9 AU (84 million miles) and the farthest it gets from the Sun is about 5 AU (465 million miles), close to Jupiter's orbit.
This year, 209P will have a close approach to Earth on May 29.
It will come within a distance of 0.04 AU, about 3.7 million miles, of our planet.
If the comet was actively producing a lot of dust during that time, the Earth may be treated to a new meteor shower, tentatively named the May Camelopardalids.
'Some forecasters have predicted a meteor storm of more than 200 meteors per hour," said Bill Cooke, lead for NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.
'We have no idea what the comet was doing in the 1800s.
The parent comet doesn't appear to be very active now, so there could be a great show, or there could be little activity.'
NASA scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center expect the shower to be active between 02:30 and 11:00 UTC on May 24 (that's 10:30 p.m. on May 23 to 7:00 a.m. on May 24 EDT), and to peak between 06:00 and 08:00 UTC on May 24 (2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. EDT).
The May Camelopardalid radiant is in the constellation Camelopardalis, which translates to 'camel leopard' or giraffe
HOW TO SEE IT
Nasa says North America has a pretty good seat for this cosmic event - if there are no clouds.
It advises:
'Find a safe, dark location and lay out beneath the stars.
'You don't need to look in any particular direction, just
straight up.
'Meteors can appear all over the sky.'
Comet 209P/LINEAR was discovered in February 2004 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project, a cooperative effort of NASA, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, and the US Air Force.
It is a relatively dim comet that dips inside the orbit of Earth once every five years as it loops around the sun.
Two years ago, meteor experts Esko Lyytinen of Finland and Peter Jenniskens at NASA Ames Research Center announced that Earth was due for an encounter with debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR.
Comet 209P/LINEAR on May 15, 2014. Even though the comet will travel close to Earth, you won¿t be able to see it with the naked eye
Streams of dust ejected by the comet mainly back in the 1800s would cross Earth's orbit on May 24, 2014. The result, they said, could be a significant meteor outburst.
'We expect these meteors to radiate from a point in Camelopardalis, also known as 'the giraffe,' a faint constellation near the North Star,' Cooke said.
'It's a great opportunity to see a new meteor shower - an opportunity I want to see with my own eyes.'
Put the internet to work for you.
| |
| Recommended for you |
0 comments:
Post a Comment