Meteor Showers

[astrosammy]

I decided to go out and see some meteors. I found out that the Taurids http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurids are currently visible.
The both radiant points are at 25° and 35° above the horizon currently at around 90° azimuth and the moon is at about 270° azimuth. Will I be able to see some or is the moon to bright for that? And will I really be able to see 5 in a hour?


-----Posted Added-----


N=5*1h*sin34°/2.3^6,5-3,5=0.23
so only 0.23 per hour. I'll better wait for the Geminids.

 

[unknown_orbiter]

Sounds cool! But with azumi that close I believe tat indeed the Moon will blot out the shower.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Not sure if this was part of the shower, but this just came up in Slashdot:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_2aX-784sw"]Big Meteor Caught on Police Cam in Edmonton[/ame]

Looks curiously like most of my XR2 re-entries...

 

[Melocoton]

Wow, that's better than the Leonid from June 2004! Wish I saw that one in person.

 

[Andy44]

If I saw that thing coming down from the sky I think I would wonder if I had seen my last sunrise. It looks like it's either a nuclear warhead or a very large rock, either of which could be curtains.

 

[JamesG]

A nuclear weapon's reentry vehicle would produce very little signature. It doesn't "burn up" or ionize much of the air the way a blunt object would.

You'd never see it coming...

 

[Andy44]

I'm not so sure about that...here's some Minuteman III warhead footage; look like meteors, small and fast ones, I'll grant you. (embedding is disabled, you have to click the link at the top)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChhYOO1s-nY"]YouTube - Minuteman III Missile Launch - California to Kwajalein Atoll[/ame]

 

[JamesG]

Yep they look like small meteors. Not gigantic fire balls as in the first vid.

 

[steph]

Indeed, that thing looked really freakishly scary. The big problem is that in the fractions of a second before it disappears, you don't really know how big it is, or how bright it's gonna be. Of course, the absence of an impact or air burst flash should be reassuring. Seriously though, I'd probably die of a heart attack if I ever saw something like that light up the sky.

 

[movieman]

Not sure if this was part of the shower, but this just came up in Slashdot:

Yeah, apparently it went over Saskatchewan too, but we didn't see it; I think it would have been to the north of us and the only windows on that side of the house have a good view of the neighbour's house and nothing much else .

 

[tblaxland]

A nuclear weapon's reentry vehicle would produce very little signature. It doesn't "burn up" or ionize much of the air the way a blunt object would.

You'd never see it coming...

Reminded of this picture of Peacekeeper RVs at Kwajalein:

 

[JamesG]

Indeed, that thing looked really freakishly scary. The big problem is that in the fractions of a second before it disappears, you don't really know how big it is, or how bright it's gonna be. Of course, the absence of an impact or air burst flash should be reassuring.

That big, it probably skipped off the atmosphere and went back out into space. In the final few frames you can see that its still there after "exploding". Its probably just going over the horizon not hitting the ground or burning up.

 

[astrosammy]

I saw a meteor some hours ago, directly crossing Endeavours way. It didn't seem to belong to any meteor shower.