Posted on 05/21/2014 8:56:22 AM PDT by messierhunter
Anticipation is building as Earth approaches a cloud of debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR. This weekend, meteoroids hitting Earth's atmosphere could produce a never-before-seen shower called the "May Camelopardalids" peaking with as many as 200 meteors per hour.
Earth won't be the only body passing through the debris zone. The Moon will be, too. Meteoroids hitting the lunar surface could produce explosions visible through backyard telescopes on Earth.
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According to NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, the best time for amateur astronomers to scan the Moon for lunar meteors is after 0800 UT (4 a.m. EDT) on May 24th.
(Excerpt) Read more at spaceweather.com ...
I am planning to head out beyond the city lights to see what may happen.
Hope for clear skies.
I hope there will be images of those impacts
If I catch any I’ll certainly grab frames from the video for still images.
I am in an area of soviet Red Hampshire that is darn near pitch black at night...now if the weather cooperates...
And we came up with this complicated and obtuse name how?
Camelblablatoids? Really?
Visible lunar impacts?
LOL, talk about downplaying an extraordinary and potentially catastrophically dangerous situation!
“Please move casually out the exits onto the plane wings, and bring your seat cushions to use as a personal floatation device that you might find useful after your egress...”
I’m in Northern Ohio. 1 in 10 chance of clear skies!
Not much luck of that here in Michigan.
Howver, I've pheasant hunted in the NW corner of Kansas, staying in a small farm house and I had never before seen such a pitch black night sky literally lit up with a zillion stars.....those nights were incredible
Was lounging on the couch watching TV last night when I saw a very bright blue-green meteor streak across the sky through the window. Very cool sight.
-PJ
“... name is derived from early Rome, where it was thought of as a composite creature, described as having characteristics of both a camel and a leopard. Nowadays we call such a creature a giraffe!”
I remember that movie. So bad it was good.
Anyone know the time the meteor shower will be visible with the naked eye in the eastern US??? (North Carolina)
Daddy would have got us Uzis...
How’d you get it to go through the window? :)
GREAT! I’m going to be on the farm (35 miles from town) to view the festivities. Any chance that you will make a highlight reel available later?
NW North Carolina Mountains . . . I’m on it ! !
Snoot ;o)
It’s not dangerous, it’s a meteor shower. We get meteor showers all the time. Even meteor storms are not unprecedented. And yes, many lunar impacts have been observed before, including during meteor showers. This particular shower, if it goes off, is timed extremely well to be able to observe any potential lunar impacts. Since the moon has no atmosphere to speak of, small meteoroids that would burn up as fireballs in our atmosphere make small momentary flashes directly on the moon’s surface instead.
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