BTW the ISS Earth viewer is sending back some great photos.
Posted on 05/24/2014 10:56:17 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
Cape Town: Astronomers and amateur sky watchers across North America went to bed early Saturday disappointed by a meteor shower hyped as "potentially spectacular" that, in the end, was a dud.
The US Naval Observatory described the Camelopardalids meteor shower on Friday as a "potentially spectacular show," but that potential was never fulfilled.
The meteor shower could be seen by people in the United States, Canada and Mexico starting around 0230 GMT Saturday, according to NASA.
A weak showing, combined with passing clouds and light pollution from towns and cities, conspired to turn what many hoped would be a light show extravaganza into a sleepless night of stargazing punctuated by occasional streaks of light.
The best photos posted online on sites like Flickr, including those from NASA, show a sky lit with stars with occasional streaks of light.
NASA had a live feed camera pointed towards the sky, but despite the site's upbeat music there was little to see.
The #Camelopardalis were a bust," read a posting on Twitter. "From 12:45am-4:30am EDT: 12 small faint ones, 1 bright one, & 1 sporadic. I stayed up for this?"
One Twitter user wrote: "#Camelopardalis. More like #Cantopenmyeyelinds when my alarm goes off at 8 am."
In their defense, astronomers weren't entirely sure what to expect from a comet they only discovered in 2004.
"Meteor showers are like the weather. They are a little bit hard to predict," said Paul Wiegert, associate professor at the University of Western Ontario.
This meteor shower originates from the trail of dust behind a small, dim comet known as 209P/Linear. The debris gets tugged into Earth's orbit this year by the force of gravity from Jupiter.
Meteor showers consist of space rocks that burn up upon hitting the top of Earth's atmosphere, producing a bright flash of light that gives the appearance of a falling star.
A key piece of this meteor shower mystery lies in the ancient trail of dust behind the comet, which was produced centuries ago.
Initial predictions were that a few hundred meteors would be visible per hour, or a few meteors per minute -- "not a special-effects extravaganza ... but it is in line with many of the strong annual meteor showers," Wiegert told AFP.
The annual Perseids meteor show that lasts for several days in August is made up of shooting stars that barrel by at a pace of 150,000 miles (241,000 kilometers) per hour.
The Camelopardalids meteors moved slower, traveling at around 36,000 miles (58,000 kilometers) per hour, Cooke said.
The show did not impress "Space Junkie," who wote on Twitter: dear #Camelopardalis ... thanks for the meteor-less yawn factory. take notes from the #persedis this july."
Astronomers flew in from Europe to observe the skies from a remote astronomy base in Saskatchewan, Canada, Cooke said, while others traveled to the US southwest where the forecast was for clear weather.
Using a night vision monocular I saw many little, faint streaks. Not one exciting one via unaided eye. I stayed out from 1:30 EST to 4AM. What a dud.
a dark back yard filled with countless fireflies.
Miniature meteors.....
Fireflies in Forest, Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
http://www.artinnaturephotography.com/images/large/L-fireflies-smoky-mountains-forest-20130611_1082.jpg
Same thing here in north cental Ohio.I went out at 3AM,spent 30 minutes looking-saw nothing.
It was a lot like watching wine age....but less fun.
What did we learn? Never, never trust an astronomer. I bet they beat their children too.
Hey, it’s just gettin’ started. :’) It’s really a matter of timing, and comets don’t shed uniformly during their transits. Some of the named annual showers in the mid-19th century were spectacular, and people awaited them, until one year they basically didn’t show up. There was barely a peep out of them until well into the 20th century. Thanks Jack Hydrazine, extra to APoD.
Comet to pass by Earth closely after meteor shower
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/24/us/meteor-shower/
Cool! Do you have a link where we can watch it live?
Thanks!
I sat out for over 30 minutes and saw a grand total of one. My 9-year-old son who currently is obsessed with astronomy was upset the next morning because I had not woken him up. Fortunately, this story confirms my reason for not waking him.
Is that what the consensus said?
If lightning bugs fascinate you, look into going up to Elkmont in the Smokies this summer, they really put on a show. People drive in from all over just to sit and watch. They’re synchronized, light up in waves across the trees and vegetation. Very unusual.
That photo is from Elkmont.
We watched last night, and while it wasn’t ‘epic’, the event was fairly impressive.
Thanks cc.
Thats’ just surreal ... and very cool! :)
The shower actually happened, but on the alternate Earth that has been warming the last 15 years.
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