Astronomy Picture of the Day 8-9-02

NASA ^ | 8-09-02 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2002 August 9

Fireworks and Shooting Stars
Credit & Copyright: Jim Steele

Explanation: Experimenting with a new telescope and camera, photographer Jim Steele captured this surreal but festive image of fireworks in the night sky above Ashland, Oregon. The date was July 4th and the fiery streaks were part of the traditional annual celebration of independence day in the United States. Fiery streaks from another annual event will revisit dark skies this weekend, as shooting stars arc through the night during the much anticipated Perseid Meteor Shower. Perseid meteors are actually bits of dust from the periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle and once each year planet Earth orbits through Swift-Tuttle's cometary dust stream. As the comet dust enters Earth's atmosphere traveling at tens of kilometers per second, the particles are vaporized leaving bright and sometimes colorful trails. While Perseid meteors can be viewed over the next few nights, this year's shower is expected to peak on August 12 and 13 with a rate of dozens or more meteors per hour visible in moonless early morning skies.

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Fun Fact:

The Perseid shower is called such because it seems to originate from a region in the constellation Perseus.

Above: The northeastern sky at 4 o'clock in the morning on August 12, 2002. Meteors will seem to flow from a point in Perseus called "the radiant" (red dot). Don't forget to look for Saturn!

Adapt to the dark. Stay away from your TV and computer monitor (I know it's hard) for at least 1/2 hour before going out to enjoy the show.

Get on the APOD PING list!

[petuniasevan]

APOD PING!

[sleavelessinseattle]

Fireworks right before you go on vacation...hmm...I know anonymity is important on FR, but just how highly placed ARE
you in the NASA organization P7? And also I'm feeling this creepy LOTR vibe...You're not going to vanish during the Meteor shower and leave Mtngrl@vrwc and me holding the APOD like Bilbo did ARE YOU??? LOL! Watch those Elvish jello shots...They're made with Keebler science...You'll be handing out your phone number to suave orcs if you're not careful!

[MeekOneGOP]

bumpers !

[dansangel]

Thanks for the heads up (no pun intended!) on the meteor shower!