I love questions from my readers! So far I have received two, and I will answer one in this post. The other will have to wait a bit, it was pretty complicated. (It has to do with the space time continuum, in case you're curious.) But before I go on, I would like to reiterate that I love love love questions from readers. So ask away!
Flem in Santa Barbara, CA asks: "I need to know if it is possible that I saw a comet last weekend or if it was just an amazing shooting star that lasted for a couple of seconds."
Short answer: a meteor, not a comet.
Long answer: Comets are big balls of ice and dust (imagine a dirty snowball a few miles across) that orbit the sun in elliptical (oval-shaped) paths. As they orbit the sun, sometimes they are in a location where we can view them from Earth. When we see a comet in the sky, it looks like a kind of dim star with a faint tail behind it. Comets appear in the sky for weeks or even months, in pretty much the same spot night to night. Meteors are flashes of light created when specks of dust, most around the size of a grain of sand, enter the earth's atmosphere and the friction between air and the dust causes a tunnel of flames. (Contrary to the popular misnomer, meteors are not shooting stars at all; meteors=light from a speck of dust, stars=huge burning balls of gas a million miles across.)
So if you saw something bright flash across the sky and then disappear in a matter of minutes, I'm going to say it was a meteor and not a comet. It may have even been a stray Quadrantid.
Showing posts with label meteor showers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meteor showers. Show all posts
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Quadrantids Meteor Shower
January 3rd (that's tomorrow, people!) is the peak of the annual Quadrantids meteor shower. The estimated best time for viewing is 12:50 UT (7:50 EST, 4:50 PST) but of course you'll see plenty before and after. Best viewing is after midnight, doubly this year because of the moon.
Why do we have meteor showers? Meteor showers are caused by Earth moving through the debris left behind by a comet. As comets orbit the sun, they leave bits of dust behind. Since that dust stays in a (mostly) stationary spot in our orbit, we know we'll run into that patch at the same time each year.
Most meteor showers are known by the name of the constellation nearest the center (or "radiant") of the shower. The Geminids, for example have their radiant in the constellation Gemini. Interestingly, the Quandrantids were named for a now defunct constellation name, Quadrans Muralis. That constellation was near what we call the Big Dipper, so look in the north toward the Big Dipper for the radiant.
If you're going to try to see the shower, wait at least until moonset (just past midnight here in South Florida) and then look outside. No telescope necessary; some people mistakenly think they'll see more meteors with a telescope. In fact, it's just the opposite: you want to see as much of the sky as possible in order to see all meteors in your view. If you use a telescope, you'll see only a tiny part of the sky. To see more of the sky, find a nice clear spot (no buildings, lights or tall trees), lie down on a comfy sleeping bag and enjoy!
If you can't make it out on the 3rd (or if weather doesn't permit), don't worry; meteor showers last days or sometimes weeks. Just keep your eyes open when you're outside at night for the next week or two and you'll probably see a meteor or two.
Happy meteor hunting!
Why do we have meteor showers? Meteor showers are caused by Earth moving through the debris left behind by a comet. As comets orbit the sun, they leave bits of dust behind. Since that dust stays in a (mostly) stationary spot in our orbit, we know we'll run into that patch at the same time each year.
Most meteor showers are known by the name of the constellation nearest the center (or "radiant") of the shower. The Geminids, for example have their radiant in the constellation Gemini. Interestingly, the Quandrantids were named for a now defunct constellation name, Quadrans Muralis. That constellation was near what we call the Big Dipper, so look in the north toward the Big Dipper for the radiant.
If you're going to try to see the shower, wait at least until moonset (just past midnight here in South Florida) and then look outside. No telescope necessary; some people mistakenly think they'll see more meteors with a telescope. In fact, it's just the opposite: you want to see as much of the sky as possible in order to see all meteors in your view. If you use a telescope, you'll see only a tiny part of the sky. To see more of the sky, find a nice clear spot (no buildings, lights or tall trees), lie down on a comfy sleeping bag and enjoy!
If you can't make it out on the 3rd (or if weather doesn't permit), don't worry; meteor showers last days or sometimes weeks. Just keep your eyes open when you're outside at night for the next week or two and you'll probably see a meteor or two.
Happy meteor hunting!
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