METEOR ALERT: Earth is about to skirt the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1)

[Snowy Owl]

METEOR ALERT:

Earth is about to skirt the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1), and this will cause the annual Lyrid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on April 22nd, producing about 10 meteors per hour--modest, but pretty. The best time to look is during the hours before dawn on Saturday morning. Go to a dark site away from city lights, if possible. [full story]

The Moon will also encounter the comet's tail on April 22nd, which raises an interesting possibility: Amateur astronomers may be able to see flashes of light on the Moon when comet debris hits the lunar surface and explodes. All that's required is a backyard telescope and lots of patience.


Simulated lunar Lyrid impacts. Image credit: Pete Gural, SAIC.

Want to try? Train your telescope on the dark side of the Moon, which rises around 3 a.m. on Saturday: sky map. Lyrids will be raining down on the northern third of the visible disk. In the eyepiece, watch for fleeting, point-like flashes. Better yet, let a video camera do the watching for you. Brian Cudnik, who coordinates amateur observations of lunar impacts for the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, explains how.

SUN SERPENT: Yesterday, astrophotographer Gary Palmer of Los Angeles, California, claims to have spotted the Loch Ness Monster--on the Sun. You decide:

This fluffy solar filament does indeed resemble a sea serpent. In a few days, though, it'll look like something utterly different. The sun's rotation is carrying the filament toward the sun's limb. Soon, it will hang out over the edge, blazing bright against the black space beyond, transforming a dark serpent into a hot glowing ... what? Stay tuned!

more images: from Mike Taormina of Palatine, Illinois;

http://www.spaceweather.com

[Snowy Owl]

Re: METEOR ALERT: Earth is about to skirt the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1

The Lyrid Meteor Shower
SpaceWeather.com

Global Notes: This is a northern hemisphere shower.



Every year in late April Earth passes through the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1), and the encounter causes a meteor shower--the Lyrids. This year the shower peaks on April 22nd.

The best time to look, no matter where you live, is during the hours before dawn on Saturday morning, April 22nd. If you wake before 2 am and watch the sky until sunrise, you can expect to see at least a dozen meteors. Counts typically range from 5 to 20 meteors per hour. Observers in the country will see more, observers in the city less.

Lyrid meteors appear to stream from the bright star Vega, more or less, as shown in the sky map below:

In fact, the Lyrids have nothing to do with Vega. The true source of the shower is Comet Thatcher. Every year in April, Earth plows through Thatcher's drawn-out dusty tail. Flakes of comet dust, most no bigger than grains of sand, strike Earth's atmosphere traveling 49 km/s (110,000 mph) and disintegrate as streaks of light--meteors!

Lyrid meteors are typically as bright as the stars in the Big Dipper, which is to say of middling brightness. But some are more intense, even brighter than Venus. These "Lyrid fireballs" cast shadows for a split second and leave behind smokey debris trails that linger for minutes.

Right: The debris trail of a Lyrid meteor, drifting in the pre-dawn sky of California's Owens Valley, with blossoming wild irises in the foreground. Painting by Bishop, California, artist Duane Hilton.

Occasionally, the shower intensifies. Most years in April there are no more than 5 to 20 meteors per hour during the shower's peak. But sometimes, when Earth glides through an unusually dense clump of comet debris, the rate increases. Sky watchers in 1982, for instance, counted 90 Lyrids per hour. An even more impressive outburst was documented in 1803 by a journalist in Richmond, Virginia, who wrote:

"Shooting stars. This electrical [sic] phenomenon was observed on Wednesday morning last at Richmond and its vicinity, in a manner that alarmed many, and astonished every person that beheld it. From one until three in the morning, those starry meteors seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers as to resemble a shower of sky rockets..." [ref]

What will the Lyrids do this year? The only way to know for sure is to go outside and look.

Experienced meteor watchers suggest the following viewing strategy: Dress warmly. Bring a reclining chair, or spread a thick blanket over a flat spot of ground. Lie down and look up somewhat toward the east. Meteors can appear in any part of the sky, although their trails will tend to point back toward the radiant--i.e., toward Vega.

Even if you see no Lyrids at all, you will definitely see Vega. Here are some fun facts about that star:

Vega is a brilliant blue-white star about three times wider than our Sun and 25 light years away. About 14,000 years ago Vega was the North Star. Earth's spin axis wanders: Now it points at Polaris, then it pointed at Vega. You might have seen Vega in Carl Sagan's movie Contact. It was the source of alien radio transmissions to Earth.

http://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/lyrids/lyrids.html

[Goju]

Re: METEOR ALERT: Earth is about to skirt the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1)

Great - first birds are falling from the sky, now rocks!

[sharon sanders]

Re: METEOR ALERT: Earth is about to skirt the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1)

Goju - Won't you be the stylish guy in a biohazard suit walking under a cement umbrella?

[DB]

Re: METEOR ALERT: Earth is about to skirt the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1)

It is important to remember that we are always at risk from various types of natural disasters.

A hurricane, earthquake, tornado, volcano, tsunami, pandemics, comet or meteor.

To ignore any of these threats is foolish.

Each of them occurs at certain frequencies so there are certain times when you should be more aware of such threats.

Amongst all of these natural disasters only three have true global impacts.

1) Major Volcanic Eruptions
2) Pandemics
3) Comet or Meteor Impact

Currently we are focusing on H5N1 avian influenza as the most imminent threat.

That being said we should not turn a blind eye to the other 2 major global threats as just like a pandemic they could occur at any time.

Within the next month we are going to be passing close to the fragments of Comet 73P. This comet has fragmented into 40 or pieces and it is continuing to fragment. Each time it fragments new pieces shoot off into different trajectories.

As of this time there is no need to be concerned that one of these fragments is going to impact Earth.

If information were to surface that would show that a fragment was inbound we will share as much information that we could find to such an event.

Below are some sites of organizations that are watching this comet and the fragments.

http://www.birtwhistle.org/WhatsNew.htm
http://www.fg-kometen.de/fgk_hpe.htm
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/73P.html

Once again there is currently no indication that any of the components are going to strike earth.

We now tune you back to your regularly scheduled program, H5N1 Avian Influenza.