While observing last night, I observed an abnormally high hourly rate of meteors. While on a typical night, one might see about 10 per hour, I was seeing about 1 every few minutes, which I would estimate to 20-30 meteors per hour. At first I was confused, but then I remembered: the Bootid meteor shower began on June 21st! Typically considered a minor shower, the Bootids have been more active in the last few years. In 2004, they reached a peak of over 100 per hour!
Shown above is the direction from which the meteors will appear to radiate.
The Bootid meteor shower peaks on June 27th. It is believed that since the shower's parent comet, 7P/Pons-Winnecke, passed closely to Earth in 2008, that the hourly rate for this year will also be quite high.
So get out and check out this meteor shower! It will go until about July 2nd, so you'll have plenty of time!
Clear skies!
Monday, June 22, 2009
2009 Bootids Off to a Good Start
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Stellarium's Light Pollution Feature
I just recently upgraded to the new Stellarium. In the new version 0.10.2, many new features were added. The one I found most interesting was the light pollution simulation. Kind of shocking to see the differences immediately between perfect dark sky and nearly no stars. Makes me thankful for the (kind of) dark skies I do have.
Here, you can see the option in the Sky Views options screen.
This is the view simulated with no light pollution. This is what perfect dark skies would look like.
This is moderate light pollution. My skies are somewhere between this LP level and the dark sky above.
This shows heavy light pollution. I've been in places with more LP than this, and I couldn't see any stars!
In the near future, I'll be putting together a complete list of the new features of Stellarium. But tonight I'll be busy out at the 'scope!
Clear skies!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
New York Teen Discovers Supernova
Caroline Moore, of Warwick, New York has made history as the youngest person to ever discover a supernova, at 14 years old. Moore's discovery was made by examining images taken in a Meade LX200 16-inch telescope (similar to the 'scope at right). Discovered on November 7th, 2008, this supernova is just now getting worldwide media coverage. In fact, I hadn't heard about it until I saw it on the news. I was surprised to see amateur telescopes on TV during an interview segment!
Known as Supernova 2008ha, this supernova is one of the weakest supernovae ever discovered. It was about 1000 times weaker than the typical supernova. Located in the galaxy UGC 12682, Supernova 2008ha is over 70 million light-years distant. It is theorized that this supernova is just a very weak Type Ia supernova, but there may be something more here. Maybe a new phenomenon? A star collapsing into a supernova? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, though: This is an amazing discovery by Caroline Moore.
For more information, check out the scientific paper.
Clear skies!
The Summer Solstice
Each year, the summer solstice signals the "beginning" of the summer season. The summer solstice is very similar in meaning to the winter solstice, but opposite in the position of the sun.
The summer solstice is the day during which the sun is at its most Northern point in the sky (usually near June 20th or 21st). Consequently, it is also (typically) the longest day of the year, having the shortest night. The word solstice itself comes from a Latin phrase meaning "the Sun stands still". For a few days before and after solstice, the sun would be changing declination so slowly that it would appear to be standing still.
The easiest way to visualize this is to imagine yourself standing on a sphere (the Earth). If you're standing in the Northern hemisphere, the sun will always appear to be slightly South of your location. The more you tilt the North pole away from the sun, the further South the sun seems to dip. The tilt of the Earth's axis is not changing, but its position relative to the Sun is, producing the same effect.
The summer solstice occurs on the following days in upcoming years:
Clear skies!