Sunday, May 06, 2007

It's been cloudy and rainy here in Winnipeg for the last few days, and Molly missed the eta-Aquarid meteor shower whose best date was last night. Anyways, here's a list of the expected meteor showers of 2007. It is organized by name/best date/constellation/zenith hourly rate and origin. Enjoy watching if the skies are clear.
Quadrantids/Jan 4/Bootes/120/not known
Lyrids/April 22/Lyra/18/Comet Thatcher
Pi-Puppids/April 24/Puppis/variable/not known
Eta-Aquarids/May 5/Aquarius/60/Halley's Comet
June Bootids/June 27/Bootes/variable/not known
South Delta Aquarids/July 28/Aquarius/20/not known
Perseids/August 13/Perseus/100/Comet Swift-Tuttle
Aurigids/Sept. 1st/Auriga/variable/not known
Draconids/Oct. 8/Draco/variable/not known
Orionids/Oct 21/Orion/23/Halley's Comet
South Taurids/Nov 5/Taurus/10/not known
North Taurids/Nov. 12/Taurus/29/not known
Leonids/Nov 18/Leo/15+/Comet Temple-Tuttle
Alpha-Monoceroids/Nov 22/Monocerus/variable/not known
December Phoenicids/Dec 6/Phoenix/variable/not known
Puppid/Velids/Dec 7/Puppis/10/not known
Geminids/Dec. 14/Gemini/120/asteroid 3200 Phaethon
Ursid/Dec 23/Ursa Major/10/not known
As you can see from the above list the most impressive meteor showers of th year are the Geminids, the Quadrantids and the Perseids. Of these only the Perseids occur in clement viewing conditions where you have to contend with mosquitoes rather than frostbite. The origin of most of the yearly meteor showers is unknown. Of those that are, one was produced by an asteroid and the others by comets. Comets are generally named after their discoverers, though it should be noted that the accepted names given above are actually often associated with a comet independently discovered by another whose name has been forgotten. There are brief biographies of Edmond Halley, Lewis Swift, Horace Tuttle and Ernst Temple at the Wikipedia site. A.E. Thatcher is a little more obscure. You can get the bare bones of his discovery at the site of the North American Meteor Network. If you are at all interested in exploring meteors in greater detail that site is the place to go.

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