Orionid Meteor Shower Oct 21st/22nd

muckish · 20-10-2011 7:52pm #1

October 21 and 22, before dawn. Orionids
"Although the moon doesn’t rise till after midnight, the Orionids usually wait until the wee morning hours to pick up steam. And there will be a rather large waning crescent moon in the sky during this year’s Orionid meteor shower. Despite the moonlight, meteor enthusiasts may want to give the Orionids a try. On a dark, moonless night, the Orionids exhibit a maximum of about 15 meteors per hour. These fast-moving meteors occasionally leave persistent trains and bright fireballs. If you trace these meteors backward, they seem to come from the Club of the famous constellation Orion the Hunter. You might know Orion’s bright, ruddy star Betelgeuse. The radiant is north of Betelgeuse. The Orionids have a broad and irregular peak that isn’t easy to predict. More meteors tend to fly after midnight, and the Orionids are typically at their best in the wee hours before dawn." from http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide

Yet again the night sky doesn't look promising for clear skies and favourable viewing.

fizzycyst · 20-10-2011 9:26pm

Thanks for the reminder about this Muckish, but yeah, looks like we'll have a lot of cloud cover that time :rolleyes:

muckish · 22-10-2011 10:33am

Yet again another astronomical event hidden from view. There was a brief break in the clouds last night but it was still very misty like. Could just about see Jupiter shining through. So no Orionids viewed this year. Did anyone get to see anything, anywhere?

WIll have to wait till November 17th for the Leoinds. Taurids in between in early November but difficult to see

22-10-2011 4:43pm

Possible meteor fell into sea off coast of England near kent

A meteorite falling into the sea sparked a search and rescue mission last night after two people reported they saw a plane crash into the water off the coast of Whitstable. Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called out after a pilot and another person both reported they saw what the thought was an aircraft crashing into the sea. However, after firefighters from Whitstable and nearby Herne Bay scoured the area, no trace of the aircraft could be found. Air traffic controllers, reported they didn’t have any planes missing, so eventually the search was called off, and put down to a meteorite falling to Earth. Hundreds of meteorites are expected to streak across the sky this weekend as the Earth passes through a cloud of dust left by behind by a comet called Giacobini-Zinner. A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "Two independent calls came in reporting a plane had crashed off the coast. "Even a pilot who was looking out of his window reported a plane was in distress and had gone into the sea. "Fishermen in the area also reported seeing something, but in the end nothing was found and it was put down to a meteorite falling to Earth."

Rikand · 22-10-2011 9:12pm

clear skies over Athlone. This still going on ? Been looking up, but not seen anything yet.

Orionid Meteor Shower Oct 21st/22nd

Comments