Archive for the ‘Meteorwatch’ Category

Tonight’s Sky: April 2013

Your guide to constellations, deep-sky objects, planets and events, Tonight’s Sky, Read the rest of this entry »

How to see comet panSTARRS

Comet panSTARRS and the Moon March 12th 2013 (comet shape for illustration only) Credit: Meteorwatch

From the 7^th of March 2013 and for the rest of the month, comet panSTARRS will be in the early evening skies of Northern hemisphere.

The comet has been visible to the naked eye in the Southern hemisphere and was bright enough to be seen in twilight skies from places such as New Zealand.

Hopefully Northern hemisphere countries such as the USA, Europe and Asia will get a chance to see one of this year’s bright comets. Read the rest of this entry »

Night Sky Guide – Tonight’s Sky: March 2013

Your guide to constellations, deep – sky objects, planets and events, Tonight’s Sky, Read the rest of this entry »

Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2013

Quadrantid Meteor Shower Credit: nasa.org

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower ushers in 2013 with its peak in the early hours of the 3rd of January.

The Quadrantids can be an impressive meteor shower with rates of up to 120 meteors per hour at its peak (under perfect conditions) and have been known to produce rates of up to 200 meteors per hour. The peak is quite narrow lasting only a few hours, however there will be plenty of meteors to look out for either side of maximum. Read the rest of this entry »

Where and When do I look to see a Meteor Shower?

Aurora Shimmer, Meteor Flash Credit: APOD Bjørnar G. Hansen

I am asked all the time when there is a meteor shower: “What direction do I need to look to see the meteors” and “what time”?

Scroll down to the end of this post if you only want the answer and not learn why…

These questions as well as many others seem to have had laboured answers in the past, but the reality is, astronomy is dead easy and you don’t need to be exact unless you are taking images or doing proper research or science. The average person with an interest in the night sky doesn’t need to know all the technical ins and outs, especially if they are doing naked eye observing without equipment like a telescope. Read the rest of this entry »

The Geminid meteor Shower 2012

The Geminid meteor shower is the grand finale of astronomical events in 2012 and is the most reliable and prolific of the annual meteor showers.
This year we are in for a special treat as the Moon will be absent when the Geminids are at their peak on the evening of the 12th/ 13th of December. This means that the sky should be at its darkest when the shower is expected and many more of the fainter meteors may be seen. Read the rest of this entry »

The Leonid Meteor Shower

The Leonid meteor shower peaks on the 16th/ 17th of November 2012 and is one of the most dramatic and famous meteor showers.

During its history, the Leonids have produced heavy meteor showers and storms, in 1833 and 1966 the Leonids produced tens of thousands of meteors per hour! These Leonid storms literally did have the appearance of meteors falling from the sky like rain. Read the rest of this entry »

The Best Beginners Telescopes

Choose wisely when buying a Telescope Credit: meteorwatch

When people first get interested or even talk about looking at the night sky and astronomy, the first thing that jumps to mind is stargazing using a telescope. It’s like a fisherman has a rod or a boat and a painter has a brush, to many it’s a rite of passage and something they must have to feel like a proper astronomer.

There is so much a beginner can see without a Telescope and even more to see with binoculars (a pair should be owned by every beginner and budding astronomer), but there comes a time when a beginner feels they must have a telescope. This is when you can venture into a very technical and confusing world for the first time. Read the rest of this entry »

A composite image of every meteor captured in a viewing session for the 2011 Orionid Meteor shower at Middle Falls, near Mount Shasta in California. Credit: Brad Goldpaint/Goldpaint Photography. Used by permission Universe Today.

The Earth will soon be traveling through the stream of debris left behind by Halley’s Comet, providing the annual sky show called the Orionid Meteor Shower. This usually reliable meteor shower is expected to peak this coming weekend, October 20-21, 2012, and should produce about 25 meteors per hour, according to the McDonald Observatory at The University of Texas in Austin.

How can you see the show?

Read more…

A bright fireball meteor on August 1, 2012. Credit: John Chumack.

Originally posted on Universetoday by Virtualastro

This will probably be the most simple and easiest guide to viewing the Perseids and other meteor showers you may possibly ever read. The reason why it is so simple is when you are outside you want to concentrate on looking for meteors and not worrying about technical details, which are unnecessary for the casual observer.

First, a LITTLE about the Perseids: Read the rest of this entry »