Tag: Meteor showers
-
NASA says much-anticipated meteor outburst could be a bust for the West Coast
This NASA chart gauges how many meteors are likely to be seen emanating from the Alpha Monocerotid radiant on Thursday night. Blue is good, red is not so good, and white means the radiant won’t be above the horizon during the expected peak of the meteor shower. (NASA Graphic) Skywatchers say parts of the world…
-
Spaceflight and Rocket Lab will put a Japanese shooting-star satellite into orbit
An artist’s conception shows the ALE-2 shooting-star satellite in orbit. (ALE / Spaceflight Illustration) Seattle-based Spaceflight says it’s handling the pre-launch logistics for a Japanese satellite that’s designed to spray artificial shooting stars into the sky. Tokyo-based ALE’s spacecraft is just one of seven satellites due to be sent into orbit from New Zealand as…
-
The moon and meteors light up the night
An Orionid meteor flashes in a 2015 image captured by Marshall Space Flight Center’s all-sky camera in Alabama. (NASA / MSFC Photo) Saturday night’s all right … for skywatching: Tonight’s mostly clear skies over Western Washington should provide a good opportunity to see the peak of the Orionid meteor shower, and a great opportunity to…
-
The stars align for a near-perfect Perseid meteor shower: Here’s how to catch it
A Perseid meteor flashes above Mount Rainier in 2016. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota) The outlook for this year’s Perseid meteor shower is checking all the boxes. Up to a meteor a minute? Check. Moonless sky? Check. Peaking during the weekend? Check. Clear weather? That even looks like a check mark for Sunday night in…
-
Quadrantid meteors reach their peak, upstaged by a supermoon’s afterglow
A Quadrantid fireball lights up the sky. (Jimmy Westlake Photo via NASA / Colorado Mountain College) News Brief: The good news is that the annual Quadrantid meteor shower is reaching its peak tonight with relatively clear skies in the forecast for Western Washington. The bad news? It’ll be hard to spot shooting stars, due to…
-
It’s prime time for the Geminid meteor shower, with partly cloudy skies in forecast
A streaking Geminid meteor makes an impression in an all-sky photo captured in 2011. (Credit: NASA) This year’s Geminid meteor shower is reaching its peak, and Seattle’s weather just might cooperate. Tonight’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a low chance of precipitation, which is unusual for a Seattle holiday season. That adds to…
-
Stay up and look up as annual Lyrid meteor shower is expected to put on a show this weekend
A composite image of Lyrid and non-Lyrid meteors, seen over New Mexico from April 21-23, 2012. (NASA/MSFC Photo / Danielle Moser) If you’re up late tonight and into Saturday morning, you might as well look up and try to catch a glimpse of the annual Lyrid meteor shower, which is supposed to peak in the…
-
Relive the peak night for the Perseid meteor shower – and catch an encore
A Perseid meteor flashes above Mount Rainier. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) Crowds of skywatchers turned the peak of the Perseid meteor shower into a mass spectator event overnight – and you can catch an encore presentation this weekend, if you know where to go. For me, last night’s arena was Rattlesnake Lake, about 35 miles…
-
Must-see Perseid meteor shower should pack an extra punch this week
A composite view from an all-sky camera in Chickamauga, Ga., shows Perseid meteors flashing on the night of Aug. 11, 2010. (Credit: NASA / MSFC / Meteoroid Environment Office) August’s Perseid meteor shower is always one of the most accessible sky spectaculars of the year, but this year’s show is expected to be even more…
-
Chinese space junk sparks meteor reports
YouTube user Ian Norman captured this view of the fireball in the skies over Alabama Hills, Calif. (Credit: Ian Norman via YouTube) A bright streak in the sky generated hundreds of meteor sighting reports from Southern California to British Columbia, but it didn’t take long for the flash to be traced to the re-entry of…