Meteor Shower, Upcoming Annual Event Options

[Redpaw]

Space Weather News
April 21, 2004
http://spaceweather.com

Earth is passing through a stream of dusty debris from Comet Thatcher, the
source of the annual Lyrid meteor shower. The best time to look is during
the hours before dawn on Thursday, April 22nd, when the shower peaks.
Lyrids appear to stream from the vicinity of the bright blue star Vega in
the constellation Lyra high in the northern sky. This is not an intense
shower, but some years it is pretty: northern sky watchers typically see
between 5 and 25 meteors per hour.

[Denise]

We have been having way to many clouds here in the past 3 days to see anything else in the sky. <_< I bet it was an awsome sight though. :)

[Redpaw]

Space Weather News for June 18, 2004
http://spaceweather.com

JUNE BOOTID METEORS: Earth is heading for a cloud of dust shed by Comet
Pons-Winnecke in the 19th century. An encounter with the cloud might
produce a pleasing meteor shower before sunrise on Wednesday, June 23rd.
Or not. Forecasters aren't sure. If a shower materializes, sky watchers in
western North America and across the Pacific Ocean are favored to see it.

DOUBLE VENUS TRANSIT: On June 8th, in a tiny village in Slovakia, Tomas
Maruska took a picture that is ... beyond rare. It shows the International
Space Station transiting Venus while Venus was transiting the Sun. See it
at http://SpaceWeather.com.

On another note:
A house sized Meteor just impacted in Australia striking the ground and creating a huge explosion seen many miles away....

[Redpaw]

What to watch for
Western North America and the Pacific Ocean will still be in darkness at that time, and are favored with the best possible views. But should the activity last for many hours, then it could be worthwhile to carefully watch the sky from Tuesday night, June 22, on until the first light of dawn on Wednesday, June 23.

Whether you plan to look for the June Bootids on the night of June 22-23 or again on the night of June 26-27, keep in mind that the constellation of Bootes will be excellently positioned as darkness falls. It will appear nearly overhead and high up in the northern sky and will remain in view through the night as it descends toward the northwest.

Fortunately, the moon will be a rather wide crescent and will set just before midnight (local daylight time) on the night of June 22-23. It will, however, be more of a hindrance on the night of June 26-27 when it will have increased in brightness to a bright gibbous phase and not setting until after 1:30 a.m.

Attached image(s)

 

[Redpaw]

Space Weather News for July 23, 2004
http://spaceweather.com

Hours after a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on
July 22nd, a geomagnetic storm began, sparking auroras over parts of North
America. Sky watchers spotted Northern Lights as far south as Minnesota,
Washington and Michigan in the United States. Some particularly nice
purple auroras appeared over Wisconsin.

The giant sunspot that triggered this activity is now crossing the middle
of the sun and could unleash more strong solar flares and CMEs in the days
ahead. Amateur astronomers using safe solar observing techniques should
have no trouble seeing the 'spot, which is wider than the planet Jupiter.

Visit Spaceweather.com for safe sunspot observing tips and up-to-date
photos of auroras.