One of the most important meteor showers of the year will be visible throughout Spain this week... no telescope needed! The Eta Aquarid meteor shower will peak on the night between Thursday May 5th and Friday May 6th and will be visible to the naked eye across Spain. The rare shower is one of two major meteor showers created by debris from Halley's Comet - one in spring and one in autumn. El jueves por la noche llega la lluvia de estrellas del cometa Halley https://t.co/ZZUHCk94Aj pic.twitter.com/HMAgdhN55m — Faro de Vigo (@Farodevigo) May 2, 2016 The next time Halley's Comet will be visible from Earth will be in 2061, but you can catch a glimpse of its debris this week across Spain. Experts say the best time to witness the shower is at around 4am, when you should look towards the southeast - near to the constellation Aquarius. Amateur astronomers can expect to spot between 20 and 30 meteors an hour, while the maximum number could reach 60 per hour on the night of … [Read more...] about Look up! Rare meteor shower set to dazzle skies over Spain
Meteor shower
Danish skies to see best meteor shower in years
A file photo taken on August 12, 2013 shows a long exposure picture showing the sky at night during a Perseid meteor shower over Bulgaria. The Perseid meteor shower should be particularly spectacular Look up to the night skies on Wednesday, as this year’s Perseid meteor shower promises to be quite a show. Here’s everything you need to know for a night of stargazing. When: The shower has been active since the 13th of July and will continue until the end of August. But activity will peak on Wednesday night (August 12-13th), the day before a new moon, meaning the skies will be darker than usual and the shooting stars more visible. Danish meteorology institute DMI said Wednesday night skies should be virtually cloud-free, giving “optimal conditions” for catching the aerial action. DMI said that Danish stargazers should be able to see 60-70 meteors per hours between 11.30pm on Wednesday and 2.30am on Thursday. In the following days, there will … [Read more...] about Danish skies to see best meteor shower in years
Meteor shower blazes across Spanish sky
Meteors in the Perseid shower become visible when they enter the Earth's atmosphere some 90km (56 miles) up. Photo: Dani Pozo/Getty Images/AFP This year's Perseid meteor shower was almost obscured by the 'supermoon' but one photographer still managed to capture a stunning image of the event. Skygazers waiting for the usual spectacular show from this year's annual Perseid meteor shower were disappointed when it was almost obscured by the huge 'supermoon' which coincided with the meteors' arrival. Check out The Local's round-up of the best Spanish views of the 2014 supermoon Perseids are parts of the Swift-Tutle comet which blaze across the night sky at 133,200 mph when they enter the Earth's atmosphere. They heat up to over 1,650C and sometimes explode , creating shock waves which can often be heard on the ground. This year' shower was difficult to see due to the light of the supermoon but AFP photographer Dani Pozo managed to capture this stunning time-lapse image of the … [Read more...] about Meteor shower blazes across Spanish sky
Pic of the day: Stunning Canary meteor shower
The annual Geminids meteor shower created a spectacular display in Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday and astrophotographer Juan Carlos Casado was on hand to capture the space weather event. The composite image shows the snow-capped Teide volcano — Spain's tallest at 3,718 metres — in the foreground. In the background is the constellation of Orion, and the star near the top of the volcano is Rigel. The asteroids — 50 or so look, according to the photographer — look as if they are radiating from a central point, but are actually parallel to each other, NASA explained on its website. This is due to perspective, the space agency explained. The photo of the space weather event is made up of a series of exposures over more than 2 hours using a wide-angle lens. Spain's Canary Islands are home to Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), one of the top astronomy locations in the northern hemisphere. The site … [Read more...] about Pic of the day: Stunning Canary meteor shower
You Could Soon Buy an ‘Artificial Meteor Shower’ — for a Hefty Fee
Here are some normal ways to celebrate a big event: cake, balloons, bunting, maybe a marching band on parade if you're feeling extravagant. That's not an exhaustive list, of course. Your options will vary heavily based on the sort of event, where you live and the culture you come from. But there's a new item to add to that list, if your culture includes "spending more on a night's entertainment than most people earn in a lifetime." And that's personal, artificial meteor showers. What, you ask, is a personal, artificial meteor shower? Well, it's a very expensive rain of colorful metallic pebbles from space, brought to you by the Japanese company ALE. Back in 2016, ALE announced its plans to drops pellets from space that would travel about one-third of the way around the Earth before burning up brightly in the atmosphere. Copper pellets would burn green; barium blue; and potassium, rubidium and cesium various shades of purple. A single satellite, it was then reported, would carry … [Read more...] about You Could Soon Buy an ‘Artificial Meteor Shower’ — for a Hefty Fee