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
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
How to See the Best Meteor Showers of 2018
This year, try and catch one of the night sky's most spectacular and accessible shows — a meteor shower. We caught up with NASA meteor shower expert Bill Cooke for advice on how to see each of this year's showers and the inside scoop on the most spectacular. Hint: This year's best showers hit in August and December. "Meteor-shower observing requires nothing but your eyes; you want to take in as much sky as possible," Cooke told Space.com. "Go outside in a nice, dark sky, away from city lights, lie flat on your back and look straight up. [Take] your choice of beverage and snacks and things like that." Cooke said to plan for at least a few hours outdoors — at the very least, it will take about 30 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark, and most showers only reveal their splendor in time: "You can't observe a meteor shower by sticking your head out the door and looking for five minutes," he said. Meteor showers fill the sky when the Earth passes through a trail of dust … [Read more...] about How to See the Best Meteor Showers of 2018