{"id":7886,"date":"2014-05-23T14:17:10","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T20:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/?p=7886"},"modified":"2014-05-23T14:17:10","modified_gmt":"2014-05-23T20:17:10","slug":"here-come-the-camelopardalids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/?p=7886","title":{"rendered":"Here Come the Camelopardalids!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eyes on the skies Friday evening, May 23rd<\/sup>, into the early hours of Saturday, May 24th<\/sup>, as a never-before-seen meteor shower could light up the heavens in a spectacular display.<\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s \u201csurprise\u201d meteor shower will be courtesy of a \u201cdim, obscure periodic comet known as 209P\/LINEAR<\/a>, which will pass within 5 million miles of Earth, making it the ninth closest approach of any comet on record .\u00a0 Although Comet 209P\/LINEAR circles our sun every 5.1 years, this year is different, with the Earth set to pass directly through some of the denser trails of debris shed by the comet long ago in the 1700s and early 1800s.\u00a0 The result will be a display of \u201cshooting stars\u201d on the 24th<\/sup> with a possibility for a meteor superstorm.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral predictions suggest you might see anywhere from 100 to 200 meteors per hour from a dark location free of light pollution.\u00a0 That means you could perhaps see one or two meteors per minute<\/em>.\u00a0 Some (but not all) dynamicists think there\u2019s even an outside chance that the celestial spectacle could briefly become a meteor \u2018storm,\u2019 with more than 1,000 arriving per hour!\u201d according to Sky & Telescope<\/a> magazine.\u00a0 If that occurs, the night skies will be buzzing with activity in a spectacular display.\u00a0 (See video http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=81sS0xuNQz0<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Those living in southern Canada and North America will get some of the best views of the meteor shower.\u00a0 Best times for viewing will be around 3 a.m. on the East Coast and just after midnight on the West Coast.\u00a0 You won\u2019t need a telescope or binoculars to view the display either.\u00a0 Simply stand or sit looking up towards the darkest part of the sky.\u00a0 The meteors will appear all over the night sky, but if you follow their paths backward, they\u2019ll trace back to a dim constellation known as Camelopardalis, the Giraffe, about 12\u00b0 from Polaris, the North Star.<\/p>\n

Camelopardalids_2014-Radiant_HD1.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

There have already been reports this week of bright fireballs in the skies, possibly linked to the incoming Camelopardalids shower.\u00a0 But because this is a new meteor shower, no one knows what to expect.\u00a0 NASA says<\/a> that \u201c\u2026surprises are possible,\u201d and that \u201coutbursts could occur hours before or after the forecasted peak.\u201d\u00a0 It all depends on how active the comet was all those years ago when the dense strands of debris were formed.\u00a0 Will the Camelopardalids shine brightly and often, or will the display be weak and disappointing?\u00a0 We\u2019re about to find out!<\/p>\n

For those unable to view the Camelopardalid meteor shower due to inclement weather or location (Australia), you can view it through a webcast using the Slooh robotic telescopes at\u00a0 http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eCKKhEsPA8Y<\/a>.\u00a0 Live coverage will begin around 11 p.m. Eastern (3:00 UT) on Friday, May 23rd.<\/p>\n

Link:\u00a0 http:\/\/www2.gcnlive.com\/CMS\/index.php\/component\/k2\/669-here-come-the-camelopardalids<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eyes on the skies Friday evening, May 23rd, into the early hours of Saturday, May 24th, as a never-before-seen meteor shower could light up the heavens in a spectacular display. This weekend\u2019s \u201csurprise\u201d meteor shower will be courtesy of a \u201cdim, obscure periodic comet known as 209P\/LINEAR, which will pass within 5 million miles of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-articles","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7887,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7886\/revisions\/7887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}