The Night Sky Guy

Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower This Weekend

If you have clear skies early this Saturday (May 4) night through Monday (May 6) morning, watch for a minor meteor shower with a famous pedigree.

Known as the Eta Aquarids, this annual shooting-star show is set to peak in the predawn hours of May 5, with rates of 10 to 40 meteors an hour.  While not a spectacular show like its August cousin, the Perseids, the cool factor for sky-watchers is that all those modest meteors are bits of debris from Halley’s Comet.

Get your full observer’s guide at National Geographic News

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Lyrid Meteor Shower Viewing Conditions

Based on the latest weather forecast models here are the expected weather conditions across the north American continent for Sunday night into the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning, April 22nd.

Lyrid shower viewing conditions for 2013 peak. Credit: Courtesy of Accuweather.com

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Video: Lyrid Meteor Shower 2013

This week on the Weather Network I give a rundown on why the Lyrid meteor shower happens, what to expect to see, and how best to enjoy this annual celestial event. Check it out…

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Meteors Sprinkle Weekend Skies

Skywatchers should get ready for some April showers but of a cosmic kind. The annual Lyrid meteor shower is set to peak overnight from April 21 into April 22, and for those that head out to dark skies away from city light pollution should be able to see as many as 15 to 20 shooting stars per hour if sky conditions hold up during peak time.

Get all your observing tips at my article on National Geographic News

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Russian Meteor is Only One of Millions!

The spectacular meteor explosion above Russia‘s Ural Mountains this morning was caused by a likely truck-size rock weighing in at about nine tons.

It hit the atmosphere at an estimated 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) per hour, and at that high velocity—many times the speed of sound—tremendous air pressure caused the meteor to explode about 18 miles (30 kilometers) in altitude. Eyewitness videos show a dramatic light and smoke trail followed by an enormous fireball and a deafening sonic boom which in turn appears to have caused the reported damages to building and shattered glass which has injured hundreds in the city below the air blast.

How safe are we from meteors and why were astronomers caught off guard by the Russian blast? Read all the details  at National Geographic News

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Asteroid Too Close for Comfort

In a rare cosmic encounter, an asteroid will buzz Earth this Friday, missing our planet by a mere 17,200 miles (27,700 kilometers). Designated 2012 DA14, the space rock is approximately 150 feet (45 meters) across, and astronomers are certain it will zip harmlessly past our planet—but not before making history. It will pass within the orbits of many communications satellites, making it the closest flyby on record.

For more information on what this asteroid pass means for us Earthlings check out my story at National Geographic.

Here is my Weather Network spot on the asteroid flyby.

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Best Meteor Shower of 2012 this Week!

Sky-watchers are in for an early holiday treat as mid-December marks the peak of the Geminid meteor shower, the most prolific and mysterious annual cosmic fireworks show.

The meteor shower has been growing in intensity in recent decades and should be better than usual this year because it falls during a nearly moonless week.

Dozens of shooting stars per hour should streak across the night sky on the night of December 13 and into the early hours of December 14, making the Geminids one of the strongest and most reliable celestial shows around!

And if this wasn’t enough NASA astronomers are predicting a surprise appearance of a new meteor shower – that may add an extra 20 to 30 meteors per hour on top of the Geminids.  Computer models are predicting that Earth will be slamming into a debris stream of short-period comet Wirtanen (disc.1948). Best time to look out for these new shooting stars is expected to be early evening on the 13th. Will it pan out? Only way to know is to look up and watch the sky show.

Read the rest of my Geminids story at National Geographic News

Skywatching Extra: If you are in Montreal area on Thursday (Dec.13) night then come join me for a meteor shower party at the Morgan Arboretum and hosted by RASC Montreal.  I will be giving a short lecture on meteor showers and then if skies are clear we will watch for shooting stars!  Details here.

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Lion’s Meteor’s Roar this Weekend

Skywatchers get ready for a display in meteors to grace Earthly skies as  the famous, annual Leonid shower peaks this weekend.

Like most meteor showers the Leonids are caused by Earth plowing through the dust trail left behind a comet, in this case 2 km wide Tempel-Tuttle, which circles the Sun every 33 years. When the comet gets close to the sun, melting ice releases pieces of dust, most no larger than a grain of sand and deposits them in clumps.

Read more about the Leonid meteors and how best to catch the sky show at National Geographic News

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Bits of Halley’s Comet Rain Down

Over the next week Earth will be slamming into a debris field left behind by one of the most famous cosmic visitors in history – Halley’s comet.

While the icy interloper won’t return to our neck of the woods for another five decades, it still puts on a yearly sky show in the form of the Orionid meteor shower which peaks in the early morning hours of October 21st.

Read more about the Orionid meteors and how best to catch the sky show at National Geographic News

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Jupiter Hit by Meteor Again!

Early Monday morning two American amateur astronomers  independently spotted a bright flash of light in the upper cloud-deck of Jupiter – the fourth impact on the gas giant discovered in just the last three years.

Early suspicion by astronomers is that a meteor or comet had hit the atmosphere of the planet – and the fact that it was visible from Earth through backyard telescopes more than 730 million km away – indicates it was probably a significant event.

Read the rest of my Jupiter explosion story at National Geographic News

Check out the actual 2-second video frames of the impact on Jupiter this week as captured by a webcam attached to a 12″ LX200 Meade telescope by a backyard astronomer in Dallas, Texas.

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