It's Perseid meteor time! August 12 and 13, 2010

Avoid the city lights: it's time to look toward the starry heavens!

Space Weather News for August 12, 2010

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway. Earth is passing through a wide stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, and each time a fleck of comet dust hits Earth's atmosphere--flash!--there is a meteor. Forecasters say the shower will peak on Thursday, August 12, and Friday, August 13.

You can see Perseids flitting across the sky at any time between about 10 pm on Thursday evening and sunrise on Friday morning. Observers who get away from city lights can expect to count dozens of meteors per hour, especially during the dark hours before dawn.

Tune into SpaceWeather.com for full coverage of the shower, including a live meteor radar, a "fireball cam," updated meteor counts and pictures from around the world.

BONUS: If you go outside a little early on Thursday evening, around sunset, you'll see a beautiful gathering of planets in the sunset sky--Venus, Mars, Saturn and the crescent Moon. It's a nice way to start a meteor watch.

Sky maps may be found at SpaceWeather News.

~:~

Yes, the Perseids, plus, the line-up of planets with the Crescent Moon, will be a lovely sight to see, agreed. This Crescent Moon marks the beginning of Ramadan 2010, however, and the inclusion of 3 planets with this particular Crescent Moon (Ramadan starts with the sighting of the Lunar sliver, the symbol found on flags of the region) is significant this year.

But with Capulus and Algol (male and female rage) in the picture, two strong Fixed Stars associated with the Middle East, the energy this August may be more warrior-like than most people wish. So you may wish to read my post from August 2009 for more details on Perseus the Prince. Or, perhaps you wish to simply look toward the starry heavens tonight and enjoy!

eta Aquarid meteors from Hally's Comet May 6, 2009

A day late but nary a meteor short. Get ready for Wednesday morning...

Space Weather News for May 4, 2009

METEOR SHOWER: Earth is entering a stream of dusty debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Wednesday, May 6, with as many as 85 meteors per hour over the southern hemisphere. Rates in the northern hemisphere will be less, 20 to 30 per hour.

The best time to look is during the dark hour before local sunrise on Wednesday morning. Visit http://spaceweather.com/ for sky maps and details. #


And here's what I posted last year this time (a day late then as well) on the eta Aquarid meteors from Hally's Comet which had something of a http://starsoverwashington.blogspot.com/2008/05/aquarid-meteors-moon-and-dem-nominee.html">Moon-Mercury/Politics flavor to it due to the 2008 campaign.

As you know, the Moon 'sailed by Mercury' all right and on to another governmental position which may soon morph again into a Supreme Court justice seat on The Bench.

Happy Earth Day, earthlings! April 22, 2009

People. Of. Earth.

Here is NASA's famous - and first ever - Earth from space photo. Just look at the watery, lonely little thing! And yet...You Are Here.

Hope no one minds if I publish this image in honor of Earth Day, Wednesday, Aril 22, 2009. Since the planet belongs to us all, shouldn't the photograph?

~:~

Scroll just below to my previous post for today's SpaceWeather News alert concerning Earth Day 2009's early morning celestial displays - from Lyrid meteors to a lovely Moon-Venus Occultation! And lusty Mars will be lounging nearby.

Here's an Art representation for '30 Pisces' (where all the action is at the moment) called 'Temple of the Great Stone Face' if you should find yourself in the mood for Sabian Symbol details concerning '30 Pisces' along with a smidge of artwork tossed in just for you from me.

And the above 'People. Of. Earth.' greeting is from TV's Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show.

Lunar Eclipse weekend's Eclipse Cam!

Space Weather News for Aug 15, 2008

LUNAR ECLIPSE: This Saturday, August 16th, people on every continent *except* North America can see a lunar eclipse. At maximum, around 2110 UT (5:10 pm EDT), more than 81% of the Moon will be inside Earth's shadow, producing a vivid red orb in the night sky visible to the naked eye even from light-polluted cities. The entire eclipse lasts more than 3 hours, so there's plenty of time for gazing, drinking coffee, and taking pictures.

North Americans can watch the eclipse via live webcast beginning 3:30 pm EDT on Saturday afternoon. Eclipse-cam links may be found, along with time tables, visibility maps, and eclipse photo galleries, at SpaceWeather.com.

PERSEID RECAP: The Perseid meteor shower peaked on August 13th with maximum rates exceeding 130 meteors per hour. Despite interference from the bright Moon, it was arguably the best Perseid show in years. Browse the gallery starting here.

severe dust storm on Mars

Space Weather News for July 27, 2007:

DUST STORM UPDATE: A severe dust storm on Mars, which has been darkening skies and causing a solar energy crisis for NASA's Mars rovers, refuses to die down. Clouds of dust are now visible in backyard telescopes and Mars is beginning to resemble a orange billiard ball as all of its underlying surface markings are hidden from view. The storm is already a month old and no one knows when it will subside.

Visit SpaceWeather.com for photos and status reports.#


Testy, quarrelly Mars is causing a dust-up here on earth, too. Now in Taurus (tropically) the red planet was in Pisces in 2003 as he hung over NYC during the power outage. The god of war, they call him. Reminds me of Nostradamus' prediction about the Aug 11, 1999 eclipse which mentions Mars...hmmmm...more on that later.