Space Weather News for Dec. 20, 2007 URSID METEORS: Earth is heading for a stream of comet dust that could produce a pleasing outburst of "shooting stars" this weekend. Forecasters say dozens of meteors per hour could emerge from a spot in the sky near the North Star (Polaris) when Earth encounters the dust on Saturday evening, Dec 22. These meteors are called "Ursids" after Ursa Minor, the constellation where the North Star is located.
If forecasting models are correct, the shower's peak will occur between 2100 and 2200UT (4-5 pm EST) with meteors visible as much as four hours before and after that time.
The source of the dust is Comet 8P/Tuttle, which is traveling through the inner solar system this month and next. The comet itself can be seen through binoculars not far from the radiant of the shower.
This gives sky watchers a rare opportunity to see a comet and its meteors in the same observing session. Ursid meteors, which appear in small numbers annually, have a reputation for faintness and delicacy. Dark skies are usually required to see them; bright moonlight on Dec. 22 will only exacerbate the problem of visibility. However, say forecasters, during an outburst of Ursids there may be a fair number of bright meteors. No one knows what will happen--all the more reason to look!
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Polaris is named for its current position as the closest star to the North Pole, keyphrases:
the pathfinder; a nurturing mission. Polaris is always at culmination and is the
point of stillness--the celestial pole. Visible from the equator to the North Pole, it never sets in the northern hemisphere; in the southern hemisphere, Polaris is never visible, but that's just the way it goes.
Polaris is the brightest of the seven main stars of the constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, but it hasn't always been the pole star, you know, for in ancient times Ursa Minor was surrounded on three sides by the constellation, Draco, the Dragon.
When the brightest star in Draco,
Thuban, was the pole star in 3,000 B.C.E., Ursa Minor was considered to be the wings of Draco.
Personally I always called Ursa Minor the Little Dipper--a rather faint and small group of stars but easy to find especially when you know the trick of following the line created in the Big Dipper by Merak and Dubhe (
the pointers) which lead the eye north to Polaris and there you are!
Growing up in Georgia (the drought-riddled Georgia of 2007) our water bubbled up from an artesian well, and in my fertile little noggin I linked the Little Dipper with the delicious, naturally cool water from the tap. Wish I had some now, but the Little Dipper is all spilled out.
For more on Fixed Stars, here's an article,
Fixed Stars, why bother? from Bernadette Brady herself. Enjoy! And keep an eye out for the Ursids!
