BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!

Subject: BS: Augurid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Genie
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 06:08 PM

I don't know how many of you will be able to see this spectacular event, but here in the Pacific Northwest of the US this very rare light show is expected to be particularly easy to view.
At about 4:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time, the earth will pass through the tail to the comet Kiess -- something that will not happen again in any of our lifetimes.   If the Perseids and Leonids, etc., are meteor "showers," this will be a meteor STORM. That's because it will be

From this site: http://aurigids.seti.org/
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An unusual shower on September 1, 2007
Some time in the 40 years or so around 4 A.D., comet Kiess (C/1911 N1) passed by the Sun, ejecting a cloud of dust particles. The comet returned in 1911, after completing one orbit. The dust particles were pushed by the Sun's light into slightly wider orbits and have been returning ever since, forming a thin ongoing stream of dust that usually passes just outside Earth's orbit. On occasion, the combined gravity of the solar system's planets moves this dust trail into Earth's path. Earth encountered this 2000-year-old dust in 1935, 1986, and 1994, causing a meteor shower known as the Aurigids.
 
This very rare shower will occur again on 1 September 2007. A brief shower of ... meteors will radiate from the constellation of Auriga, many as bright as the brighter stars in the sky. The Earth will be in the thick of it during the one hour centered on 04:33 a.m. PDT. The shower will be visible by the naked eye from locations in the western United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, from Mexico, and from the western provinces of Canada.
 
...
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Sound like you'll be able to see if from California too.   

Now, to find a spot away from the city lights.

Genie

Subject: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Genie
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 06:34 PM

Doh!

I am so lysdexic!

It's Aurigid (named after the exploded planet Auriga), not Augurid!

I hope Joe or a Clone will correct my thread title.

Oh, and the meteor storm is supposed to be at its strongest at 4:33AM Pacific Daylight Time, but it should begin about 4:00 AM and last till aroudn 5:00 AM.


(And, wouldn't ya know it!? It's starting to cloud over here in Portland, Oregon.   Let's hope those clouds split before Aurigid time.)

Genie

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 06:41 PM

I thought we might of missed it as 1 Sept. started last night/early morning, but now I see we can see it overnight, tonight, if that makes any sense, I hope!**bg**

Thanks, Genie!

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 06:47 PM

Duh on me! I thought today was 1 Sept.!

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: SINSULL
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 06:50 PM

4:30 AM is tonight into tomorrow, kat. Rainy and cloudy here. Not likely I'll see anything.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: ClaireBear
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 07:16 PM

Took the rain fly off the summer bedroom last night for the occasion. I was so peeved to miss the full lunar eclipse (Just before my birthday, even) because the rain fly was on and I didn't happen to hear it was going to happen, that I checked into upcoming astronomical events and marked this one on my calendar. Sunny here. Fingers crossed!

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Jeri
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 07:34 PM

4:30 AM PDT is 7:30 AM EDT, and it's a bit light out for stargazing. This is not fair to the east coast, and somebody should do something about it!

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Genie
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 07:38 PM

I'll get right on that, Jeri. *g*

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Metchosin
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 08:20 PM

Oh wow! Maybe a bit touch and go here, weather wise, as cloudy periods are expected but I will certainly give this a try and also hope that it is not getting too light by that time. Thanks for the heads up. Saw the total eclipse the other night and it was absolutely beautiful.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 08:30 PM

I thought that chart was using Greenwich time. 5 oclock GMT is about midnight here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I'll give it a try. Thanks!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Genie
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 08:41 PM

More information on the Augurids

---------------------------------------------------------------------
NASA info on Aurigids

Strange Lights: The 2007 Aurigid Meteor Shower
8-8-2007

August 8, 2007: Will they come, or will they not? That is the question.

On Sept. 1, 2007, a flurry of bright and oddly-colored meteors might—emphasis on might--come streaming out of the constellation Auriga, putting on a beautiful early morning show for sky watchers in western North America: (link to sky map).

[Shown: An early morning meteor over Italy in Nov. 2006. This is what an Aurigid might look like. Photo credit: Antonio Finazzi.]

The source of the putative shower is Comet Kiess (C/1911 N1), a mysterious "long-period comet" that has visited the inner solar system only twice in the past two thousand years. In 83 BC, give or take a few centuries, Comet Kiess swung by the sun and laid down a trail of dusty debris that has been drifting toward Earth's orbit ever since. On Sept. 1, 2007, the dusty trail and Earth will meet.

But will a shower actually materialize? The answer lies in the unknown contents of the debris stream.

"We have so little experience with ancient debris from long-period comets," notes Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) at the Marshall Space Flight Center. "Almost anything could happen—from a fizzle to a beautiful meteor shower."

...

"We expect the outburst to peak at 11:36 UT (4:36 a.m. PDT) +/- 20 minutes on Sept. 1st," says Jenniskens. "The whole event should last about 2 hours and be visible from California, Oregon, Hawaii and the eastern Pacific Ocean."
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So it sounds like this meteor shower could be far, far more spectacular than the usual Perseids, Leonids, etc., but might end up being as disappointing as that one highly touted comet a few decades ago which turned out to be kind of a dud.

I'm still gonna go find a dark place to watch it, just in case.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Genie
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 12:56 AM

By the way, I'm reading that this meteor shower, if it materializes, is likely to feature bright green and blue meteors!

Oh, and you should look to the East - Northeast.

It's beginning to clear up out here in Portland.   Let's hope it doesn't change before dawn.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Genie
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 02:02 AM

More from the Oregon Museum Of Science & Industry:

http://oregonspacegrant.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/new-projections-for-the-aurgid-meteor-shower-on-september-1-2007/

"September 1, 2007
Wednesday August 29th 2007, 11:30 am

From our friends at the OMSI Planetarium:

The peak of the Aurigid Meteor Shower is forecast for Saturday, September 1 around 4:30 am PDT. The calculations indicate Earth is about to cross the dust trail of comet Kiess, a comet that takes some 2000 years to complete one orbit around the Sun. The trail is very narrow, so Earth will be sprayed by meteoroids for only about an hour and a half. The meteoroids will approach from the direction of the constellation Auriga, the charioteer, in the north-eastern part of the sky, causing a meteor shower called the "Aurigids."

The shower is visible from only part of the world and the Pacific NW has the best viewing opportunity. Plan to step out around 4 A.M. PDT in the early Saturday morning of September 1, with the waning gibbous Moon behind an obstruction, and with a wide view on the sky. Gaze up at the sky and spot one of these elusive bits of matter that Comet Kiess lost 2000 years ago. Astronomers are predicting anywhere from 100 to 1,000 meteors an hour during the peak on Saturday morning. The weather forecast has mostly cloudy for Portland area, while mostly clear for eastern Oregon.

This is our only chance to see this shower; the dust trail is not going to hit again in our lifetime. No one can say for sure but it's worth losing a little sleep to find out."

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: GUEST,me
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 03:14 AM

Can u see it from arizona?

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: GUEST,matt
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 04:15 AM

sooo- just over three hours from now? looking forward to trying to stay awake. should be a good view from SE Portland! ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: GUEST,Guest Jon
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 07:38 AM

I saw one.....just one.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: GUEST,Terri
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 08:03 AM

I saw several, and a few with semi-bright tails, but nothing I would condsider a storm. I saw maybe 10-15 total over the hour, which is more than I normally see from my house but not what I was hoping to see.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: ClaireBear
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 10:59 AM

I saw four or five over the course of an hour, including a couple of super-bright ones and one that left a fat streak of cloud in its wake. But no colors, alas.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 11:27 AM

Trees in the way here and a little overcast. I didn't see anything from my slightly suburban yard in Texas.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: GUEST,Jay
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 11:56 AM

Here in Troutdale I saw only 15 in the course of the hour. Skys were clear but not much of a storm. Thanks for the post everyone. I thought I might have just missed them or had the wrong time or just not enough coffee. LOL.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 12:06 PM

You saw 15? You are lucky. I know many people who have never seen a shooting star.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteors 9/1/07!!
From: Genie
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 04:29 PM

I saw 2 or 3 really big, bright meteors.   Ironically, the first one shot across the sky shortly after I headed north on the interstate -- with all the bright city lights around.   It had to be a spectacular one for it to be so visible in those circumstances.   
The other two big ones also streaked by in front of my windshield as I was driving north to try to get away from the city lights.

I finally found what seemed to be a good viewing spot -- no man-made lights about and not too many big trees to block my view -- just about 4:30 AM, and I set up my chair to watch the show.   But conditions were not ideal:
a) There was a bright moon.   
I positioned myself where a large tree was between me and the moon, but, to quote the song "Night Rider's Lament," you might say "The moon was as bright as a reading light."   There were not a whole lot more "regular" stars visible there than there would have been in my front yard in the city, under the streetlight.

b) While most of the clouds had moved on by 3:00 AM, there was a bit of haze and the sky was slightly overcast at higher levels. (Hence, no 'blanket of stars' of the sort you see on a really dark, clear night.

c) I'm not sure I was focusing on the right part of the sky.   Orion was pretty much directly in front of me, and I read today that he's visible in the southeastern sky in the early AM right now where I live.   Unfortunately, I was unable to find a spot with a wider look at the East/Northeastern sky.

d) It also appears I may have missed a good deal of the "show" between 3:45 and 4:30 AM while I was getting ready to leave and then driving.

(Note to self:   Next time, do your research beforehand to locate the ideal meteor-viewing sites.)

Ennyhoo, I'm guessing that the Aurigids may have been less spectacular than some expected or hoped for, but I still think if you were able to find a wide, unobstructed view away from all man-made sources of light, you probably got a pretty good show.   

I did see several (at least 6 or 7) meteors shoot by after I got to my viewing spot, but with all the moonlight and high haze they were pretty dim.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 04:41 PM

I overslept; woke up and it was 630a! I guess it just wasn't in the stars for me to see this one!*bg*

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Metchosin
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 10:59 AM

Me too kat. The alarm screwed up and I didn't wake up until 5:00am. I would have been way more disappointed at missing the opportunity, if I hadn't seen the eclipse earlier.

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Sep 07 - 01:21 AM

Mty wife camped out to see the meteor shower, and did't see a one. She said the moon was too bright. I camped out with her for the lunar eclipse earlier in the week, and we saw lots of shooting stars. The eclipse was wonderful - when it was dark, the moon was a three-dimensional globe, not just a flat, bright circle in the sky.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Aurigid meteor STORM 9/1/07!!
From: JennyO
Date: 03 Sep 07 - 11:56 AM

That was my experience of the eclipse too, Joe. It was like a big orange basketball hanging there in the sky!

Unfortunately, we are in the wrong part of the world (Australia) to have seen the meteor shower.

As far as I'm concerned though, the best sky event I've ever seen was Comet McNaught back in January. It was so obliging that I was able to watch it from my backyard several nights in a row. It was around long enough for me to become quite fond of it, and I really missed it when it was gone. I have a wonderful picture of Comet McNaught over Sydney as wallpaper on my computer.

We had a BBQ and session at our place one of those nights and everyone watched the comet. Our BBQs are pretty special, and they all reckoned the Comet Party we put on was the best yet. It's going to be a hard act to follow though. They wanted to know what we are going to come up with next. I suppose they'll be expecting bigger and better comets now, but they might have to wait a few million years :-)