Meteor light show peaks on Thursday
Miss it this morning, so 可惜… QQ maybe next time. Found the photos of the morning/night sight from the ninemsn web site.
Meteor light show peaks on Thursday
13:51 AEST Tue May 3 2005
One of the most spectacular meteor displays of the year is on show this week for those up early enough to see it.
Up to 50 meteors an hour will charge into the Earth’s atmosphere as it passes through the eta Aquarids, the trail of gravel and ice left in the wake of Halley’s Comet, said Vince Ford at the Mount Stromlo Observatory near Canberra.
Activity this year will peak in the north-eastern sky a couple of hours before dawn on Thursday morning before the meteors taper off, Mr Ford said.
“Usually these travel fairly fast and because these are in the morning, we are meeting them head-on,” he said.
“Sometimes you get yellows and greens, rather than just the normal orange streak, depending on the sort of gravel you run into and if it’s mostly ice or a little bit of gravel mixed in.”
Halley’s Comet has swept through the inner solar system every 76 years and every autumn, the Earth travels through the comet’s trail of particles up to the size of a small pea.
These slam into the earth’s atmosphere at such speed they heat it until glowed, creating a meteor shower visible without a telescope.
Mr Ford said not all meteor showers were visible from the southern hemisphere but Australians would be able to get a good view of the eta Aquarids.
“It’s worth getting up to have a look at,” he said.
The next major meteor show will be the Perseids in August.
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