Support NeoGAF

[GK86]

Link.

Skywatchers have something exciting to look forward to this month — a possible new meteor shower that could send up to 1,000 shooting stars per hour streaking through the sky.

On May 23 and May 24, Earth should plow through debris shed by Comet 209P/LINEAR, astronomers say. These extraterrestrial particles could give stargazers an incredible show as they burn up in the planet's atmosphere — or the anticipated fireworks may fizzle out.

"This potential new shower is so new that astronomers aren't sure what to expect," narrator Jane Houston Jones said in a skywatching video released by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on April 30. "Predictions run from less than 100 meteors per hour up to an unlikely but possible meteor storm as high as 1,000 per hour."

The shower should appear to radiate from a point near Polaris (the North Star), which lies at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, Houston Jones added. Observers in southern Canada and the continental United States are particularly well-placed to see the meteors.

"Set your alarm clock for midnight on May 23 and 24, and keep your eyes peeled for slow-moving but bright meteors — both nights if you can," she said.

The skies should be relatively dark on those days as well; the moon will be waning toward its new phase, which occurs May 28.

Comet 209P/LINEAR — which was discovered in 2004 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project (hence the name) — makes one trip around the sun every five years or so. The comet itself is relatively small and dim, but it may put on a special show thanks to orbital dynamics.

"Given the current orbit of the comet, all the [debris] trails ejected between 1803 and 1924 do fall in the Earth's path in May 2014!" Jeremie Vaubaillon, of the Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides in France, told Space.com in 2012. "As a consequence, this shower might as well be a storm."

The new meteor shower would be the second one to grace May's night sky. The first one, known as the Eta Aquarids, peaks overnight tonight (May 5-6).

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is generated by debris sloughed off by the famous Halley's Comet, which last cruised by Earth in 1986 and won't be back again until 2061. Observers with dark, clear skies might be able to spot up to 60 meteors during the shower's peak tonight, experts say.

You can still see the meteors even if your views are marred by clouds or bright city lights. You can watch webcasts of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower Monday night here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA and the Slooh community telescope.

 

[Nilaul]

Will I be able to see them in London?

Also doomsday.

 

[ThatGuyAgain]

I've never seen a meteor storm so thanks for posting this.

Marked my calendar.

 

[JetBlackPanda]

Well clouds ruined my show. How about you guys?

 

[PushTheButtonMax]

Clear skies, in terms of both cloud cover and meteors.

NASA's got a hell of a playlist going on their stream.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

 

[Lazyslob]

wait so is like... now the time to see em!?

edit: it's super cloudy

 

[eudaemonic]

Cloudy here too. Was hoping to catch a glimpse before I crashed tonight.

 

[StopMakingSense]

Going by twitter it was a bust tonight. These things are impossible to predict right.

 

[Valhelm]

I didn't see anything... did 23/24 mean last night?

 

[Piano]

Perfectly clear...saw nothing.

 

[Gusto]

Boooo, saw nothing.

 

[Agnostic]

I'm in Illinois. I went outside every 30 min. for the last 5 hours and didn't see anything.

 

[Darryl]

I saw a half dozen after watching for a couple hours. One of them was really cool. Nothing special. Still, these things are always fun. Florida

 

[TransTrender]

 

[fallingseastar]

I saw one, then the clouds filled the entire sky.

 

[Nelo Ice]

Drove out near the middle of nowhere tonight and saw nothing .

 

[jerry1594]

You can't see these in a big city anyway

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

My brother saw one, I was standing next to him and completely missed it.

 

[Sec0nd]

Woke up in the middle of the night for it. Nothing...

 

[Wazzy]

Wow that sucked.

Group of friends brought blankets, food and drinks and parked on a hill where we sat in the back of a truck watching for the meteor shower but pretty much nothing happened. I think I saw two and we were there for 3 hours.

 

[strafer]

No Liv Tyler either.

 

[MrGreencastle]

Drove 30 mins out of town, Northern Alberta, barely anything visible, sadly.

 

[SlackAdjuster]

Cleveland, OH - 0

 

[Rewrite]

Nothing here either.

 

[Mr. Bamboo]

Crystal clear night tonight and same expected for tomorrow night, so I'll be up on my roof with my music and a blanket .

edit: "Unfortunately this section of sky is not visible from Australia." (eye twitch)... I'll still go up on my roof, with a bottle of alcohol >_>.

 

[speedpop]

Thank you. I died on this one.

 

[TheAbsolution]

Nothing over here in North Georgia. Welp.

 

[Ambient80]

Woke up to go look. Nothing to see. Boo, you whore.

Hopefully tonight!

 

[Raist]

Will I be able to see them in London?

London? Where even during a clear winter sky night you can see about 5 stars tops? Haha, good luck with that.