naturalsummer
Guest
Tonight's the night ... if you live in western Africa, western Europe, the northeastern United States, and eastern Canada.
Act 3: The fireball shower
Perhaps the best bet for many observers will be when Earth passes through what's called "the Filament" by Peter Jenniskens at NASA's Ames Research Center and Hans Betlem of the Dutch Meteor Society.
Act 3 could last about 24 hours -- very lengthy compared to Acts 1 and 2. The final production will be centered around 12:25 a.m. EST (5:25 GMT) on Nov. 19. This timing will highly favor western Africa and western Europe, though the northeastern United States and eastern Canada would also be rotating into a favorable position to see peak activity as well.
The Filament is a meteor stream consisting of the sum of many dust trails over many centuries, all having spread together so that individual trails are no longer recognizable.
The Filament could produce rates of about 50 per hour, or nearly one per minute, Jenniskens says, adding that the show will be "nearly like a Perseid shower, but more rich in bright meteors." In fact, Jenniskens is touting the Filament as "The Fireball Shower."
"My feeling is that the Filament should provide a pretty decent show," says Cooke. "We too [at NASA] will be watching. It's going to be an interesting year!"
Act 3: The fireball shower
Perhaps the best bet for many observers will be when Earth passes through what's called "the Filament" by Peter Jenniskens at NASA's Ames Research Center and Hans Betlem of the Dutch Meteor Society.
Act 3 could last about 24 hours -- very lengthy compared to Acts 1 and 2. The final production will be centered around 12:25 a.m. EST (5:25 GMT) on Nov. 19. This timing will highly favor western Africa and western Europe, though the northeastern United States and eastern Canada would also be rotating into a favorable position to see peak activity as well.
The Filament is a meteor stream consisting of the sum of many dust trails over many centuries, all having spread together so that individual trails are no longer recognizable.
The Filament could produce rates of about 50 per hour, or nearly one per minute, Jenniskens says, adding that the show will be "nearly like a Perseid shower, but more rich in bright meteors." In fact, Jenniskens is touting the Filament as "The Fireball Shower."
"My feeling is that the Filament should provide a pretty decent show," says Cooke. "We too [at NASA] will be watching. It's going to be an interesting year!"
I'll be out there watching too!
