There is no shortage of celestial events to be seen in the night skies over North Texas throughout the month of October.
Here’s a list of things to look for, weather permitting.
SEE THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
The International Space Station will pass across the North Texas sky this month. It will appear as a fast-moving star across the sky.
The ISS is traveling at 17,150 mph with an orbital inclination of 51.6 degrees to the earth’s equator. The station circles the globe every 90 minutes. It orbits 250 miles above the Earth.
DRACONID METEOR SHOWER
This Draconid Meteor Shower peaks on the evening of Oct. 8. The Draconids get their name from the northern constellation of Draco the Dragon, from which they appear to radiate.
This shower is caused by Earth passing through debris shed by a periodic, 1.2-mile-wide comet called 21P/Giacobini–Zinner. It last survived yet another trip around the sun in 2018 and is expected to make a return trip in 2024.
FULL HUNTER’S MOON
October has a Hunter’s Moon. It gets its name from Native Americans for this time of year when people would hunt to build up stores for winter. With the start of frost season, it’s also called the Freezing Moon and the Ice Moon.
This month’s full moon will be at its largest Oct. 9 at 3:54 p.m. You can catch it for a few days before and after.
ORIONIDS METEOR SHOWER
The Orionids Meteor Shower, created by debris left behind by Halley’s Comet, will peak on the evenings of Oct. 20 and 21. Under ideal conditions, as many as 25 meteors are visible each hour, with your best views in the hours before sunrise on the 21st.
Most meteors can be viewed from any point in the evening sky.
A NEW MOON
At the end of the month, a New Moon will peak on Oct. 25 at 5:48 a.m. This event allows many stars to glow without moonlight disruption. If you have a telescope, this is also a great opportunity to view some of the fainter galaxies and other celestial objects in the nighttime sky.
For the best viewing, move away from urban lights.
As July comes to an end, skywatchers can expect two meteor showers to take place this weekend, one of which will peak Friday night.
The Delta Aquariids meteor shower is expected to peak Friday night into Saturday morning, while the second, the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower, will peak Saturday and Sunday, according to the American Meteor Society.
The Delta Aquariids are best seen from the southern tropics, according to AMS. When viewing the meteor from north of the equator, the radiant – or the apparent origin point of the meteor path – is located lower in the southern sky.
The second meteor shower, Alpha Capricornids, is not very strong, AMS said. However, it can be seen equally well on either side of the equator. During its peak, the moon will be 5% full.
Meteor showers are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. According to AMS, the most popular meteor shower, the Perseids, is set to peak on Aug. 11-12.
In case you miss the Delta Aquariids shower, don’t worry, there’s several more to come. Here’s a full list of meteor showers expected in 2022:
Aug. 12: Perseids
Oct. 21: Orionids
Nov. 5: Southern Taurids
Nov. 12: Northern Taurids
Nov. 17: Leonids
Dec. 14: Geminids
Dec. 22: Ursids
Tre’Vaughn Howard
Tre’Vaughn Howard is a producer and journalist for CBS News, focusing on international and culture stories.
This fireball was a “random occurrence” and not associated with any meteor shower.
A spectacular fireball on Friday was spotted zooming over several US states, including Indiana and Wisconsin. The American Meteor Society (AMS) shared a video of the sighting and said that it received around 150 reports of the fireball.
As per Newsweek, Robert Lunsford, fireball report coordinator for the AMS, informed that the flight of the fireball, which headed northeast, lasted between three and five seconds. The fireball entered the atmosphere over the town of Advance, Indiana, and it disintegrated above the area of Burlington, Indiana, according to AMS.
Take a look at the video below:
Further, the meteor society informed that the reports of sightings came from Indiana, Alabama, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. Mr Lunsford reportedly said that this fireball was most likely a “random occurrence” and not associated with any particular meteor shower.
“I have seen a lot of fireballs in this part of the sky but this by far was the biggest one so far,” one person who spotted the fireball in Ohio told AMS. Another eyewitness stated, “I’ve never seen anything like what I just saw. It was beautiful, exciting, and prompted me to do quick research and to see who else may have seen it as well.” “All I know is it was massive and amazing to see even if it was only for a few seconds. Breathtaking!” added third.
Also Read | Perseid Meteor Shower 2022 Is Underway: Key Things to Know
Fireball is another term for a bright meteor. They are brighter than the average meteor because the pieces of space debris that cause them are larger.
Meteors, which are also known as shooting stars, are the streak of light that we see in the sky when asteroids or meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed and burn up in the process.
It may be a long shot, but “something spectacular” may be coming to the skies this holiday weekend. Experts say there is the potential for people living anywhere in the Americas to see an extremely rare meteor storm on Memorial Day after the sun goes down.
The meteors may be visible as Earth passes through the remains of a comet that split apart three decades ago and is still fragmenting, CBS Denver reports. The comet — named “Schwassmann-Wachmann 3” — began to break up in 1995, and its debris is expected to intersect with the Earth’s orbit which could result in an intense meteor shower called Tau Herculids.
Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys took images of the disintegration of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3’s fragment B.
NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (APL/JHU), M. Mutchler and Z. Levay (STScI)
A meteor shower is classified as a meteor storm when at least 1,000 meteors per hour are produced.
“If it actually passes through this broken up trail, you could see a lot of meteors every hour,” Fraser Cain, publisher of the astronomy outlet “Universe Today,” told KCBS Radio.
However, Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society says the meteors entering the atmosphere must be larger than normal in order to be seen from the ground.
Because of that, Lunsford says the meteor shower is highly unlikely — but he adds: “We believe that this event has a chance of being something spectacular and that we would be remiss by not publicizing it.”
According to EarthSky.org, the famous Leonid meteor storm of 1966 produced meteors falling at a rate of 40 meteors per second. Witnesses said they felt like they had to clutch the ground because of the impression of Earth moving through space.
NASA says astronomers have been observing the comet for nearly a century, and the comet’s trajectory and path around the sun is well understood.
“Amateur and professional astronomers around the world have been tracking its spectacular disintegration for years,” NASA said.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — The Perseid meteor shower, which NASA considers one of the best of the year, will be visible from North Carolina this week.
The show starts peaking in the Northern Hemisphere around dawn Thursday, August 12 and Friday, August 13. But you may catch a few overnight and into dawn Wednesday morning.
The meteors are from leftover comet particles from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle and bits from broken asteroids. When comets come around the sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them.
According to NASA, it was Giovanni Schiaparelli who realized in 1865 that this comet was the source of the Perseids.
How & When to View:
The Perseids are best viewed during the pre-dawn hours, though at times it is possible to view meteors from this shower just before midnight.
You don’t need any special equipment: the naked eye is fine. Thankfully, the moonlight won’t be an issue this week (waxing crescent), so all you need is a wide-open sky.
Where to View in Central North Carolina:
The key to viewing a larger number of meteors is location/surroundings. The darker the sky, the better you’ll do.
The scientists at NASA calculated and put together meteor observation rates for different locations around the U.S, including right here in central North Carolina.
-If you live in the country, you should see between 40 and 50 meteors just before dawn.
-If you live in the suburbs, you should see around 9 meteors just before dawn.
-If you live in the city, you should see around 2 meteors just before dawn.
Let your eyes adjust, find an open & dark sky, sit back, and enjoy the show. Happy sightings!
The past few months have delivered several spectacular celestial phenomena, including the rare “super flower blood moon” lunar eclipse, “ring of fire” solar eclipse and a beautiful strawberry supermoon. But now, the year’s best meteor shower, Perseids, is fast approaching, promising to bring spectacular shooting stars to the summer sky.
Astrophotographers will want to make sure their telescopes and cameras are ready for this epic cosmic event, which delivers incredible photos each year.
What are the Perseids?
The Perseids are active every year from around July 14 to August 24, according to NASA. The meteor shower peaks in mid-August, peaking this year on August 11, 12 and 13.
Under ideal conditions, skywatchers can expect to see up to 100 meteors per hour — a much higher amount than most other showers. NASA considers it the best shower of the year, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser.
The meteors are very fast and bright, regularly leaving long tails of light and color behind them as they streak across the sky at around 37 miles per second. They are also known for their fireballs, big explosions of bright light and color that last longer than an average meteor streak.
Perseid meteors, which are leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids, appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus — earning the shower its name. The constellation is not the actual source of the meteors, so viewers do not need to determine its exact location to spot shooting stars.
The 2018 Perseids meteor shower with the Milky way, taken in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Alps.
Getty Images
The comet responsible for the Perseids is called 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle. It orbits the sun once every 133 years, last passing through the inner solar system in 1992.
The comet’s nucleus is 16 miles across, which is almost twice the size of the object that scientists believed wiped out the dinosaurs, NASA said.
When and where to watch the Perseids
The Perseids occur during the warm nights of summer, making them easily visible from around the world, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Meteors will be visible starting in the mid-to-late evening hours, as early as 9 p.m., and continue to get better into the pre-dawn hours, after 2 a.m.
Earlier in the night, skywatchers have the opportunity to spot a rare earthgrazer, a long, slow and colorful meteor moving across the horizon. In the Southern Hemisphere, meteors will begin to appear around midnight.
“If those hours seem daunting, not to worry! You can go out after dark, around 9 p.m. local time, and see a few Perseids,” NASA said. “Just know that you won’t see nearly as many as you would had you gone out during the early morning hours.”
The Perseid meteor shower over the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party, on August 10, 2018, with an aurora as a bonus.
VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Weather permitting, NASA recommends finding a place with a clear view of a large swath of the sky. On the peak mornings this year, moonlight won’t interfere with the show, with the moon only in its waxing crescent phase and 13% full, guaranteeing the sky remains dark enough to spot shooting stars.
Lie flat on your back and look up, allowing your eyes several minutes to adjust before taking in as much of the sky as possible for at least an hour. You won’t need any special equipment or knowledge of the constellations to see the show.
The shower’s peak isn’t your last chance to spot the meteors — they can still be clearly seen for about 10 days after. Additionally, the Southern Delta Aquariid and Alpha Capricornid meteor showers are still active through mid-August, adding to the dazzling light show.
If you’re not in a position to watch the Perseids, there are live streams available. NASA typically live streams the event on its Meteor Watch Facebook page, as does the Virtual Telescope Project.
Following the Perseids, the next meteor shower won’t be until October, when the Orionids light up the sky.
Debris from the famous Halley’s comet will light up the sky in California this week as part of what’s known as the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. KCRA meteorologist Tamara Berg says skies should be clear enough to notice the event, which will peak early Wednesday morning.When can I see the Eta Aquarid meteor shower near me? Look up in the sky before sunrise, basically between 3 and 5 a.m. “When you look up at that sky you look up to the southeast, up toward the moon,” Berg said. “Then you’ll see Jupiter and in between that is where you may have the chance to see what looks like a shooting star.” You may be able to see five meteors per hour. There are several apps available through Apple and Google’s stores to help in finding constellations and meteor showers.
Debris from the famous Halley’s comet will light up the sky in California this week as part of what’s known as the Eta Aquarid meteor shower.
KCRA meteorologist Tamara Berg says skies should be clear enough to notice the event, which will peak early Wednesday morning.
When can I see the Eta Aquarid meteor shower near me?
Look up in the sky before sunrise, basically between 3 and 5 a.m.
“When you look up at that sky you look up to the southeast, up toward the moon,” Berg said. “Then you’ll see Jupiter and in between that is where you may have the chance to see what looks like a shooting star.”
You may be able to see five meteors per hour.
There are several apps available through Apple and Google’s stores to help in finding constellations and meteor showers.
If you’re looking for an out-of-this-world gift this Valentine’s Day, an auction house is offering up rare meteorite chunks from the moon, Mars and beyond — for as little as $250.
In an online sale beginning Tuesday, February 9, Christie’s auction house is auctioning off 72 meteorites — solid pieces of debris from celestial objects like comets and asteroids that arrive on Earth as shooting stars, somehow managing to survive their journey through our atmosphere to land on the surface.
“The weight of every known meteorite is less than the world’s annual output of gold, and this sale offers spectacular examples for every collector, available at estimates ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the auction house wrote on its website.
Included in the collection is a meteorite containing 7 billion-year-old stardust, space gems encased in iron and the fourth-largest slice of the moon. A large chunk of Martian rock, worth an estimated $30,000 to $50,000, holds bubbles of the planet’s atmosphere trapped inside.
“The Most Beautiful Extraterrestrial Substance Known — End piece of the Fukang Meteorite.” Estimate: $3,500 – 4,500.
Christie’s
According to Christie’s, there are a dozen samples from the moon and Mars, and another dozen previously housed by famous museums around the world.
“Everyone has an image in mind of how a meteorite ‘should look’ – an extraterrestrial body frictionally heated while punching through Earth’s atmosphere,” James Hyslop, head of science and natural history for Christie’s, said in a statement. “Rarely do the objects survive this fiery descent look like that shared ideal seen in this meteorite. It is a wonder to behold and an honor to have been entrusted with its sale.”
One object in the collection never hit the ground — a young boy in Morocco found the meteorite in the branches of a tree a day after a meteor shower — it’s worth an estimated $15,000 to $25,000. Yet another hailed from the U.S.’ largest meteorite shower in Odessa, Texas, expecting to fetch $40,000 to $60,000.
“If there was ever a time to be awed by the infiniteness of the night sky, we’re living in it, but if you want to inspire and see eyes widen — touch a meteorite,” said curator Darryl Pitt.
The auction house said that one of the highlights of the sale is a 16-pound “highly aesthetic oriented stone meteorite,” estimated to sell for $50,000 to $80,000.
“Unlike 99% of all other meteorites, this meteorite did not tumble or invert as it plunged to Earth but maintained a stable orientation throughout its descent,” the auction house said. “The surface that faced Earth showcases elongated flight marks that radiate outwards in this compelling, extraterrestrial aerodynamic form.”
The meteorites have been found all over the world, from the Sahara Desert to Chile to Russia.
The “Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites” auction runs until February 23, and interested buyers located in New York can see them in person, by appointment.
