Meteor to swing by

[leon]

Hi all
I saw this article in the Melbourne Hearakd Sun.

A meteor shower is expecred next week from a Comet that has broken up catastrophically.
U S magazine Sky and Telescope predicted a meteor shower on Monday or Tuesday.
Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, also known as Comet 73P, was due to swing by Earth yesterday, in the nearest approach by a Comet in 20 years.
It was passing within a mere 10 million Klm's of Earth.
Observers should be able to see two of the brightest chunks using a small telescope or even binoculars.

Any comments on this one.......:eyepop:

[wraithe]

isnt this comet expected to burn up when passing the sun... I think i read that it will be its last passing of earth as its not expected to last the encounter with the sun..

[gaa_ian]

A quote from Gary Konik's Meteor & Comet Page:
"A meteor shower was predicted and observed by Japanese observers during 1930, with an unexpected outburst of 60 or 70 per hour (this is not a corrected zenithal hourly rate, but the raw numbers) occurring on the nights of June 9 and 10. The possibility exists that another outburst could occur in 2006, although the chances for a strong shower actually improve in 2022"
http://cometography.com/pcomets/073p.html

[Mr Bob]

Cosidering all the fragments and associated debris, we could be in for a spectacular show sometime in the future.

[astrogeek]

Go to:

http://www.savelivesinmay.com/

To read all about how some nutter thinks that the comet will hit us and kill us all. Someone forgot to take their meds me thinks ;)

Leon

[astro_nutt]

Yes!..It should be a good show!!!..as long as none of the big chunks hit us and spoil our day!!

[matt]

Do we have any specific time/dates for next week's "show"?

[wraithe]

http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/planetarium/skynotes/sn.html


this has some info that is quite good...

[Mr Bob]

Typically the few hours before dawn is the best time for meteor showers as thats the leading edge of the earth.

[fringe_dweller]

yes, but I havent seen any serious consensus amongst meteor guru's that there is definately anything going happen this year for sure.

The prediction for this coming week came from somebody I have never heard of.
quote from U.S S&T website

"Meteor shower May 22–23?

Jack Drummond of the Starfire Optical Range predicts that debris shed by the comet many years ago (long before the 1995 breakup) could bring us a meteor shower on the night of May 22–23. He writes:

"The closest approach of [Fragment C's] orbit to the Earth, 0.04 astronomical unit, occurs on May 22 at 20:00 UT. Thus the maximum of the meteor shower would be on May 22 or May 23, with a radiant of right ascension 208° [13h 52m] and declination +30° [in Canes Venatici, 12° north-northwest of Arcturus], and a geocentric velocity of 13.5 km/sec, which is quite slow." Unlike with many meteor showers, this radiant is highest in the sky as early in the night as 11 p.m. daylight saving time — so the meteors would be visible any time from dusk to dawn.

If the shower does peak around 20:00 May 22 Universal Time, that would be during the evening of the 22nd for continental Europe, later at night for western Asia, and before dawn on the 23rd for Central and South Asia. But keep watch wherever you are; the shower, if any, could arrive many hours earlier or later than that."

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1704_1.asp

[matt]

thanks, wraithe... mr Bob and fringe_dweller

[gaa_ian]

The Comets & the Moon are only 7deg apart in the morning.
I had better go out for one more look !