Tag Archives: Eta Aquarid meteors

Meteors, Planes, and a Galaxy over Bryce Canyon 

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Image Credit & Copyright: Dave Lane

Sometimes land and sky are both busy and beautiful. The landscape pictured in the foreground encompasses Bryce Canyon in Utah, USA, famous for its many interesting rock structures eroded over millions of years. The skyscape above, photogenic in its own right, encompasses the arching central disk of our Milky Way Galaxy, streaks that include three passing airplanes and at least four Eta Aquariid meteors, and bright stars that include the Summer Triangle. The above image is a digital panorama created from 12 smaller images earlier this month on the night May 6. If you missed the recent Eta Aquariids meteor shower though, don’t fret — you may get an unexpected reprieve. Sky enthusiasts are waiting to see if a new meteor shower develops in the early morning hours of Saturday, May 24, when the Earth moves through a possibly dense cloud of dust and debris ejected by Comet 209P/LINEAR.
NASA APOD 19-May-14

Related posts:

  1. Geminid Meteors over Chile
  2. Geminid Meteors over Teide Volcano
  3. Halley Dust and Milky Way 
  4. The Perseids

Halley Dust and Milky Way 

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Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Taylor

 The early morning hours of May 6 were moonless when grains of cosmic dust streaked through dark skies. Swept up as planet Earth plows through dusty debris streams left behind periodic Comet Halley, the annual meteor shower is known as the Eta Aquarids. This inspired exposure captures a meteor streak moving left right through the frame. Its trail points back across the arc of the Milky Way to the shower’s radiant above the local horizon in the constellation Aquarius. Known for speed Eta Aquarid meteors move fast, entering the atmosphere at about 66 kilometers per second. Still waters of the small pond near Albion, Maine, USA reflect the starry scene and the orange glow of nearby artificial lights scattered by a low cloud bank. Of course, northern hemisphere skygazers are expecting a new meteor shower on May 24, the Camelopardalids, caused by dust from periodic comet 209P/LINEAR.
NASA APOD 09-May-14

Related posts:

  1. The Perseids
  2. Lyrids in Southern Skies 
  3. That Night over Half Dome
  4. Orion Nebula in Surrounding Dust