Possible Moonlit 2007 Ursid Meteor Outburst

[MeteorWayne]

With comet 8P Tuttle in the news comes this just released study by Dr Peter Jenniskens suggesting a possible outburst of the Ursid meteor shower on Dec 22nd<br /><br />Link here <br /><br />"We are preparing to visit the North Pole on December 22, to see an unusual meteor shower called the Ursids. This meteor shower radiates from the constellation known as the Little Dipper: Ursa Minor. This minor shower is quite unremarkable in most years, but this year the parent comet 8P/Tuttle is approaching, and it has a strong Perseid-level shower in store for us. We think. We predict a peak time around 20 - 22.2 Universal Time and a width of 5 to 8.5 hours at half the peak rate. <br /><br />Unfortunately, that means that North America is not a good place to be, for our purpose. The outburst will happen during our daytime. Best viewing will be in Asia and Europe. Even from those locations it won't be easy to see this shower, because of a bad moon that night, and frequent bad weather in December. There is a reason why people want to huddle indoors around a warm fire and a Christmas tree this time of year. <br /><br />The Ursid outburst is too rare an opportunity to miss, though, because the comet returns only every 13.6 years. This time around, the comet comes closer to us than ever before, at least since it was discovered in 1790, passing at only 0.25 AU on January 5. This is still a big distance, though, making for no more than a nice binocular comet. The meteoroids bring the comet to us and permit studies of the comet's composition and activity history. The meteoroids will hit at a speed of 35 kilometers in a second and can damage satellites in orbit. It is a good thing that the stream is pretty diluted when it reaches Earth."<br /><br />"<br />To investigate this, we are hoping for an opportunity to observe the outburst from a Gulfstream V aircraft in a mission similar to our campaign to study the <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[adrenalynn]

They weren't able to fly the mission this time - bummer 'eh? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>.</p><p><font size="3">bipartisan</font>  (<span style="color:blue" class="pointer"><span class="pron"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size="2">bī-pär'tĭ-zən, -sən</font></span></span>) [Adj.]  Maintaining the ability to blame republications when your stimulus plan proves to be a devastating failure.</p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">IMPE</font><font color="#c0c0c0">ACH</font> <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#c0c0c0">O</font>BAMA</font>!</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Yes it is. And reports from the meteorobs maillist indicate weather is not good for most of the globe. With the near full moon, it must be crystal clear dry in order to see what is expected to be an outburst of faint meteors.<br /><br />The proposed outburst time is about 3 hours away. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[adrenalynn]

With the moon as it was, I only saw a few, nothing captured by the cameras - too faint against the background light. Even with the cameras inside of an easyup tent... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>.</p><p><font size="3">bipartisan</font>  (<span style="color:blue" class="pointer"><span class="pron"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size="2">bī-pär'tĭ-zən, -sən</font></span></span>) [Adj.]  Maintaining the ability to blame republications when your stimulus plan proves to be a devastating failure.</p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">IMPE</font><font color="#c0c0c0">ACH</font> <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#c0c0c0">O</font>BAMA</font>!</font></strong></p> </div>