Full Moon During γ-Normids Peak March 13, 2009
The γ-Normids is a minor meteor shower that will be peaking on March 13, 2009. It is the only shower of March and concludes the usual very slow 1st Quarter for meteor shower viewing. There is very little known about this shower and their radiant is non-distinct. On a totally clear and moonless night, viewers would expect to see about two to six meteors per hour, however this year a predominate full moon will be present on the sky during peak times and this will degrade any real chance of seeing meteors. I regrettably have to tell all of you that this meteor shower may not be worth a look.
I always enjoy your comments and questions. I will be posting some meteor facts and definitions during this temporary lull in meteor shower activity. Please bookmark the site and stay tuned for the next meteor shower that is worthwhile viewing, the Lyrids of April 2009.
Keep your head up!
And by the way, if you have some time, check out my poker forum.
- Meteor Mark
Meteor Shower from MeteorBlog.com
on Mar 3rd, 2009 at 1:26 pm
is the exact time for this coming meteor shower is known?if so would you please inform me about it, i never saw something like that and i was so happy to know that this will happen very soon ,so i hope i don t miss the chance^_^
on Mar 6th, 2009 at 1:29 am
March 5, 2009 Indio sky with moon shining saw at least 20 meteors. Are we going through a shower right now?
on Mar 6th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Doughdoc,
The γ-Normids is occurring now, I have no idea if you saw meteors from this shower. I would have to see them to trace their trajectory, but it sounds pretty neat…thanks for the comment.
The γ-Normids peaks March 13th after midnight.
Meteor Mark
Meteor Shower
on Mar 8th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Hi there, I am going to be in Cancun, Mexico from 16th to 30th March and am hoping there will be some meteor activity. Could you help please? Many thanks Belinda
on Mar 8th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Wondering if anyone else saw a very bright meteor/fireball at 3:40 am this morning over Northern California – Sierra Nevada’s?
I had just closed my eyes – dozing off – when a very bright light made my eyes fly open just in time to see a bright light whiz through the sky – west to east – and disappear. I was expecting to hear a crash or noise – thought I had seen a plane going down but just silence…
on Mar 8th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Belinda,
March is a slow month for meteor showers. There is nothing but the Gamma Normids occurring during your stay in Mexico. The best time to look for meteors is between midnight and dawn on any given night you could see about five sporadic meteors an hour.
- Meteor Mark
Meteor Shower
on Mar 8th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Julie,
Sounds like a fireball sighting. I hope someone else will post something for you here.
Keep Your Head Up!
- Meteor Mark
Meteor Shower
on Mar 10th, 2009 at 9:26 am
I saw a meteor a little after two this morning. It was moving east-west slower than any other meteor I have ever seen and was pretty bright. This was near Humboldt Bay, CA. Would this likely be part of the Normids? Should I keep an eye out during the next few nights?
Thanks,
Randy
on Mar 10th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Randy,
It is hard to tell if it were from the Gamma Normids without actually seeing it myself. Check out this post: Sporadic Meteors
This may give you some insight.
The Gamma Normids are a minor meteor shower producing maybe 1 meteor every 10 minutes, which isn’t a lot.
The Lyrids of April may be better and showers get better as the year proceeds. Bookmark the site and keep in touch.
- Meteor Mark
on Mar 10th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I spotted a huge electric blue fireball March 10 just after midnight in Interior Alaska. It appeared to be traveling straight down, and was in the east. It had two blue streaks preceding it that appeared to be connected to the fireball like legs. This may be a minor meteor shower, Mark, but I was thrilled, awed, and throughly impressed by the sighting. Hey–thanks for this site. It’s very interesting!
on Mar 11th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Just sighted a fairly large fireball moving north to south shortly after 9pm this evening over Northern Ca. Was pretty bright and appeared fairly low in altitude or was fairly large.
on Mar 12th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Glow,
Awesome! You may want to look at the glossary and also search for sporadic meteors on this site. It may enlighten you. In short, fireballs and meteors do occur every day even when there is no major meteor showers occurring.
A major meteor shower could produce up to 100 meteors an hour, where a minor meteor shower could produce about 8 meteors an hour.
The Lyrids of April 2009 is a decent shower known for bright meteors and sometimes big storm-like outbursts!
Thanks for the comment!
- Meteor Mark
Meteor Shower
on Mar 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Last night March 13, 2009 we saw a flash of light in the sky. This was in Northern California around 1 am It was so bright it lit up the room for a second and then was gone. I have nver seen anything like it. There was no sound, just the light. Did anyone see this?
on Mar 14th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Joy,
Hopefully some other people witnessed the event in California. Thanks for the post.
- Meteor Mark
on Mar 14th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Is April’s shower viewable from Central Florida? I am completly ignorrant on any space topic, but I love to look up! I would love to witness a shower with my fiance who has never seen one before. Hope you can help, Thanks Buddy
on Mar 15th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Curious Mike,
It should be viewable. I will be giving some more info on it in a week or two, remind me to put a map up on the site for you.
- Meteor Mark
on Mar 16th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Thank you for your site. Imagine my surprise and delight to step out of my car last night to see a brilliant shooting star fly long across the sky above a tall beautiful pine tree. I had just arrived in Southern Ohio at midnight, from an 8 hour road trip from South Carolina and glanced up at the Northeast night sky.
Then, as I was just getting over the goosebumps, when I saw a second one flying at 8 o’clock from the first, but the same direction east to northwest. It had a shorter tail, but no less brilliant.
So cool to be able to research your site to learn that seeing two beautiful shooting stars within literally one minute was truly as special as it felt!
on Mar 16th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Hi… about 0020 this morning… 16th March 2009 both myself and my husband saw a fire ball type meteor….. What surprised us was the red and yellow colours visible and the size and length of the lights..We are in Bucks… England… Anyone know what it was? Anyone else see it? Many thanks
Jo
on Mar 16th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Katherine,
Thanks for the kind words. Sounds awesome!
Joanne,
You may want to search the meteorblog.com site for “colors” I have some information in one of the posts that may enlighten you.
Thank you to both of you for the comments. April may have some more surprises.
- Meteor Mark
Meteor Shower
on Mar 19th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
On March 15 between 11:00 pm and midnight, I was on my way to the corner store when I saw a large bright light shoot across the sky in front of me, then disappear behind the hillside. It looked so close that I expected to hear it crash, but there was no sound. I’ve seen alot of falling stars in my life time, but never anything as big and bright as this. It was an amazing experience.
on Mar 19th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Melanie,
Occasionally meteors/fireballs do make a sound that viewers can hear. When a meteoroid enters the atmosphere at well over the speed of sound, one can sometimes hear a sonic boom!
Thanks for the comment. Do you want to see more meteors? The next meteor shower is coming soon! Bookmark the site and check back April 1st.
- Meteor Mark
on Mar 20th, 2009 at 8:31 am
I’m glad I found this site. I was in Florida last week and on 3/12 (around 11pm) I saw a fireball falling out of the sky. It was amazing and it looked like it did touch down somewhere. The fire died out right before it hit the ground, at least that’s what it looked like.
I tried to find postings on the internet about other people who saw the same thing but wasn’t able to find anything. I was hoping for some hard proof to convice my fiance that I did, indeed, see a meteor falling.
on Mar 21st, 2009 at 12:43 am
Jen,
Thanks for the post. Sometimes they do strike the Earth and sometimes they don’t. Maybe there will be some more posts for you here.
- Meteor Mark
on Mar 28th, 2009 at 10:36 am
HI, I was coming home from work on 03/28/2009 at about 3:15 am in Gallup NM, when I say a huge blue colored fireball. I was much bigger than a typical falling star you see. I appeared to be close and I expected to hear a crash. It did appear to burn out prior to striking the Earth. It was amazing.
on Mar 28th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Lee,
Thanks for the comment from New Mexico! Stay tuned for the April Lyrids Meteor Shower!
- Meteor Mark
Meteor Shower
on Mar 29th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Hi, I was driving home around 9pm, 03/28/09 heading north in Las Cruces, NM, I saw a large bright white ball which seemed to have a fire glow, it fell so quickly from east to west, I expected to hear an explosion, I was in awe!! Did anyone else see this? What was it?
Thank you for any info
on Mar 29th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Hello – About 10pm in Prince Frederick Maryland, I saw a big ball of brite white yellow light fly from west to east. The light went out after 3 seconds in the sky. Never seen anything like it.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 6:24 am
Last night I saw the biggest Meteor…or small plane crash…I have ever seen. I was wondering if it was part of the Normids? I am in Greenville NC and it moved fairly slowly from west to east at about 9:30-9:45 p.m. on 3/29, it was enormous and burned green and lasted several seconds before I lost the trail behind the stupid building I was standing next to…which is why I say I hope it wasn’t some kind of crash b/c I never saw it burn out! I would appreciate any info. I’ve scanned the local news and haven’t been able to find anything…but it was very cool! Hope someone else got to enjoy it with me.
Jennie
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 8:06 am
hi, i saw a spectaculer slow moving meteor last night at 9:45 in oxford, north carolina., (march 29,2009). it was a bright blue with a short orange tail. it came down very low, but the trees blocked the final descent. it was one of the brightest i’ve ever seen.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
CJW, Dale, & Jacqueline,
Sounds awesome, thanks for the comment.
Jennie,
It would be hard for me to tell if it were from the Gamma Normids without seeing it. You may have seen a sporadic meteor or fireball. You can use the search feature in the upper right hand corner of this site to browse all the articles. Try searching for “sporadic” thanks for your comment. You may want to check back in early April for information on the Lyrids, it should be a good meteor shower.
- Meteor Mark
April Meteor Shower
on Mar 31st, 2009 at 11:56 am
On March 28, 2009 after 9p, maybe at 10:30-ish, I was camping in Cades Cove [Smoky Mtns National Park in TN] when a large white fireball with a long, arched, white, gaseous-moving, tail traveled overhead. I was looking straight up because I was trying to spot a satellite or falling star. I believe it traveled from SW to NE [I think]. It lasted long enough for me to make a deep gasping noise and scare my friends. I can’t find anything on it…I need to know what this was!
on Mar 31st, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Kimberly,
Sounds just like what you described! A fireball. Check out the glossary on this site for more information about fireballs and bolides.
Meteor Mark
on Apr 1st, 2009 at 11:36 am
At 1:30 am on March 31, 2009 in NE Ohio, I saw a fireball or meteor falling. It had a bright white head followed by a blue, orange and white tail. My research led me to think I saw what many witnessed in Virginia Beach, but this occurred the day before my sighting. Did anyone else see anything in this area or know what this could have been?
on Apr 1st, 2009 at 4:02 pm
BC,
I am not sure what the distance is from Northeast Ohio to Virginia Beach, however it is unlikely you saw the same event. Sounds like you saw a fireball which is in fact pretty rare.
Thank you for your comment.
- Meteor Mark