June Meteor Shower
I had some really poor weather for the meteor shower last month. I hope the skies are clear for the next meteor shower the June Bootids for you and me. This is also a fine time to observe for many of us, June ends the school year and signals the start of family vacation time. The summer is a grand time to view meteors! Treat the youngsters to a morning meteor shower viewing experience by getting out before dawn when the sky is still dark. I commonly get asked the question when and where should one look to see meteors. The answer is simple; one can stare anywhere in the sky to see meteors. I suggest looking to the darkest area in the sky and then tracing the backward path of a meteor to its radiant. The radiant is the spot where the meteors will seem to originate from. In this case it is the constellation Bootes and for viewers in the northern hemisphere it is located in the western sky and is higher on the horizon for those of dwelling north of the equator. Just remember meteors splash all over the sky, so pick a dark spot, be patient and relax.
Meteor viewing is fun and I’m very excited about this meteor shower because the parent comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke passed Earth last year so hopefully this will produce some outbursts. This shower is very unpredictable but it has been known to have some huge outburst in the past. This year there might be 20 to 50 visible meteors per hour, this is a bold estimate, but one never really knows. The phase of the moon this year also makes the sky somewhat darker than usual and as you may or may not know a light-filled sky is terrible for seeing meteors.
I have a few other post related to the June Bootids you can view them by clicking on the below links:
June Bootids Meteor Shower -1st Blog Post
June Bootids Meteor Shower – Blog Post June 22
If you have any questions, please comment in this blog post or at one of the other blogs. I will be happy to answer your questions and always enjoy hearing about your sightings. Keep your head up and happy meteor gazing.
- Meteor Mark
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 8:05 am
I live in coastal NC. Can the shower be seen here and at what time? Thank you.
on Jun 27th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Is there supposed to be a meteor show in the early morning hours of June 27th or late saturday the 27th.