Meteor Shower
The June Bootids Meteor Shower starts this morning June 22, 2009. This could be a super year for this event. This shower will remain active until July 2 and peaks June 27, 2009. Here is a meteor shower fun fact: Did you know that a meteor shower is one of the most random, capricious and unpredictable astronomical happenings? To this day scientists have great difficulty forecasting meteor showers.
For more details visit the post: June Bootids.
In the mean time bookmark the site and keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 6:54 am
okk ppl round bout 4:20am in Virginia Free State South Africa me family got freaked out n most ppl in town.we saw a blue white bright light for about a minute long,then heard a strange wee typesound n the earth shook as in earthquake.then a big grumbling near sounding boom,nearly soundsed like lightning bt very ood n deep.it all happened together.earthshaking n the bang grumble.i freaked out cause i been sensing a meteorite coming n this is the first time i see this site.everybody trying to convince me it was either the mine or normal earthquake bt i disagree.was this a meteorite the one u talk about?n r we maybe gonna hear a bigger bang?ok what freaks ppl bout me out is ive this uncanny predictions.i can tell eg tsunami coming or feel it n im nt at the sea at all.ppl laugh me off bt i keep predicting.where do i go to get ahold of scientists when i feel these predictions coming.im pretty accurate.keep looking up ppl.watch natures show.best show on this galaxy.
on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 7:02 am
Stella,
Meteorite collisions, the study of meteor showers and meteors are still one of the hardest to predict.
I’m not interested in starting an “end of the world” blog on this site. I just like observing meteor showers, meteors and fireballs.
Oh and by the way…keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 am
me and my boyfriend wud like to go and c the meteorite showers 2nite. We wud like to know where is the best place to go and c the showers. We live in central london. So we wud like 2 know if there is a specific place that we shud go and c this
on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 9:03 am
cud u pls let me know where is the ideal place to go and c the meteorite showers as i live in central london
on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Gwendolyn,
Wow two comments! You must be excited. I’m not familiar with London, my best advice for viewing any meteor shower is written on the “Meteor Shower Viewing” page which you can find in the upper right hand corner. You may want to check out the “Glossary and Terms” page to learn a little more as well. You can also browse lot’s of different blogs on this site to gather more information.
As stated in the blog above, this meteor shower is best viewed on its peak date before dawn on June 27.
I will be happy to answer more questions once you have taken a look at those pages.
Keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 10:13 pm
I just took my little dog out for her evening constitutional and saw an amazing shower in the southern sky. I live in Ontario, Canada. Great streaks of light and then what can only be described as flashing balls of light dashed across the sky.
I’ve never seen anything like this – amazing.
Just had to share!!.
on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Caryl,
Thank you for sharing. The June Bootids is known for outbursts just like you described. Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come. The shower is supposed to peak on June 27th.
Keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Jun 24th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Love your blog! I live in Northern California and I saw several more nice meteors last night between 11pm and midnight, the best one was in Cygnus, slow and streaking. A few around Ursa Major. And several just random meteors. As you say, hopefully this will be a good sign of things to come.
I was wondering if there is a better time of night/morning in my area to go out and look?
on Jun 24th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Karen,
Sounds like you’re having some great viewing already. Since meteor showers were discovered and tracked scientists have had a hard time predicting when and where meteors will be seen. Meteor viewing is one of the most unpredictable events in astronomy! If you look in the upper right hand corner of this blog check out “meteor shower viewing” for some more tips.
It is believed that the June Bootids will reach their peak on June 27th. Keep your head up and let me know what you see.
- Meteor Mark
on Jun 25th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Last night (6/23/09) my son and I saw a large fireball above Phoenix. It was very large but have heard nothing about it on the news or in the paper. I do not know very much about meteors but perhaps you can elighten me if this is what we did see. Thank you.
on Jun 25th, 2009 at 6:38 am
Alicia,
You may have read on this site that the June Bootids is occurring now until July. It peaks Saturday morning. Fireballs like you witnessed are somewhat rare and usually go unreported. Millions of particles bombard our world everyday. I can’t tell you exactly what you saw because I wasn’t there.
Have a look at the glossary in the upper right hand corner. There are some more descriptions and definitions there. You may also want to use the search feature on this site to find out more about “sporadic meteors” and “fireballs”.
I heard of a recent “bolide” sighting over Sierra Vista, AZ this may have been the same event. “Bolides” are bright fireballs that break apart and are usually accompanied by a “pop-like” flash at the end of their flight.
Thank you for the comment and let me know if you have any other questions.
- Meteor Mark
on Jun 29th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I saw an early start to the metoer shower on June 21. I didn’t even know there was a meteor shower predicted near this time. I saw the first bright meteor in the wee hours on June 21, 1 am. We went camping later that day and saw more metoers that night.
I saw a meteor so bright I sent an E-mail to the paper. An article went into the Star-Telegram paper. Here is the article.
Posted on Mon, Jun. 22, 2009
Nighttime fireball lights up D-FW
While most of the Metroplex was asleep early Monday, a fireball shot across the sky, startling those who had not yet given up on the weekend.
“It was huge,” said Austin Babek, 18, who observed the light show from outside his south Arlington home. “It actually scared me, it was so big.”
Babek said he and a friend saw the fireball at 12:56 a.m. He said it lasted about five seconds and was bright orange with a long blue and green tail.
“I’ve seen shooting stars before but never anything like this,” he said.
In an e-mail to the Star-Telegram, Lynda Edwards of Fort Worth described it as “so bright I could see it through the branches and leaves of my large pecan tree. It emerged on the other side of the tree and burnt out in the northwest sky.”
Ron Dilulio, planetarium and astronomy lab director at the University of North Texas, did not see the light — he is out of town on a field trip — but said later Monday that based on descriptions, it was “more than likely a meteor.”
— Lee Williams
Here is the E-mail I sent to the paper:
June 21, 2009
Tonight I was sitting on my patio in central Fort Worth watching the sky as I so often do when I take my dogs out for the last time in the evening. Wow! I saw the most amazing falling star. It appeared in the sky from the south just before 1 am. It had such a long bright white tail. I got up from my chair and followed it. It was so bright I could see it through the branches and leaves of my large pecan tree. It emerged on the other side of the tree and burnt out in the northwest sky.
I have been skygazing for more than 40 years. When I was a little girl I used to sit outside by myself watching the night sky in my kid sized lawn chair in my front yard in the city. I’ve seen quite a few falling stars but never one so low with such a long tail. It was closer than any shooting star I have ever seen.
I laughed out loud a little because I had just finished my first viewing of the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still. Maybe it was an omen of things to come or just a reminder that I need to reduce my carbon footprint. Perhaps it was just a star to make an extra birthday wish on for my daughter turning 12 on this summer solstice day.
June 21, before 11 pm
Later that same day we went camping in Brownwood, about 2 1/2 hours west of Fort Worth. We were on a farm far away from city lights. My kids and I saw six falling stars in the east between 10 and 11 pm. I thought I saw more but I wasn’t quite sure.
I saw a memory making meteor show on June 21, 2009
on Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Hi Mark.
i would like to know if it is still worth driving out of town to go see June meteors. I missed the date a little.
I live in Cape Town.
on Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Nico,
No, I don’t think it would be worth it to go out of town to see June meteors. Check with me next month and the month after for some really great meteor news at that time it will be worth the effort to go out looking.
- Meteor Mark
on Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Hi mark
, I was wondering if it would be worth it to try and see the meteors tonight?
I live in southern california
on Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Richard,
You can always give it a shot, but there probably won’t be much happening.
I will be putting the July schedule up in a week or so, you can bookmark the site and check back with me. If you do go out tonight and see some, let me know.
- Meteor Mark
on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 am
Hi Mark,
I am going to visit my girlfriend in Pasadena, CA on the week of July 22-29th and I heard that there is expected to be a fairly impressive meteor shower at some point during that week. I was wondering if you could tell me what date looks best to see the meteor shower from SoCal and also what time we should plan on looking towards the heavens. And finally, will we be able to get a good view of the meteors without telescopes?
Many thanks,
Akshay
on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 1:05 am
Akshay,
I will be putting the July schedule up very soon. The shower you may be referring to is the South, δ-Aquarids that will peak in the morning of Tuesday July 28th. It may produce moderate results of up to twenty meteors per hour. There will be more meteors in the sky than usually, but I doubt it will be impressive.
Go to the upper right hand corner of this site and check out: “Meteor Shower Viewing” there is a lot of information there. Telescopes will hinder you ability to see meteors.
Please check back with me next week and I will have all the information ready for you to read, okay?
- Meteor Mark
on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 1:15 am
Thanks for the response Mike!
I was hoping for a more spectacular meteor shower, neither one of us has ever seen one. Is that the best shower for that week?
I’ll check back for the full July schedule
Thanks again
on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 1:26 am
Akshay,
That is the best of July, but in August there is the Perseids meteor shower which will be much stronger!
Check back next week, I will help you with the best time and direction to look for the July meteor shower and I will also be starting an August thread too.
- Meteor Mark
on Jul 7th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Hey Mike,
Thanks for your July schedule. I was just wondering which one night you would recommend seeing the showers on; which night would we best see the highest intensity showers? And also, what time would be best for that particular shower viewing from LA?
Thanks
on Jul 7th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Akshay,
In the upper right hand corner there is a section called “Meteor Shower Viewing” which has a lot of information that applies to everyone.
A first quarter moon, a radiant that is visible low on the horizon, and a weak meteoroid stream makes the South. δ-Aquariids Meteor Shower one of the year’s least breathtaking events. I wish I could tell you that it will be spectacular, but based on the trends from prior years it has shown the propensity to be fairly weak.
Meteor showers remain one of the most unpredictable events for scientists, but one can usually see the most meteors in a shower between midnight and dawn. For the South. δ-Aquariids this would be the morning of July 28.
The Perseids of August are the shower you should be most concerned with. In the meantime, keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark not Mike.
on Jul 11th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
My bad! Sorry Mark!
on Jul 11th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Akshay,
Let me know if you see any meteors. The July Showers won’t be that spectacular, but they’re worth a look. Remember after midnight in the morning of July 28th.