Tinobuntic does it again:
Some are better than others.
Oh. Here’s what he did the first time.
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About Bad Astronomy
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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Death from the Skies!
Order a copy of Death from the Skies! from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Borders.
"If things worked the way I wanted them to, any reporter about to do another 'sensational' story on deadly meteors would consult this volume, and bang! common sense would find its way into the news. How strange would that world be?"
-- Adam Savage, Mythbusters"Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
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Social/Networking/Cool Stuff
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DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space - DISCOVER Blogs: The Loom
December 4th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
can u pleeeasseee help me?….i have to know: when is the BEST time to see the geminids shower this month??
December 4th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
From: http://skytour.homestead.com/met2006.html
GEMINIDS (maximum December 14, ~11h UT [3am PST; 6am EST]) (radiant drift map from IMO)
Moon: Waning Crescent (moderate interference)
Best viewing windows: The entire night of December 13/14 (Wednesday evening through Thursday morning). Begin viewing around 9pm on Tuesday evening.
Recommended for: Anybody with clear skies on maximum night!
The Geminids are a beautiful, prolific and reliable shower. While December nights can be bone-chilling, for many areas sky transparency is better than it is during the August Perseids. The Geminids are also accessible for many Southern Hemisphere locations, unlike the Perseids. This year, there is slight interference from a waning crescent Moon (about 1/3 lit). However, the Moon doesn’t rise until about 1am, allowing a lot of dark sky time. And even after it rises, the Moon shouldn’t discourage continued observing. The radiant is highest in the sky at around 2am, but from mid-northern latitudes it is at a decent elevation from around 9pm until the beginning of morning twilight.
The Geminids can produce observed rates of up to 100/hour at maximum. Even if those numbers are a bit optimistic for this year, this will be a shower that just about anyone can enjoy if the weather cooperates. Decent numbers of sporadic meteors (~10-15/hour from dark sites) will add to the display. The shower often shows a plateau-like maximum, with near-maximum rates being sustained for many hours before dropping off rather sharply.
Geminids are medium-speed meteors. Most of them don’t leave glowing trains, but the brighter ones are often colored (yellow, green and blue are most common). The proportion of bright meteors and fireballs is higher during and after maximum than on pre-maximum nights. The shower is active from December 7-17; observations before the peak night will be impeded by a bright Moon this year, although December 12/13 is worth a shot. December 14/15 may be worth watching as well, although as stated above activity tends to fall off sharply after the peak.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
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