The annual Geminid Meteor Shower peaks this weekend, and we’ve got some tips for stargazers hoping to catch it. The Geminids are unique among meteor showers because they are associated not with a comet but with an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon. Comet orbits are so oblong that that they cross Earth’s orbit almost at right angles. […]
On Feb. 15, 2013, with no warning, an asteroid 20 meters in diameter and weighing more than the Eiffel Tower plunged into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk at speeds in excess of 19 kilometers per second. At such a high speed, the 14,000-ton object exploded at altitude, creating a flash 30 […]
This month, Mars is in the southwest at dusk this month. Mars continues to fade a little each night as Earth continues to leave it farther behind. Still, Mars rivals the brightest stars we see at night. Saturn is also in the south southwest at dusk. Mars passes 3.4 degrees south of Saturn on August 25. Venus remains […]
Longtime observers of meteors are familiar with the annual Perseids in August and the Geminids in December. These showers reliably produce hundreds of “shooting stars” per hour every year. Beginning in 2014, however, we might add another annual treat — the May Camelopardalids, peaking on May 24! What are meteors?Meteors are streaks of light in the […]
