“Visible from Asheville area: Orionid meteor shower coming up - Asheville Citizen-Times” |
| Visible from Asheville area: Orionid meteor shower coming up - Asheville Citizen-Times Posted: 29 Sep 2010 01:36 PM PDT ASHEVILLE — Astronomers at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) in Rosman remind the public of the annual Orionid Meteor Shower in October. The Orionids are predicted to reach a peak of about twenty meteors per hour at noon Oct. 21. This shower generally lasts for about two days; so one should expect to see Orionids each morning from Oct. 20-22. Unfortunately, full moon is on Oct. 22 so it may be difficult to spot the fainter meteors in a bright moonlit sky. But, give it a try and look high in the east to find the meteors appearing to radiate out the area at the tip of the club of the constellation of Orion the hunter, near the feet of Gemini the twins. Binoculars or telescopes are not needed to observe meteors. What are The Orionids?Meteors result from particles of dust causing the atmosphere to glow as the particles enter the upper atmosphere of the Earth. The Orionid (pronounced Or-nid) meteors, or "Orionids," are associated with Comet Halley. This comet, undoubtedly the most famous comet of them all, has been observed at least since 240 BC. But it wasn't until 1705 that Edmund Halley realized that a number of bright comets that had appeared every 76 years throughout history were actually a single comet returning periodically as it orbits the Sun. As Halley's Comet revolves around the Sun, it gives off gases and dust particles due to the heat of the Sun. While the gases eventually are dispersed throughout space, the dust particles remain as a trail of debris in the path of the comet. Since the Earth encounters this trail of debris at the same point in space each time it makes its annual revolution around the Sun, we observe the Orionids on the same date each year, around October 21. As with all meteor showers, the Orionids are best observed between midnight and dawn from a clear, dark location with a good horizon. In 2010 About PARIPARI is a nonprofit foundation established in 1998. Located in the Pisgah Forest southwest of Asheville, NC, PARI offers educational programs at all levels, from K-12 through post-graduate research. The institute is affiliated with the 16-campus University of North Carolina system through PARSEC, a UNC Center hosted at PARI, and is a member of the NC Grassroots Museum Collaborative. For more information about PARI and its programs, visit www.pari.edu. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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