“Week in Review: Meteor shower sparks calls - Dubuque Telegraph Herald” plus 1 more |
| Week in Review: Meteor shower sparks calls - Dubuque Telegraph Herald Posted: 18 Apr 2010 07:54 AM PDT Authorities in Iowa and Wisconsin were flooded with calls shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday when a meteor shower provided an awe-inspiring fireball streaking through the sky and a loud boom that shook numerous homes in the tri-state area. The first eyewitness report to the Telegraph Herald came in at about 10:15 p.m. from Durango, Iowa. Other calls came from Lancaster, Wis., and Bernard, Iowa, among other locations. Grant County, Wis., authorities reported receiving between 150 and 200 calls from concerned residents in the first 15 minutes after the light and sound show began. Dubuque authorities also were flooded with calls from residents from the northern and southern borders of the county. According to online reports posted by TH news partner KWWL-TV's meteorologist Mark Schnackenberg, the apparent meteor traveled from west to east starting at about 10:07 p.m. and was witnessed in at least six states. Reports came in from Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Michigan. TAXES ATTACKED The hundreds of people gathered at Washington Square on Thursday evening were not celebrating Tax Day. The tea party protesters assembled to talk about fiscal responsibility, free markets and why they derive no pleasure from mailing checks to the federal government. "It's only fair that everyone is taxed the same percentage," said Sharon Culpepper, of Dubuque. At the rally, popular alternatives to the current tax system included a national sales tax, flat tax or slashing the size of government to reduce the tax rate. Jeff Luecke, Dubuque Tea Party co-organizer, said he favors abolishing all income taxes and replacing them with a national sales tax, or mandating that everyone pay the same percentage of their income. Critics say that would hurt low-income filers, who rely on their refunds to pay bills. Luecke takes issue with that assertion, and he opposes tax refunds at the expense of other taxpayers. U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, said Wednesday that Congress has cut taxes for most Americans through programs like the first-time homebuyer credit, the Making Work Pay Tax Credit and the Recovery Act. SCHOOL ENDS JUNE 9 Dubuque students will have to attend school through Wednesday, June 9 -- four days later than originally scheduled. Superintendent Larie Godinez recommended during Monday's school board meeting to not add an additional half-hour to some school days in an effort to eliminate make-up days. Her recommendation came nearly one month after district officials canceled school for the eighth time this academic year. School was canceled five times last academic year. She spoke with principals and district administrators who lived through the record-setting snow in 2007-08 that forced the school board to extend school daily from March 20 to the end of the school year and eliminate three early dismissals. Although the daily extension changed the last day for students from June 10 to June 3, it came with numerous consequences, including the rescheduling of after-school programs, complications with child care and loss of pay for some district employees. Because of those consequences, Godinez decided against the school day extension. DISTRICT FISCALLY FIT The Dubuque Community School District is anticipated to end the 2010-11 fiscal year on a positive note -- at least financially. The roughly $2.7 million of unspent authorized budget balance is largely due to some of the most extreme budget cuts in recent district history. Ron Holm, director of Finance and Business Services, unveiled the expected positive balance during a presentation of the district's certified budget proposal at Monday's school board meeting. The district is also expected to end the 2009-10 fiscal year with roughly $2.7 million of unspent authorized budget balance instead of a negative number. BIDS TO FUEL MOVES? If you're in the market for a house or a garage, the city of Dubuque is offering an unusual opportunity. There is, however, some heavy lifting involved. The buyer is responsible for moving the structure. Up for bid are 51 houses, 20 garages and 10 sheds the city purchased to make way for the Bee Branch Creek. Construction of the stormwater channel, which will run from the 16th Street detention basin to 24th Street, just south of Comiskey Park, is scheduled to begin in mid-July. Phase I runs from the detention basin around the west side of the former packing plant site and ends just short of the railroad tracks. Phase II, which includes some of the houses in question, is scheduled to begin in late 2011. The entire project should be completed in 2013. The city has developed two ways to bid. Prospective buyers can bid an amount they are willing to pay to the city to take over ownership of the structure and move it, or bid an amount that they would accept as payment from the city in order to take over ownership and move it. Any structures that are not sold will be deconstructed at city expense. ROUTE MAPPED OUT No one ever questioned if they'd come. Instead, officials pondered how the estimated 20,000 bicyclists would descend upon Dubuque and Delaware counties. On Tuesday, the wait ended, as officials revealed route specifics for the 37th annual RAGBRAI. The 442-mile ride begins July 25 in Sioux City, and riders will finish the trek July 31 at the River's Edge Plaza in Dubuque. Along the way, they will spend the night in Manchester, pass through Dyersville, cruise along Old Highway 20 and coast down Madison Street until the river comes into view. The sixth day of the weeklong ride ends in Manchester, which has not hosted an overnight visit since 1999. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Lyrid meteor shower peaks April 22 - msnbc.com Posted: 16 Apr 2010 04:03 PM PDT Anyone who enjoys watching the sky for "shooting stars" will have an opportunity to observe an old and reliable meteor display over the next several days: the April Lyrids. The best time to watch will be for a night or two around the peak, April 22. These meteors are among the oldest known, with ancient records of them dating back nearly 27 centuries. The Lyrid meteor shower is also the first significant meteor shower to appear since the beginning of the year. While it won't produce a storm of meteors, it's a respectable show for those who are patient. "The annual Lyrid shower . . . has always been my favorite," says NASA meteor expert Peter Jenniskens. "After the low (meteor) rates in the cold months of February and March, this shower is the proverbial swallow of spring for observers in the northern hemisphere." And in addition to the Lyrids, there is also a small chance to get a glimpse of some dazzling fireball meteors from a completely different meteor swarm. Although probably much more erratic and far less reliable than the Lyrids, it's still worth looking for; one could call it a "wild card" for meteor observers. Faithful meteor shower This year, the peak is predicted to fall during the daylight hours (for America and Europe) on April 22. After the gibbous moon sets at about 2:30 a.m. local daylight time that morning, observers near latitude 40 degrees north will still have about 90 minutes of dark sky to watch for the Lyrids before dawn interferes. The southern states are more favored because the moon sets earlier and twilight begins later. A single observer may count anywhere from 10 to 20 meteors per hour. Norman McLeod, a veteran observer of the American Meteor Society, has described the Lyrids as rich in faint meteors, but with some occasional bright ones. British meteor expert Alastair McBeath, in the 2010 Astronomical Calendar notes that the Lyrids are capable of producing meteors that are "spectacularly bright, with approximately 20-25-percent leaving persistent trains." Where and when to look Lie back, look up, and scan as much of the sky as possible. The meteors could appear anywhere. Give your eyes at least 15 minutes to adjust to the darkness. You can distinguish a Lyrid from any other meteors seen around the same time by noting that its trail points back to near the dazzling blue-white star Vega. You'll see this star sitting just above the northeast horizon around 10 p.m. local daylight time; by around 1:30 a.m. it will have climbed to a point more than halfway up in the eastern sky. Actually the radiant or emanation point for these meteors is just to the southwest of Vega, on the border between Vega's little constellation of Lyra (hence the name "Lyrids") and the dim, sprawling constellation of Hercules. The Lyrid radiant is at its highest (right overhead for the southern states and not far off it for anyone at mid-northern latitudes) about the time that dawn begins to break. Historic accounts There are a number of historic records of meteor displays believed to be Lyrids, notably in 687 B.C. and 15 B.C. in China, and A.D. 1136 in Korea when "many stars flew from the northeast." On April 20, 1803, numerous townspeople in Richmond, Virginia, were roused from their beds by a fire alarm and were able to observe a very rich display between 1 and 3 o'clock. The meteors "seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers as to resemble a shower of skyrockets." The rate was estimated at 700 per hour! In 1922, an unexpected Lyrid hourly rate of 96 was recorded. In 1945, a Japanese observer counted 112 meteors (most of them Lyrids) in only 67 minutes, while in 1982 several observers based in Florida and Colorado saw 90 to 100 Lyrids per hour. So it seems that sometimes there can be unexpected surprises with the Lyrids, although calculations by some meteor scientists suggest that the next outburst of activity isn't due until perhaps the year 2040. Fireball wild card Such speculation dates back to the 1960's thanks to the similarity between the calculated orbits of a shadow-casting fireball that passed over northern New Jersey on April 23, 1962 and a bolide (exploding meteor) which dropped meteorites over England, Wales and northern Ireland on April 25, 1969. Meteor astronomer, the late Charles P. Olivier utilized 80 observations to compute an orbit for the 1962 fireball, while British workers used a computer at the University of Liverpool to analyze over 300 sightings of the 1969 bolide. The result showed that both objects have remarkably similar orbits. Their radiant appears to be very near to the constellation of Corvus, the Crow, a little four-sided figure of fairly bright stars, like a triangle whose top has been removed by a slanting cut. You can readily identify it this week by facing due south around 11 p.m. local daylight time. Using the observations of the 1962 and 1969 fireballs, I've determined that a "window of opportunity" for possibly making another fireball sighting would come between 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 23 through 2 p.m. EDT on April 25. So across North America, the nights of April 23 and April 24 offer the most promise. Prior to midnight, potential candidates would appear to streak out from the south-southeast part of the sky, while after midnight they would appear to come from the south-southwest. Back in the June 1970 Journal of the British Astronomical Asociation, Keith B. Hindley and Howard G. Miles suggested that: "The period April 23-26 should be covered in the future by amateur and professional groups in the hope of recording further associated fireballs and perhaps meteorite falls." Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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