Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The first meteor shower of 2013 peaks early Thursday.
Don't blink, you might miss the first meteor shower of the year. The high-powered Quadrantids meteor shower should peak just before dawn Thursday with a maximum number of meteors per hour of about 80. The meteor shower is expected to "last only a few hours," according to NASA.com. The meteors are believed to be a piece comet that broke apart centuries ago. The fragments will enter the Earth's atmosphere at 90,000 mph, burning up 50 miles above Earth's surface, according to NASA. But Mother Nature is working against would-be Quadrantids viewers in the Chicago area. Cloudy skies are expected along with a 30 percent chance of snow, according to the National Weather Service. If clouds don't obscure the meteor shower, the glowing moon may …
Friday, November 16, 2012
The weather might be a bit nippy for the Leonid Meteor Shower 2012, but skies should be mostly clear for a great show over Burr Ridge. Here are some photos and video, too.
Skies are looking like they'll cooperate as the Leonid meteor shower gets under way. As you hang holiday lights and light the candles, cast your gaze upon the universe's natural fireworks, as well. The Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak Saturday, Nov. 17 in the pre-dawn hours. Space.com has a number of tips for watching the Leonids. The site also has some spectacular Leonids photos. And here's a Youtube video of the Leonid meteor shower. The show follows some nice shows by the Taurids Meteor Shower earlier this month, and the spectacular Perseids Meteor Shower, which wowed gazers in August. The weather forecast for Burr Ridge is calling for mostly clear skies Friday night. Story originally reported by Ames Patch. Astronomers …
Friday, August 10, 2012
With mostly clear skies forecasted over Burr Ridge, we should be able to get a good view of the Perseids meteor shower, which is set to peak this weekend.
The forecast for Saturday night and Sunday morning is for mostly clear skies with overnight low temperatures around 60 degrees. The best place to see the Perseids meteor shower in might be the middle of Harvester Park in Burr Ridge, Prospect Park in Clarendon Hills, or Robbins Park in Hinsdale. (Do you know of a great location? Share it in the comments section below!) The Perseids are a meteor shower visible when the Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. The meteor shower has been visible for about 2,000 years. The Swift-Tuttle comet orbits once every 133 years, according to NASA. “The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere,” according to a 2011 …
Erik Bloecks
8:25 am on Saturday, August 11, 2012
I happened to catch the shower back in 1987. My family was anchored off South Manitou Island, Michigan. It was very cool. There we very few (dim) artifcial boat lights to get in the way more ›