Rare meteor storm possible tonight
I, for one, would like a guarantee (or at least a strong reassurance) that a chunk the size of Texas is not going to hit the Earth.
I love celestial phenomena, although it is typically lousy viewing weather for the important ones (Total Solar Eclipse 2017, I'mnot looking at you). But for some reason, this one has me frightened. Perhaps I shouldn't have watched all those apocalyptic Earth-ending movies last week. (Deep Impact, The Day After, Greenland, etc.).
Also, knowing a lot about the ways the Earth can end (mostly from Dr. Phil Plait's Death from the Skies book) has me aware of just how quick and surprising (and inevitable) it can be.
A couple things bother me -- usually we get reassurances that the object is going to miss by millions of miles. I'm not hearing that here. And especially, knowing what happened with Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter doesn't help. Each one of those impact blast spots was the size of Earth.
I'm not sure I like the phrasing of "The remnants of a broken comet could collide with the Earth" so similar to the Jupiter event. Not to mention, the movie and book "When Worlds Collide".
I guess I'm actually a bit frightened! Even thousands of smaller pieces may have an effect whether they burn up in atmosphere or not. I will say that I am on edge just waiting for that National Presidential "Take cover!" alert to sound off on my phone. (It doesn't help that there are currently severe storms in the area -- that sound is one of the most heart-stopping I've ever heard.)
The worst thing actually is -- it'll very likely be cloudy tonight so I won't be able to see much if at all. It would be cool if the shooting stars lit up the clouds from behind, though.
I understand that it will take place almost due East around 0030 Tuesday morning USA Eastern time, appearing to come from the constellation Hercules.
Quote:
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The remnants of a broken comet could collide with the Earth to create a brief but intense meteor shower, but astronomers say that it's not a guarantee. Also not a guarantee: that the weather will make conditions just right for viewing. |
I love celestial phenomena, although it is typically lousy viewing weather for the important ones (Total Solar Eclipse 2017, I'm
Also, knowing a lot about the ways the Earth can end (mostly from Dr. Phil Plait's Death from the Skies book) has me aware of just how quick and surprising (and inevitable) it can be.
A couple things bother me -- usually we get reassurances that the object is going to miss by millions of miles. I'm not hearing that here. And especially, knowing what happened with Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter doesn't help. Each one of those impact blast spots was the size of Earth.
Quote:
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Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 experienced one of the most spectacular ends that humans ever witnessed. Several months after its discovery, pieces of the comet smashed into the planet Jupiter. The collision produced scars that were visible from Earth. |
I guess I'm actually a bit frightened! Even thousands of smaller pieces may have an effect whether they burn up in atmosphere or not. I will say that I am on edge just waiting for that National Presidential "Take cover!" alert to sound off on my phone. (It doesn't help that there are currently severe storms in the area -- that sound is one of the most heart-stopping I've ever heard.)
The worst thing actually is -- it'll very likely be cloudy tonight so I won't be able to see much if at all. It would be cool if the shooting stars lit up the clouds from behind, though.
I understand that it will take place almost due East around 0030 Tuesday morning USA Eastern time, appearing to come from the constellation Hercules.
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2gQbCR9
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