What does the third week of October mean to us? Yes, as indicated by the title, the earth is passing through the debris stream left by the Halley Comet. As a result, earthlings get the chance to watch the spectacular Orionids. The rate is about 60 meteors per hour.
As usual, the best time to watch meteor shower is before the dawn. This year is especially good since the moon is almost new, no moon light will interfere the show. As you get under the night sky, you will notice that the winter constellations (for northern hemisphere) are up which makes the sky spectacular again. For example, Orion, Gemini and Taurus. *I love winter celestial objects the most, especiall the Great Orion Nebula.
Set your alarm and enjoy the shower.
Continue reading ‘Orionids 2009′
On 22nd April 2009, Earth will pass through a debris stream left by the Comet Thatcher. Thus, we are presented the Lyrid Meteor Shower. The peak of Lyrid Meteor Shower is predicted to be 10-20 meteors per hour. Howerver, the number could increase by five- to ten-fold as the Comet Thatcher’s tail has never been mapped in detail. Therefore, there lies a possibility that an outburst will happen. This has happened in 1982 when observers counted 90 lyrids per hour.
When to watch? As usual, the best time to watch is before the dawn or sunrise at around 4am to 5am. Good luck!
Photographed by Bruenjes @ 2007
Oh yeah~ It’s time for Geminids meteor shower. The show peaks on 13-14 Dec 2008. The rate of the meteor, ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) is supposed to be 100 meteors/hour but the biggest moon spoilt the show and reduce the rate to around 20/hour. However, from my experience, last Geminids performed very well with a large number of fireballs which were so bright that the moon and artificial light didn’t affect at all.
How to look? Good question asked! Just make use of your bared eyes will do. Meteor is too fast for telescope to catch. Someone please prove me wrong~ 
When to look? Basically, you can catch the most meteors just before dusk. This law still applies but you may unexpectedly catch more earlier that time. So, when the sky turns dark, it’s time to look.
Where to look? Excellent question, indeed! This is a tough question for me to answer as I found both ways work for me. One is to look away the radiant and another is to look to the radiant. Radiant is the point where all the meteors “come” from. It’s an artificial point as meteors don’t really come from there. For geminids, the radiant lies very near to Castor, a star belongs to the constellation Gemini. Gemini nears to the constellation Orion. Orion is well known of its belt composed of 3 stars at a line.
Too technically speaking? Okay, find a place without many obstacles that block your view and lay down on a mat or enjoy yourself on a lounge chair. Head up and dressed well!
Local advice: The radiant point is highest around 3 a.m. in Kluang, Johor, Malaysia. It won’t be much different nationwide.
From 3 May to 7 May, we’re gifted one of the year best meteor shower – Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Aquarids are the debris left by Halley’s Comet of which last closest approach was in 1986. For this year, the moon is new and the Aquarids stay at full strength over the 5 days. This time, Aquarids favor us and the southern region. Expect a spectacular meteor shower! 
Continue reading ‘Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower 2008′
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wish everybody has a wonderful 2008. At least, there are few great astronomical events waiting for us. At least, January is favoured with 3 fantastic events.
Continue reading ‘Happy New Year 2008 – Amazing Events Are Waiting For Us’
I saw 16 Geminids on the 15 Dec night. They’re so cheerful and mostly are fireballs. Geminid meteor shower is really well known for fireballs. Don’t miss it next year.
I was watching the meteor shower with 4 CHHS Astronomy Club members. It’s very nice to enjoy the show with friends. My sisters joined us very shortly after they heard us screaming. Haha.. it’s really a cool show. Meteor shower is definitely one of the best phenomena that everyone on the earth can enjoy without any expense.
I just find out that my record doesn’t have any scientific value so I decided not to expose my Geminids observation report on the 15 Dec night. Look at International Meteor Organisation Visual Report Page. It drove me away from reporting… You might say that I’m not suitable for science. However, I prefer a report that the public can make, not just amateur astronomer and even the professionals.
14 Dec 2007
Whoa! It was really fantastic this midnight. I started my observing since 1:40am UT+8 14 Dec. The cloud rolled in since 2.00am and was carried away by the wind soon. Another huge cloud rolled in just after several minutes but the strong wind blew it away again.
Continue reading ‘I Saw 24 Geminids! [Updated]‘
Geminid meteor shower is at best for most of the Asia countries on the upcoming 14-15 December. Attention, no equipment is needed for watching meteor shower.
When, where, how and why to look?
Continue reading ‘2007 Best Meteor Shower for Asians – Geminids’
The annual meteor shower Orionid is coming again. The meteors are the debris of the extremely famous Halley’s Comet. The peak rate this year is around 20-50 per hour. Observers last year spotted the same figure and I guess we will get roughly the same again.
Where to look?
Continue reading ‘Orionid Peaks on 21st Oct’
Aurigids above the clouds. A composite of 4 bright meteors imaged in less than 5 minutesCongratulations to Dr.Peter Jenniskens and Dr.Jeremy Vaubaullion for the correct meteor outburst prediction. He rode on a plane that day above the sky to watch the show. Aurigids were the debris of the ancient comet, Comet Kiess. I hope that none of you was affected by the cloudy curse. I was the unlucky.
The Auriga was at my north equatorial sky but it was always covered with clouds. It was exceptionaly thick that day. It’s quite funny that I just realise that Kluang is actually a basin after my ex-physic teacher told me today. The cloud easily forms here, thus our viable skies are only available for roughly 120 days per year. I am yet to confirm this very rough figure yet. I am going to start the counting from today. The best sky here is around Chinese New Year, roughly January to March.
Dr.Jenniskens and his crewshe above image shows the Aurigids before passing through the clouds which are always the obstruction to our line of sight. Dr.Jenniskens and his colleagues were 15,000 km above the sea-level in 2 privates jets imaging the meteors with spectrometers, cameras and telescopes to measure the velocity, penetration, and chemical composition of incoming meteoroids.
Perseid fireball taken by Jimmy Westlake on 8 Aug 2007
Click here to go to the Perseid Meteor Gallery.It’s the Perseids and Aurigids (this time, it’s amazing!) as well as Delta Aquarids which force me to take a break from my revision for this examination week to blog now.
Perseid meteor shower is going to peak on 12-13 August 2007. Some people have already reported that they saw some bright Perseid fireball down to magnitude -5. It’s as bright as a full moon! By the way, before that time, you can still spot some Delta Aquarids from Aquarius (the meteor shower is named after its radiant point).
Continue reading ‘3 Meteor Showers In A Row’
What does the third week of October mean to us? Yes, as indicated by the title, the earth is passing through the debris stream left by the Halley Comet. As a result, earthlings get the chance to watch the spectacular Orionids. The rate is about 60 meteors per hour.
