An astronomer uses a laser pointer to show the radiant of the Orionid meteor shower at an observatory near the village of Avren east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
(PETAR PETROV / AP)Photos (1 of 1)
What’s the buzz on the Orionid meteor shower last night?
Peak viewing time for the Orionid meteor shower occurred late last night and early this morning.
By Jimmy Orr | 10.21.09
So how was the Orionid meteor shower last night?
Just like we called A-Rod’s home run last night as he was walking up to the plate, NASA nailed their prediction of 60 meteors per hour (well, they came really close).
“Observers are reporting that the rate got as high as 55 per hour last night/before dawn this morning - pretty close to the 60 predicted,” NASA’s Bill Cooke told the Horizons blog.
“The meteor shower was pretty much as expected,” he added. “Quite a few bright meteors, but not many fireballs or bolides.”
What the heck’s a bolide?
We headed over to Wikipedia to check. Their definition reads: Astronomers tend to use the term to mean an exceptionally bright fireball, particularly one that explodes (sometimes called a detonating fireball).
Count us in for some detonating fireball action.
I just saw Halley’s comet, she waved…
As we told you yesterday, late last night and early this morning were the peak viewing times to witness the effect of the Earth plowing into residual debris left over from Halley’s Comet.
That Halley’s comet? Yep. Monitor colleague Pete Spotts explained, “The Orionids are one of two meteor showers each year generated by debris from Halley’s Comet. Halley’s last graced us with it presence in 1986, when space agencies around the world marshaled a small squadron of spacecraft to study the comet.
“Halley is a short-period comet that swings by the sun, then heads out just beyond Neptune before it hangs a U-ie and starts the trip inward all over again.”
What’d you think?
We know what NASA says. But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So we did some snooping around the Internet.
Consensus? Judging from the online comments, it’s a mixed bag. Some loved it. Some considered it a waste of time. Weather played a major role. If it was cloudy, you were disappointed.
The Orionid Meteor Project
Our favorite conversation came from YouTube [video below] where a group of three friends from somewhere got up early and faithfully set up a video camera to capture the cosmic slideshow.
You probably know the rest of the story. The video camera captured nothing. The camera was pointed up at the sky and wasn’t powerful enough to pick anything up.
But the microphone picked up their conversation. Sure, call us voyeurs, but they uploaded it and we listened in. And it’s not like they released any top-secret information.
Drama unfolds
“Frank watches all these UFO hunter shows,” one woman said to her friend at the beginning of the video. “So he can’t help but watch.”
“I think I saw one!” exclaimed the woman.
“Dammit,” said the other, who must not been looking in the right spot. “I believe you,” she said, but in a not very convincing fashion. We don’t buy it. We think she was just being diplomatic.
Doom
Then comes a haunting revelation.
“Meteor-watching is like hanging out with dead people,” the woman warned. “I am scared to death that a meteor is going to crash into us … and it’s going to take up the whole sky, and we’ll know that we’re going to die. And we can’t do anything about it. It’s just going to happen.”
“This is my greatest fear,” she said.
Then. Nothing. Dead air. Dead space. Then….
“Oh!” the other woman shrieks. “What is that? Is that a plane?”
Did we just happen to stumble on to a real live “Blair Witch Project?” Does doom await the trio?
Ehhh…. Nope. Whatever it was — passed. If you were hoping for a reappearance of that Halo cloud that looked like a UFO, it didn’t happen. Instead, they continued casually talking about the possibility of meteors ending the world.
In the Twitterverse, things were more compact. You were forced to speak briefly. Some were pleased:
jay543: Caught some of the Orionid meteor shower early this morning. Beautiful!
Some were not pleased:
martyhmcgee: was disappointed by the Orionid meteor shower early this AM. Witnessed a few nice trails but none of the 60-sec exposures turned out.
Tough crowd in Atlanta:
mmcleod741: Orionid meteor shower in ATL = lame. Halley’s comet - that all you got? Just keep your retrograde butt out near Pluto. Just stay there.
This Tweeter summoned the ghost of Jed Clampett.
orion2012: No Orionid for me. Dad-gum clouds.
Now we know what happened to the kid who hates everything…
SandyMariexo: just got done watching the Orionid showers, it was super fun with my mikey!!!!
Should someone call the authorities?
TheGreenAlien: “Orionid meteors” sounds like a fun night in Michigan. Too bad I’m stuck in a hole in Mexico.
And finally, from the Department of Nice…
leahabney: Just watched the Orionid meteor shower with my daughter. We saw more “shooting stars” than I ever imagined. Rule 32 Enjoy the Little Things.
Encore performances
Don’t feel badly if you missed the action last night. NASA’s Cooke tells us that tonight should be pretty good too.
“Tonight/before dawn tomorrow morning will be almost as good as last night,” he said. “Activity will taper off quickly after that.”
See also:
Wow! 32 new planets discovered. These exoplanets dwarf the Earth.
Is Joe the Plumber the new leader of the GOP?
A bizarre new solar system, and a new tool for finding it
———–
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<< Meteor shower tonight! Orionid meteor shower begins at 1 am | MainComments
2. lesismor | 10.21.09
Ok…so the name should say it all right?? Less than more was zero. I live in rural Utah where there is little light pollution. From 1 a.m. to @ 2:30 a.m. off and on and again @ 4-5 a.m. I gazed the night sky. Nothing. {0 yawn
3. Jenny | 10.21.09
Stayed up until 4 am PST and saw maybe 2 shooting stars…very dissappointed since I am staying up in the mountains for the week and the sky was clear and gorgeous-very little light pollution- best part of the night was looking at the constelations! Wonder why I saw so few?
4. stardumbfounded | 10.21.09
Big dissappointment for me. I saw maybe ten and i gave it about 3 hours of my time off and on, waiting til six for the peak time and saw one. The ones I saw though were cool…
5. Shelli | 10.21.09
From 12:45am to 1:30am CDT near Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, we counted seven most moving from southeast to northwest.
6. Debbie | 10.21.09
I was up and outside from 4:30am to about 6. Saw maybe 10. (I was in the city of Piqua, Just north of Dayton)One was awesome. I had to follow it 180 degrees to watch it go over our house and disappear. I will be watching the next few days.
7. Evelyn | 10.21.09
So, there I was…in my pj’s, jacket, had my coffee. It was 5:50 am. Staring into the dark sky, eyes focused on Orion. Well, my neighbors thought I was nuts as they left for work. I did see 2, and that was at the supposed peak time. I was awake anyways. But, it was cool to see. (neck hurts a bit, lol)
8. Hank | 10.21.09
Danville, Illinois got the family up at 4:30 this morning went to a local park was a little cloudy, didn’t see anything very disappointed. My sons science teacher says look for them at 9:30cst tonight.
9. daniel | 10.21.09
My friends and I went to Topanga Mtns. and I was able to see about 10 from 3-4 am. Then as we decided to head back we heard a pack of coyotes howling and moving around the bushes near us. We all ran to the cars and drove out as fast as we could. It was an epic night nonetheless!
10. Rich | 10.21.09
That video up there was as bad as actually sitting out last night and watching it. A whole lot of nothing.
11. Dave | 10.21.09
Went to Amboy, CA. about 1:30 a.m. Saw about 20 before 3:00 a.m. w/one minor bolide about 2:25 a.m. Better than average, but really didn’t justify a 2 hour drive to see. Still, an enjoyable experience.
12. smc | 10.21.09
I think it was a real dud. I went out for a half hour around 6am eastern, when it was supposed to be “peak”. All I think I managed to do was get a kink in my neck. There were a couple of moments where I thought I might have seen something, but it could’ve just as easily been me turning my head too quickly. Certainly not what I’d call a “shower”.
I’ve been out in the middle of nowhere Maine, zero lights for miles, and seen more in an *average* night than I saw this morning.
13. Red Wolf | 10.21.09
Didn’t know there was going to be a meteor shower until I was standing in a parking lot around midnight talking with my business partner and he saw a big, bright one. As we spoke several more went by. Got online today and found out about the Orionids. So, that’s what all the activity was about in the sky last night. I didn’t stay out much longer but in the short time we were there we saw several and some were pretty spectacular, it seems. (We’re in a rural area of North Carolina)
14. Gordon | 10.21.09
Did some backyard Orionid viewing in Santa Clarita, CA at 1am this morning. Saw 4 in 30 minutes, only one really good one so I went back to bed. It wasn’t a disappointment, I was just too cold and tired to wait for more.
15. Luther Browning | 10.24.09
Hi All, Once a long time ago I went with friends to their rural land near Cotulla, TX. I think it was the Perseus shower. It started slow, and built, now you could look any direction and see beautiful streaks and a few fire balls. It continued to build and became more beautiful. At times it seemed to light the land scape. But there on a clear moonless night you can see to get around by Sirius, and the other stars. By 3:00AM I was sleepy, drunk, and went to bed. The window was open and I watched until the fall stopped just before dawn. Once in a life time! For the scientists, this is material from outer space coming to us. Tremendous opportunity.
Bill
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1. cathy | 10.21.09
i stayed up till bout 4 this morning watching. i only saw about 12-13. i was hoping to see more, but i couldn’t do it anymore, so i went to bed. what i did see was great.