Not only is another meteor
shower coming this way, but yet another gargantuan satellite is making its way
back to Earth this weekend.
The Orionids meteor shower
began about three or four days ago, and will continue to build until its climax
on the morning of October 22nd, just before sunrise. Called the
“Orionids” because the meteors seem to be falling out of the constellation
Orion the hunter, the bright streaks and fireballs are actually created by
detritus from Halley’s comet, burning up in our atmosphere.
Like a trail of fairy dust
behind the Pigpen of fairies, the comet leaves a long, filthy (but sparkly—it
is mostly ice) trail behind it. When Earth passes through the trail of dirt,
dust, and ice, the resulting friction created by the pieces scrubbing against
our atmosphere causes them to burn up.
Do not expect the meteor
shower to blow you away, though. The Orionids is only expected to produce about
20-25 meteors per hour. In the past, the Orionids have also been very dim, so
do not expect to see any if you are in an urban area with lights on at night.
The best place to observe a meteor shower (or anything in astronomy, really),
is to find a safe, dark, wide-open field in a rural area. The less light from
nearby cities and towns you see on the horizon, the better. The Orionids are
perfect for a nice calm, quiet evening of sky watching.
You may also want to keep
an eye out for ROSAT, the 2.7-ton German X-ray satellite. Remember UARS, which
fell to its death in the Pacific Ocean late last month? Well, it seems another
one of the mechanical behemoths has bit the dust and is in the process of winding
its way down to Earth.
Unlike UARS, which mostly
broke up or burned up in our atmosphere, ROSAT is expected to have over 1 ton
of its pieces survive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. While the chances for
getting hit by it are higher than they were for UARS, they are still only about
1 in 2000. It may look great if you happen to catch a glimpse of it through a
nice pair of binoculars, but the odds are far against it doing any real damage.
While it is impossible at
this point to predict exactly when or where ROSAT will make its final resting
place, scientists do guesstimate this it should make landfall over the weekend,
either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. The best predictions they can
manage are about 5 or 6 hours before it hits the ground.
Credit: SPACE.com.