Thursday, May 22, 2014

Exciting! New Meteor Shower Camelopardalids

Go to bed early Friday night and set your alarm for the wee hours, as we have a brand new meteor shower coming our way.  When we pass through the old dust trails left by Comet 209P/LINEAR, the radiant will appear to be in the constellation Camelopardalis, hence the name of the shower Camelopardalids.  I'll be honest, I wasn't familiar with Camelopardalis until now.  It lies in the northern sky between Ursa Minor, Ursa Major and Cassiopeia. Thus, this is prime viewing for us northerners.  This shower will peak around 3:00 AM 5/24/2014, and from what I'm reading is going to be short lived. According to this Wikipedia article, there may be 100 to 400 MPH!  I hope you have clear skies!