Rare Meteor Event to Inform on Dangerous Comets

David Shiga writes "September 1, 2007 may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a rare meteor shower called the alpha Aurigids, New Scientist reports. Unlike better-known displays like the Perseids that occur every year on the same date, the alpha Aurigids have only been spotted three times before, in 1935, 1986, and 1994. NASA's Peter Jenniskens predicts they will return again this year, only to disappear again for the next 50 years. Meteor showers are caused by debris shed from comets, and the rarity of the alpha Aurigids is due to the exceptionally infrequent passes of its parent comet through the inner solar system, just once every 2000 years. Studying the alpha Aurigids could help astronomers turn these rare showers into an advance warning system for long period comets with potentially dangerous orbits, which would be hard to spot ahead of a collision with Earth."

Comments

Re:We'll if you are 72 or so

[Anonymous Coward]

Then, when you are 71, viola!

Makes sense to me. As you get older you often acquire a taste for classical music.

Rare showers? how many?

[starglider29a]

Ok, but... how many rare showers are there? Do we have a dozen showers that we don't know which comet caused that may be sneaking up on us (again?)

Be honest here... how much of the sky is being watched at any one time?

I'd rather see a better effort to tracking undiscovered comets and asteroids. Or else a zillion years from now, alien archaeologists on Mars will find an AOL CD blown as ejecta from the crater that wiped out a technologically advanced race on the 3rd planet.

Re:Rare showers? how many?

[Chosen Reject]

Surely, the moon is no moon

Of course not, it's a space station.

Re:Rare showers? how many?

[Carbon016]

I felt a great disturbance in the International Astronomical Union, as if millions of definitions of planet suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

Re:Rare showers? how many?

[Plutonite]

Or else a zillion years from now, alien archaeologists on Mars will find an AOL CD blown as ejecta from the crater that wiped out a technologically advanced race on the 3rd planet. I can't believe you used "AOL CD" and "technologically advanced race" in the same sentence.

Re:Rare showers? how many?

[starglider29a]

They were found embedded in rock which was fossilized landfill. Next to the plastic bottles of Jolt.

Re:Day of the Triffids?

[Anonymous Coward]

at least that's how it went in _Day of the Triffids_ by Brian Aldiss Brian Aldiss stole the plot of John Wyndham's novel, and he didn't even change the name? What a git!

Re:We'll if you are 72 or so

[samwh]

That certianly explains how the string instrument got its name.

Boycot meteor showers!

[NotQuiteReal]

I think thousands of tiny rock fragments hitting the atmosphere will increase global warming!

Watching them only encourages them!

Shame on you for promoting the whole subject of potentially Earth-wreaking comets and their "oh-shiny" debris.

Avert your eyes!

Re:We'll if you are 72 or so- Hey, try 66!

[aqk]

Fuck YOU! you punk!

I am 66, and I have had 28 Lifetime events!

Uhh, lesseee... OK. So I forgot about 23 of them, but nevertheless- Respect your elders, you li'l pupsquaick!

Wait! I think I remember event #21...

No... ..uhh...

Ah, well it's just/. No one will notice. Fuk, just a bunchakids anyhoo!
Zzzzz..