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Scientists Fly to 2008's Most Dazzling Meteor Shower
coondoggie writes "On Thursday, SETI Institute and NASA scientists will take their research instruments and their coffee for a 10 hour continuous flight to map what they say will be the earth's most brilliant meteor shower of 2008. Scientists believe the Quadrantid meteor shower could flash over 100 visible meteors per hour at its peak, depending on location. A Gulfstream V aircraft will take off from San Jose, Calif., and fly 14 scientists and their instruments for 10 continuous hours at 47,000ft., over the Arctic and back to San Jose. The primary goal of the lengthy airborne mission is to observe the Quadrantid meteor shower in ideal and virtually unchanging conditions far above light pollution and clouds to determine when the meteor shower peaks and how the flow of meteors are dispersed."
Meteors watch you!
Seriously, though, what's wrong with watching from an area on the ground that has low Light Pollution? Does it not cost enough?
Just -1, Troll talking to another.
Don't complain. Any sort of shower those SETI scientists can get is a good thing.
What can you learn about a meteor shower from 47,000ft that you can't learn from the ground?
You can learn if you have what it takes to fly at 47,000ft, at night, above the arctic, while flaming stones fall all around you.
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