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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."
Meteor showers are generally the result of the earth passing through a stream of small debris particles. Streams of notable size (large enough that you would reasonably call such an encounter a "shower") almost always are from fragments which break free from comets as they pass near the sun. Just as the comets are periodic, the positions of the debris trails are periodic- most meteor showers can now not only be anticipated in terms of time and optimal location, but in approximate meteor frequency as well.
"FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
Google CEO has some private jets, and wanted to land on the airstrip next to the Googleples. Unfortunately, Moffet field is a military airfield operated by NASA. NASA and Google however agreed to scratch each others backs: Googles private jets will be part of NASA's scientific research program, and the can land the jets right next to the Googleplex.
I'm guessing giving the NASA guys a few rides in a private jet, and serving a few bottles of champagne is a small price to pay to be able to park your fleet of jets outside you office, and at the same time avoid all normal hassles.
I hope the pictures of the meteores turn out well.
don't cut it off www.mgmbill.org
Actually telescopes, binoculars, etc, are a lousy way to watch a meteor shower. The viewing area is just too small compared to the area across which the meteors streak, and the chances of one actually crossing the viewing area is negligible. Whether you're a city dweller doomed to seeing only fireballs, or a rural farmer who gets to see every last dust particle burning in the upper atmosphere, the naked eye works better.
Allegedly real newspaper headline from 1998:
Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
The meteor acts like a old-fashioned flame test, revealing the identity of the elements present in the meteoroid by the spectrum of the emitted light. They're checking for the presence of organic matter, which has something to do with the search for life, if not specifically intelligent life.
"I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show