William Atkins
Wednesday, 05 August 2009 19:00
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 2
According to NASA, the number of meteors seen shooting across the sky as part of the 2009 Perseid meteor shower is expected to be double the normal amount for one hour on August 11-12, 2009.
The Meteoroid Environment Office (
MEO) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that a
“filament of comet dust has drifted across Earth’s path.” [SpaceWeather.com: “
Possible Perseid Meteor Outburst”]
In fact, Dr. Bill Cooke, NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, states,
"A filament of comet dust has drifted across Earth's path and when Earth passes through it, sometime between 0800 and 0900 UT (1 - 2 am PDT [Pacific Daylight Time, west coast of U.S.A.]
) on August 12th, the Perseid meteor rate could surge to twice its normal value.”
The MEO is the NASA organization responsible for meteoroid environments pertaining to spacecraft engineering and operations.
Please go to
http://spaceweather.com, for additional details on the outburst.
Cooke states that based on their research, the cause of the
“filament of comet dust” came in the year 1610 when parent comet of the Perseids, Comet Swift-Tuttle (109/P Swift-Tuttle), ejected the filament.
However, this is the first time Earth has come in contact with the filament of comet debris.
Cooke also states that another factor adds to the increased number of meteors to be seen.
He states,
"In addition, the main Perseid debris stream, which we run into every year, may be denser than normal due to a gravitational enhancement by Saturn. The total combination of these effects could result in as many as 200 meteors per hour (ZHR)."
For additional information on the 2009 Perseid meteor shower, please read the iTWire article “
Here they come: Perseid meteor shower.”
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