by APOD Robot » Fri Aug 09, 2024 4:06 am
A Perseid Below
Explanation: Denizens of planet Earth typically watch meteor showers
by looking up. But this
remarkable view, captured on August 13, 2011 by astronaut Ron Garan, caught a Perseid meteor by looking down. From Garan's perspective on board the
International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of about 380 kilometers, the Perseid meteors streak below, swept up dust from
comet Swift-Tuttle. The
vaporizing comet dust grains are traveling at about 60 kilometers per
second through the denser atmosphere around 100 kilometers above Earth's surface. In this case, the foreshortened meteor flash is near frame center, below the curving limb of the Earth and a layer of greenish airglow, just below bright star
Arcturus. Want to look up at a meteor shower?
You're in luck, as the 2024 Perseid meteor shower is active now and predicted to peak near August 12. With interfering bright moonlight absent, this year you'll likely see many Perseid meteors under clear, dark skies after midnight.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240809.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_240809.jpg[/img] [size=150]A Perseid Below[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] Denizens of planet Earth typically watch meteor showers [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190815.html]by looking up[/url]. But this [url=https://images.nasa.gov/details/iss028e024847]remarkable view[/url], captured on August 13, 2011 by astronaut Ron Garan, caught a Perseid meteor by looking down. From Garan's perspective on board the [url=https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/]International Space Station[/url] orbiting at an altitude of about 380 kilometers, the Perseid meteors streak below, swept up dust from [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240808.html]comet Swift-Tuttle[/url]. The [url=https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/perseids/]vaporizing comet dust[/url] grains are traveling at about 60 kilometers per [i]second[/i] through the denser atmosphere around 100 kilometers above Earth's surface. In this case, the foreshortened meteor flash is near frame center, below the curving limb of the Earth and a layer of greenish airglow, just below bright star [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090704.hml]Arcturus[/url]. Want to look up at a meteor shower? [url=https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower/]You're in luck[/url], as the 2024 Perseid meteor shower is active now and predicted to peak near August 12. With interfering bright moonlight absent, this year you'll likely see many Perseid meteors under clear, dark skies after midnight.
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