OUR ‘STARWATCH’ COLUMN in the print edition of Friday’s Peninsula Daily News discussed the Draconid meteor shower.
It is expected to peak just after sunset tonight.
Look for these slow-moving meteors coming out of the constellation Draco the Dragon in the north-northwest sky.
And there may be some aurora activity Monday.
Here’s an advisory from http://spaceweather.com:
“DRACONID METEOR WATCH: Earth is about to pass through a stream of debris from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, source of the annual Draconid meteor shower.
“Last year, Europeans witnessed a faint but furious outburst of 600 meteors per hour when the shower peaked.
“No such display is expected this year, but the Draconids are notoriously unpredictable.
“Northern-hemisphere sky watchers should be alert for slow-moving meteors emerging from the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon (not far from the North Star) on Sunday night, Oct 7th, through Monday morning Oct. 8th.
“Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.
“INCOMING CME: A coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading for Earth.
“The incoming cloud is expected to deliver a glancing blow to our planet’s magnetosphere on October 8th, possibly sparking auroras at high latitudes. Would you like a phone call when the CME arrives?
“Geomagnetic storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).”
