From the folks at Space.com:
A new meteor shower sparked some celestial fireworks late Friday and early Saturday (May 23-24), amazing stargazers across North America even though it did not reach the spectacular “meteor storm” levels that some had hoped for.
The first-ever Camelopardalid meteor shower peaked in the wee hours of Saturday, offering stargazers a rare sight — the debut meteor display from the dusty Comet 209P/LINEAR.
Photos of the new meteor shower sent in to Space.com show amazing views of meteors over Toronto, Indiana and even through the northern lights of Canada.
Early forecasts from NASA, SETI and other meteor tracking groups said the shower had the potential to be truly dazzling, with a forecast of 200 meteors per hour.
But the scientists also stressed that, because of the unknown nature of the meteor shower, it could fizzle out.
Astronomer Tony Phillips of the skywatching website Spaceweather.com reported Saturday that the new shower peaked at between five and 10 meteors per hour.
READ MORE: http://www.space.com/26006-meteor-shower-photos-may-camelopardalids-comet.html
Our earlier item, posted Friday:
It’s something old creating something new.
Tonight (late Friday night) into Saturday morning, North America will likely see a brand new meteor shower called the Camelopardalids – with a compelling chance that these gentle shooting stars could become a torrential meteor storm and provide quite a light show.
These new meteors are dusty remnants of Comet209P/LINEAR, discovered in 2004.
“The general consensus is that this week’s Camelopardalids will be comparable to a very good Perseid meteor shower with an added possibility of a storm,” says Geoff Chester, astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory. “I’m planning to be out watching.”
READ MORE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/05/22/first-ever-meteor-shower-may-burst-into-meteor-storm-friday-night/
