26-06-2025
Connecticut astronomical experts weigh in on upcoming meteor shower
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) —Fireballs have been reported across New England in recent days, but they're not the only thing lighting up the night sky.
Stargazers are growing excited for a larger astronomical event, known as the June Bootid Meteor Shower happening on Saturday.
WATCH: Fireballs seen over Connecticut, Northeast
'This is one where you'll going to look up and you're going to sort of look around and see it's all throughout the sky,' said Ericka Eng, executive director of the Sacred Heart University Science Center & Planetarium.
Eng said the June Bootid Shower starts as a comet about three miles in diameter, consisting of ice and dust.
'As it orbits around the sun, it starts to shed material in to space and it leaves a field of debris,' said Elliot Sevorn, director of the Scared Heart University Science Center & Planetarium.
The falling debris appears as a meteor shower.
News 8 viewers have sent in videos of their recent sightings.
'They can be green , they can be white, they can be orange,' Sevorn said. 'It depends on the composition and the speed and the temperature it reaches in the atmosphere.'
Experts said showers can be active or fade quickly into small particles.
'In recent years there have been only one or two per-hour, but in 1998 there were over 100 per hour,' Sevorn said.
The best time to see the June Bootid Meteor Shower is Saturday from midnight to sunrise.
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