Latest news with #meteors
CBS News
6 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Strange lights were spotted over the Twin Cities on Tuesday — here's what it may have been
A video shows a strange light in the sky Tuesday night over Woodbury, Minnesota, causing some to wonder what it may have been. Rusty Nereng, who took the video, tells WCCO he captured the unique sight around 9:30 p.m., moving from south to north with what looked like halos of light on each side. There have been other reports across the eastern part of the U.S. of the same strange light, leading to speculation of meteors, weather phenomena or, of course, the good old UFO sighting. It turns out that strange sight in the sky wasn't from the weather — but it could help us track the weather in the future. It's possible that it was actually the Ariane 6 rocket. The European Space Agency says it launched the rocket from South America on Tuesday night. It was carrying a weather and climate satellite that will orbit the Earth, sending back weather information that will aid in weather forecasting and climate monitoring, among other helpful weather services. So the strange sight in the night's sky that brought about a lot of questions is hoping to bring better weather answers for forecasters in the future.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Science
- Irish Times
‘Well worth viewing': Perseid meteor shower to continue Wednesday night
One of the most eagerly awaited astronomical events of the year – which promised one or two meteors or 'shooting stars' a minute – is set to continue in Irish skies on Wednesday night. Tuesday night saw about 60 meteors an hour darting across the sky and stargazers can expect about half that amount on Wednesday night. 'The Perseids will be half as strong tonight as they were last night, so that's still 10 times more meteors tonight than a normal night, so well worth viewing,' said David Moore from 'The best time to view is dusk until dawn,' he said. READ MORE 'We had people sending us counts of how many they saw every 15 minutes from 10:30pm last night when it got dark enough to see them. I saw some after 4am when dawn was breaking.' Perseids meteor shower as seen from sky in Plumbridge, Co. Tyrone. Photograph: Astronomy Ireland magazine contributor Catherine Conway 'Dublin gets much the same view as the rest of the country, indeed, all of Europe,' Mr Moore said. 'This year the moon is in the sky so even those in the countryside will have moonlit skies so even suburban viewers will get the same view.' Met Éireann has forecast a humid night with clear spells on Wednesday, however a few showers are possible which could be heavy or thundery. Mr Moore advised stargazers to ensure they are comfortable while looking up. 'Standing with your neck craned back for hours is not comfortable. 'Look anywhere in the sky. If there are clouds look in the clear patches. If totally clear stand with your back to the moon so it does not dazzle you,' he said. 'The paths of the meteors will all point back to the constellation Perseus but you do not have to look at Perseus.' The Perseid meteors are caused by dust particles shed by the comet Swift-Tuttle. The comet, which takes 133 years to orbit the sun, was last seen in Irish skies in 1992. At this time of year, Earth moves through this debris cloud, making one of the most celebrated astronomical events and arguably the most predictable. Particles from the debris cloud subsequently burn up on entering Earth's atmosphere and create flashes of light. The shower is active for several weeks. 'It's such a special time of the year,' said astronomer Danielle Wilcox from Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork. A meteor streaks across the sky over West Virginia during the annual Perseid meteor shower in 2021. Photograph: Bill Ingalls/Nasa 'It's a really good meteor shower in particular because it gives us a lot of meteors per hour compared to other meteor showers,' she said. 'That's what's so exciting about it, especially for people who have never seen 'shooting stars', this is your chance to get out there and see that,' she said. 'Take some time to look up,' she said.
Fast Company
12-08-2025
- Science
- Fast Company
The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight: When to see August 2025's shooting stars cross the sky
The Perseid meteor shower, known for its plentiful meteors and bright 'fireballs' that blaze across the night sky, will peak tonight, August 12 to 13, 2025. The moon will be bright, but you'll still be able to see a stunning display in dark areas. Here's what to know about this skywatching event, and how you can catch the show. Why the Perseids are popular The Perseids always make for an impressive show. Skywatchers in dark areas can observe around 50 meteors per hour at the shower's peak. This includes both traditional meteors that leave vibrant streaks in their wakes, as well as the occasional bright fireball of color and light. This isn't necessarily the most active meteor shower (the Geminids and Quadrantids vie for that honor), but because the Perseids occur during warm summer nights in the Northern Hemisphere, they are very popular. The meteor shower is also visible from parts of the Southern Hemisphere, but the view is diminished. The moon will be bright Unfortunately, the moon will be in its waning gibbous phase, rising during the late evening, which will hamper views of the Perseid meteor shower. The moon's brightness means that to see any significant number of meteors, you should travel to the darkest sky possible. Even at a dark sky site, you will likely see fewer than the 50 meteors per hour estimated at the shower's peak. When is the best time to see the meteor shower? The radiant, or the point in the sky from which the shower appears to originate, is the Perseus constellation, which will be low in Northern Hemisphere skies in the evening. That means that the ideal time to see the shower is in the predawn hours, between 3 and 5 a.m. local time, when Perseus has risen higher in the night sky. Where does the Perseid meteor shower come from? While the Perseids are named after their radiant, they don't actually come from the Perseus constellation. Instead, they are the product of the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which has an orbital period of 133 years. When comets travel through our solar system around the sun, they leave a trail of dust and debris in their wake. When Earth travels through these trails, that is what produces meteor showers, which is why they are relatively reliable nighttime events every year. This year, Earth travels through 109P/Swift-Tuttle's trail from July 17 through August 24. The peak, though, is when Earth travels through the core of that trail, which produces the most brilliant and concentrated meteor showers of the entire event. With a keen eye, it is possible to continue to see the occasional Perseid meteor in the night sky through the end of August.
Yahoo
12-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
When and how to see Perseid meteor shower light up UK skies today
It's possible to look for the Perseids wherever you are, but certain places will up your chances of seeing meteors Stargazers will be able to spot shooting stars across the UK on Tuesday night as the annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak. The Perseids light up the sky every summer (they can number more than 100 an hour) and are said to be one of the most dramatic spectacles to witness in the night sky at this time of year. According to Royal Museums Greenwich, which includes the Royal Observatory, the annual meteor shower's period of activity runs from 17 July to 24 August this year, but hits its peak on the night of Tuesday 12 August. Around 150 meteors will cross the sky per hour but that amount will not be visible because the horizon blocks a full view of the sky, said Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomer Dr Ed Bloomer. However, an estimated 100 meteors could be seen per hour in certain locations that are particularly flat and dark. Visible to the naked eye, the chances of spotting the shower are dependent on the weather, with the glow of the moon unfortunately washing out the fainter meteors. The weather is largely clear to Tuesday but early in the week August's almost-full waning moon means conditions "are unfortunately not favourable" for seeing the peak, said Royal Museums Greenwich. What is the Perseid meteor shower? Meteor showers form when the Earth passes through dust and debris left by asteroids or comets, causing specks as small as a grain of dust or rice to flare up under the pressure of the planet's atmosphere, creating shooting stars, The Perseids are from a comet called Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years, and have been seen for almost 2,000 years. They are named after the constellation Perseus, from which they appear to originate. The average speed of a Perseid meteor is 36 miles per second. When is the best time to watch the Perseid meteor shower? According to Royal Museums Greenwich, the best time to see the Perseids is between midnight on Tuesday (12 August) and 5:30am on Wednesday (13 August), when the hourly rate could hit 150. People will be able to spot many bright fast meteors that have trains, it says. It advises: "The radiant of the Perseids is actually always above the horizon as seen from the UK, which means that observers in the UK should be able to see some meteors as soon as the Sun sets. Therefore, it is worth looking up in the early evening. "It is always ideal to try to spot meteors when the moon is below the horizon or when it is in its crescent phase, otherwise it acts as natural light pollution and prevents the fainter meteors from being visible." Dr Bloomer said the meteor shower is likely to be in the north-east as the sun is going down. 'However, it's not available to everybody, because the further south you go… Perseid is lower and lower on the horizon," he said. 'The primary interest is for Northern Hemisphere observers – Perseid is pretty low for us here in the UK, but it is above the horizon… in fact, it's above the horizon all day, but the problem is, of course, during the day, nothing's going to be visible.' Despite it being more visible in the north 'the dominant thing is going to be, can you get yourself in a dark location', he added. 'Getting into the middle of a field in the south east of England, in London, is going to be better than being in the middle of Aberdeen.' How can I watch the Perseid meteor shower? It's possible to look for the Perseids wherever you are, says Royal Museums Greenwich, but certain places will up your chances of seeing meteors. A good tip is to reduce the amount of light pollution in your field of view, it says, which could mean heading to the countryside, a park, or even just turning your back on street lamps. Dr Bloomer said 'we have lots of chances to see this' but 'you have to let your eyes adjust to the dark'. He recommended stargazers wait half an hour to let their eyes get used to it, adding: 'Take a camping chair or something – if you had one, you would just sit down, and you would just relax, and you would just wait. 'You want to get away from city lights, you want to get away from street lamps.'If you're looking out from your garden – it sounds obvious – but switch the kitchen light off, give yourself time to just put the phone away.' People struggling to see the meteors can turn and watch through their peripheral vision as it is 'a little bit better with low light conditions', he said. As it is summer, viewers will also have to wait until relatively late at night for it to be dark enough to see the celestial show. He added: 'For us, it's kind of one of the best (meteor showers), it's kind of reliable, it's long lived, it's quite dense… it's pretty active. The meteors will also seem to originate from the constellation of Perseus, so if you use a stargazing app, you can find the right location to look at.
Yahoo
12-08-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Hoping to catch the Perseid meteor shower in the GTA? What to know for your best chance
Catherine McWatters typically watches the Perseid meteor shower from the comfort of her Toronto backyard with friends. The annual phenomenon is something the former astronomy educator looks forward to. But this year, due to the bright moon, she's not banking on a great view. "Always when something interferes with something you want to observe, it's a sense of disappointment," she said. The Perseid meteor shower typically takes place once a year when the Earth plows through the debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, sending it into our atmosphere. This year, the shower peaks overnight on Aug. 12-13 and is expected to produce as many as 100 meteors per hour. The best conditions to see the shower are dark skies, clear of clouds and smoke. But this year, lower your expectations, say experts like Elaina Hyde, an astronomy professor and director of the Allan I Carswell Observatory at York University. A full moon, smoke and clouds One reason: We just had the sturgeon full moon. "The brighter the moon is, the harder it is to see things next to the moon," Hyde said. "If you're in a really, really dark sky [and] you've got this bright moon, the very faintest meteors will be harder to see." And for residents in areas north of the Greater Toronto Area where wildfires are burning, like the Kawartha Lakes region, local smoke might make it even harder to see the shower. "When those little tiny specks of dust come into the Earth's atmosphere and they make their little streak, it might be behind the smoke cloud and you're just not going to be able to see it," Hyde said. "It really is literally a smoke screen that comes up and depending on the thickness of the smoke, that will limit how many meteors you're going to be able to see." For those in Toronto and elsewhere in southern Ontario, it'll be the clouds that affect the view, according to Crawford Luke, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. "We've got a cold front that's coming through [Tuesday] evening, [Tuesday] night," he said. "So with that, there is a chance for some showers and thunderstorms." Luke says smoke won't interfere with the visibility for those in the GTA, but it could if stargazers are viewing in dark sky preserves, such as Algonquin Park, or in zones where fires might be burning nearby. Where and how to watch Most meteor showers get their name from the constellation from which the meteors seem to originate, called the radiant. In this case the radiant is the constellation Perseus. "If you're looking in the sky, if you're a stargazer, all you have to do is get your little constellation or star map out and find the constellation of Perseus," she said. "Then look in that direction and look for shooting stars ... and they'll streak out obviously across the sky." For those in the GTA eager to get the best views, Luke says head east. "Down towards Kingston and even Brockville … they might be the best place in terms of being away from smoke and hopefully clear later into the evening, before they get into the rain and clouds," he said. Hyde warns avid watchers wanting to get out of the city to check the Ontario Forest Fire Map before heading out to ensure you aren't travelling into restricted zones. She also encourages people to check the smoke and cloud conditions online before travelling out. "Sometimes, going to your own local park and just finding a corner that does not have any street lamps in it might be your best option," she said. "Obviously a dark sky preserve with no fire, no smoke at all is the best option." Despite the bright moon and possible clouds, McWatters says she's not losing all hope and she encourages others not to either. "It might not be as bright as you've seen it in the past … but if you can see stars, you'll be able to see meteors, so look carefully," she said.
