Monday, January 03, 2011

A Meteor Shower and a Solar Eclipse on the Same Day (Jan. 4)

Source - Space Weather News for Jan. 3, 2011: http://spaceweather.com

QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER: Sky watchers in the northern hemisphere should be alert for meteors before sunrise on Tuesday, Jan. 4th. Earth is about to pass through a narrow stream of debris from shattered comet 2003 EH1, the parent of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. Forecasters say the encounter could produce a fast flurry of 100 meteors per hour during the early hours of Jan. 4th. Details and observing tips may be found at http://spaceweather.com .

GOT CLOUDS? No problem. You can stay inside and listen to the Quadrantids. Tune into SpaceWeather Radio for live meteor echoes from the US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar in Texas: http://spaceweatherradio.com .

PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE: After the meteor shower, observers in Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia can witness a partial eclipse of the sun. In western Europe, as much as 86% of the solar disk will be covered by the Moon at dawn, producing a fantastic crescent sunrise on Jan. 4th. Check http://spaceweather.com for details, animated maps and live webcasts.

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