Meteor Shower Prospects for IYA2009

The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy. You will hear of many worldwide initiatives, as well as local ones, designed to focus attention on astronomy — 400 hundred years after Galileo first trained his telescope on the heavens.

Skyscrapers Inc., The Amateur Astronomical Society of Rhode Island, will be increasing its public outreach programs as a small but important contribution to the IYA2009 celebration. When specific plans have been finalized you will be informed through the local media.

We look forward to sharing the beauty of the universe with you.

One interesting activity you can participate in from your own backyard is meteor observing. Meteor showers are always fun to watch if you can do so when one of the ten more productive displays listed below are at peak levels.

As always, the Moon can be a problem with about half of the year’s more prominent showers. Then take into account the chances for poor weather conditions and you might see only 25 percent of the major displays.

The upcoming year is no exception. The only thing we can hope for is some good luck from Mother Nature to provide clear skies during the nights when the meteor showers are at their peak. Then the best we can hope for is 50 percent.

Well, that’s not entirely true. Even with a bright Moon in the sky you can still catch a few of the brighter shooting stars. Or, depending upon the shower’s peak time, you can wait until the Moon sets before observing or begin before it rises. So perhaps we can raise the odds to 75 percent. However, you may tire easily and fall asleep if the meteors are few and far between. If you’re looking for the best ratio of meteors-to-time spent observing, then concentrate on those showers with no or least intrusive Moonlight.

We start out the new year with favorable conditions for the Quadrantid meteor shower on January 2-3. The almost First Quarter Moon will set around midnight, so from then until dawn will be the best time to scan the northern skies to a point directly overhead (zenith). These fast moving (25.5 miles per second) shooting stars, often blue in color, can blaze halfway across the sky. A small number of them leave persistent dust trains in the atmosphere as they disintegrate. You should see the number of Quadrantids rise to their peak just before dawn.

Clip and save the 2009 meteor shower prospects chart below and use it to plan your observing schedule for the coming year. I will highlight the specifics of each shower in my monthly columns throughout the year. Good luck with your meteor observing efforts.

It’s always a good year when we get some clear and transparent skies to do any astronomical observing. There are many objects to look for in the sky: the Sun, Moon, planets, clusters, galaxies, double/multiple and variable stars, nebulae and comets!

Saturn will be interesting to observe in 2009 because his rings will be narrowly tilted to our line of sight. As the year progresses they open up slightly, then begin to close until September 4 when they will be edge-on. Unfortunately when that happens Saturn will be too close to the Sun to be seen in a dark sky from the Earth. Professional and amateur astronomers may try to observe Saturn during the daytime to see if they can detect any hint of the rings at all. The challenges to do so will be very difficult, but I’m sure someone will accomplish the feat.

And while there are six eclipses in 2009 (two solar and four lunar), in Southern New England we are positioned on the edge of visibility of only two penumbral lunar eclipses. In both instances the Moon will be sliding only very slightly into the Earth’s lighter shadow. But since the first one occurs at moonset on July 7 and the second one at moonrise on August 6, we will not be able to detect either event here.

I hope you will continue to visit Seagrave Observatory in North Scituate and Ladd Observatory in Providence to view and marvel at the many beautiful wonders of the universe through the telescopes.