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   The 3D Lyrid Meteor Shower Play ScienceCast Video Join Mailing List    
      
   April 18, 2012:  This weekend, NASA scientists, amateur astronomers, and an   
   astronaut on board the International Space Station will attempt the first-ever   
   3D photography of meteors from Earth and space.   
      
   "The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks on April 21-22," says Bill Cooke, the   
   head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "We're going to try to photograph   
   some of these 'shooting stars' simultaneously from ground stations, from a   
   research balloon in the stratosphere, and from the space station."    
      
   A ScienceCast video previews the 2012 Lyrid meteor shower for amateur sky   
   watchers.   
      
   Lyrid meteors come from Comet Thatcher.  Every year in late April Earth passes   
   through a stream of debris from the old comet, which has been bringing Lyrid   
   meteors to our planet for at least 2600 years.  Specks of Thatcher's dust hit   
   the top of atmosphere at 110,000 mph and disintegrate in a flurry of meteors.    
   Most years, the shower produces about 15 to 20 Lyrids per hour.   
      
   This is a good year to look for Lyrids because the Moon will be new when the   
   shower peaks.  Dark skies favor sightings both from Earth and from Earth orbit.   
      
   "Even though the Lyrids are not noted for spectacular rates, the combination   
   of a New Moon and a very favorable viewing geometry from the International   
   Space Station (ISS) presents a unique opportunity to simultaneously image   
   shower meteors from above and below," says Cooke.    
      
   Astronaut Don Pettit is a prolific photographer and writer. More of Don's   
   experiences onboard the ISS are recounted in his online blog. ISS Flight   
   Engineer Don Pettit will be operating the camera on the space station.    
      
   "Even though his equipment was designed for tasks other than meteor observing,   
   Don is a skilled astrophotographer, and we have every confidence that he will   
   maximize the chances of capturing a Lyrid from 400 km above Earth's surface."   
      
   As the Space Station passes over North America multiple times on the night of   
   April 21st, a network of all-sky cameras--some operated by amateur astronomers   
   and others by NASA--will be recording the shower.  In Bishop, California, a   
   group of high school and middle school students will launch a helium balloon   
   to the stratosphere.  The payload floating some 40 km above Earth's surface   
   will carry an experimental low-cost meteor camera and recorder developed by   
   the Meteoroid Environment Office.   
      
   As astrophotographers know, catching a fleet meteor with a single camera takes   
   some luck.  Catching one meteor with multiple cameras, some of them on   
   platforms moving as fast as 17,000 mph, scattered from Earth to Earth orbit,   
   sounds more like winning the lottery.    
      
   "Actually, we think the odds are fairly good," says Cooke, who estimates a 1   
   in 6 chance of a simultaneous catch between the ISS and one of the wide-field   
   ground cameras.    
      
   If the effort does produce 3D imagery of any Lyrids, Cooke plans to use the   
   photos to test ideas and algorithms for processing date gathered by future   
   space-based meteor observatories.  "We're laying the groundwork for small   
   satellites that might one day be used to monitor meteor showers from Earth   
   orbit," he explains.   
      
   Cooke encourages sky watchers everywhere be alert for meteors this Saturday   
   night. Typical Lyrids are about as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper, so   
   they're good for beginners.  And it's not unusual to see one or two fireballs   
   when the shower peaks.  A good time to look is during the hours after   
   midnight, when the shower's radiant is rising toward its zenith.   
      
   Although the Lyrid meteor rate is usually capped at 20 per hour, better   
   displays sometimes occur when Earth glides through an unusually dense clump of   
   debris.  In 1982, for instance, astronomers counted as many as 90 Lyrids per   
   hour.   
      
   "Such an outburst would be great for our experiment," says Cooke.   
      
   Amateur astronomers who wish to help monitor the 2012 Lyrids are encouraged to   
   download the Meteor Counter for iPhones.  The app records meteor counts and   
   reports the data to NASA for possible analysis.   
      
   Also, Cooke and colleagues will be "staying up all night" on April 21st to   
   chat with the general public about the shower.  Tune in at http:   
   /www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/   
        
      
   Author:Dr. Tony Phillips| Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit:   
   Science@NASA   
      
   More Information    
   Stay Up All Night with NASA to view and discuss the Lyrid meteor shower    
        
   New App Helps NASA Keep Track of Meteoroids -- Science@NASA    
        
   NASA astronomer Bill Cooke is head of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office    
      
      
   Regards,   
      
   Roger    
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LA - (1:3828/7)