Items featured in TGP NOMINAL Xtra - Apollo 11 Special
The Perseids Meteor Shower:
Most people now will know that in August is a massive meteor shower.
It's one of the best of the Year, the next best I think is in December.
The Perseid Meteor Shower technically officially started last month,
but you will be able to see them all through the month of August.
Unfortunately the Moon is going to wash out a few,
but you're still going to see quite a lot, probably 50-60 an hour.
As you have probably guessed, it's called the Perseid meteor shower,
because of where they radiate or seem to come from, that being the constellation Perseus.
What you looking for really is the W in the sky, which is the Constellation Cassiopeia.
Just below that is the head of Perseus which is where they radiate from.
They peak around the 13-15th of the month, but keep looking right the way through August.
The best time to view is after 10pm, because the skies get darker.
Jupiter and Saturn are up as well, so why not make a night of it.
The Earth is currently passing through a cloud of dust particles,
left by the decaying comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle,
which is hundreds if not thousands if not millions of years old orbiting our Sun.
These dust particles burn up in the Earth's atmosphere creating the meteor shower.
Lewis Swift and Horace Parnell Tuttle discovered the comet in 1862 .
109P Swift-Tuttle has an orbital period of around 133 years and was last seen in 1992,
but wont be seen again until 2126 which means most of us won't be seeing it.
But why do these tiny bits of dust create such amazingly spectacular displays in our skies?
It's one of the best of the Year, the next best I think is in December.
The Perseid Meteor Shower technically officially started last month,
but you will be able to see them all through the month of August.
Unfortunately the Moon is going to wash out a few,
but you're still going to see quite a lot, probably 50-60 an hour.
As you have probably guessed, it's called the Perseid meteor shower,
because of where they radiate or seem to come from, that being the constellation Perseus.
What you looking for really is the W in the sky, which is the Constellation Cassiopeia.
Just below that is the head of Perseus which is where they radiate from.
They peak around the 13-15th of the month, but keep looking right the way through August.
The best time to view is after 10pm, because the skies get darker.
Jupiter and Saturn are up as well, so why not make a night of it.
The Earth is currently passing through a cloud of dust particles,
left by the decaying comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle,
which is hundreds if not thousands if not millions of years old orbiting our Sun.
These dust particles burn up in the Earth's atmosphere creating the meteor shower.
Lewis Swift and Horace Parnell Tuttle discovered the comet in 1862 .
109P Swift-Tuttle has an orbital period of around 133 years and was last seen in 1992,
but wont be seen again until 2126 which means most of us won't be seeing it.
But why do these tiny bits of dust create such amazingly spectacular displays in our skies?
When a meteor enters our atmosphere it goes from travelling through the vacuum of space with no friction, to travelling through air which as we know does create friction, quite a lot of friction.
They generally travel at tens of thousands of km’s per hour but when they hit earth,
the air in front of it compresses incredibly quickly, and when a gas is compressed its temperature heats up, causing the meteor to as well.
It starts to glow, the air will continue to burn the meteor until nothing is left,
which is the streak you see across the sky.
These re-entry temperatures can reach 1650 degrees Celsius, and larger particles may burn even brighter possible popping in the sky bursting leaving smoke trails. Often called fireballs.
Now if the meteor is generally over 30kg then only the surface layers are lost during re-entry where our atmosphere eventually slows it down to around 90mph known as freefall.
And it hits the ground becoming a meteor-ite,
There are three classifications of Meteorites
1. STONEY METEORITES – MOST COMMON AT 93% OF METEORITES SO FAR FOUND
2. IRON METEORITES – WHICH ARE RARER AT 5% OF METEORITES
3. STONEY-IRON METEORITES
Stoney- Iron Meteorites are the rarest of the three,
and have a similar composition to the Rocky Planets in our and other Solar Systems.
They generally travel at tens of thousands of km’s per hour but when they hit earth,
the air in front of it compresses incredibly quickly, and when a gas is compressed its temperature heats up, causing the meteor to as well.
It starts to glow, the air will continue to burn the meteor until nothing is left,
which is the streak you see across the sky.
These re-entry temperatures can reach 1650 degrees Celsius, and larger particles may burn even brighter possible popping in the sky bursting leaving smoke trails. Often called fireballs.
Now if the meteor is generally over 30kg then only the surface layers are lost during re-entry where our atmosphere eventually slows it down to around 90mph known as freefall.
And it hits the ground becoming a meteor-ite,
There are three classifications of Meteorites
1. STONEY METEORITES – MOST COMMON AT 93% OF METEORITES SO FAR FOUND
2. IRON METEORITES – WHICH ARE RARER AT 5% OF METEORITES
3. STONEY-IRON METEORITES
Stoney- Iron Meteorites are the rarest of the three,
and have a similar composition to the Rocky Planets in our and other Solar Systems.
London Meetup with Ryan Kobrick & Ross Hockham
Moon Day 20/07/2019
mEDIA cOVERAGE:
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MoonDay Activities:
rOSS "tHE bOSS" hOCKHAM'S mOON lANDING tALKS
Janelle "Nasa Lady" Harrier-Wilson:
Mark "Rocket Man" Taylor:
The Rocket Man's Teaching Aids:
Various Photos from the event:
UK Astronomy Photo COMPETITION Wall & Apollo Mission Exhibit:
Every month, UK Astronomy hosts a photo competition for their Facebook Group Members.
The winner get their winning photo added to the UK Astronomy calendar for the following year,
plus they receive a copy of the calendar, also.
This Exhibition displayed all the winning and runners up entries from previous years.
The winner get their winning photo added to the UK Astronomy calendar for the following year,
plus they receive a copy of the calendar, also.
This Exhibition displayed all the winning and runners up entries from previous years.
Aylesbury Town Council Acquired this impressive collection of original Apollo Mission Patches,
and photographs signed by Apollo Astronauts, especially for the event.
and photographs signed by Apollo Astronauts, especially for the event.
PHOTO CREDITS: HARPRETZEL DHILLON, DEREK PELLING, BEX ARTS & RANDAL CHENEY
Various Videos:
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