Early morning of November 17 will have a wonderful display in the sky, with a strong showing of the Leonid Meteor Shower. This year’s meteor shower will look all the more better because of no interference from the moon, as November 16 is the new moon, so the skies will be dark and even the faint meteor streaks will be visible.

The shower will put up the best display for those in central and eastern Asia, with the meteor rate rising to few hundreds per hour at 21:40 GMT. Eastern observers in North America will get a more moderate view with a few dozen meteors an hour, and the best time to watch the skies will be between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. EST.

Other regions in North America may not get a very good viewing of the 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower, but they will be able to see shooting stars every few minutes. Europe and Africa on the other hand, won’t have much of a view. The Leonid Meteor Showers are so named because their radiant is positioned “sickle” of the constellation Leo.

Source: MSNBC

On Indian Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khans birthday, an Australian Fan of his, every year buys a piece of moon  for him !

Shahrukh confirms, “Yes, an Australian lady buys a little land on the moon for me every year on my birthday. She has been buying it for a while now and I get these certificates from the Lunar Republic Society.”

SRK says he has met his fan and she will be in touch with him thru emails “She writes me colourful emails (in the sense one line is red, one is blue and so on). I feel blessed to have the love of so many people worldwide.”

According to online lunar real estate agency, http://www.lunarregistry.com/, the Sea of Tranquility is the most sought  after address on the moon.

One can  purchase maximum land of 40 acres per transaction.

The proceeds from the purchase of the plot on the moon will go towards the Lunar Republic Society’s program for privatised human based exploration, settlement and development of the Moon.

1 acre, approx 43,560 sq ft costs US $37.50  and the actor reportedly owns several acres there.

An ownership package on the moon includes a beautifully engraved parchment deed, a satellite photograph of the property and an information sheet detailing the geography of your region.

NASA’s Ares I-X test rocket lifted off at 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

All told, the flight test lasted about six minutes: the launch from the newly modified Launch Pad 39B, a two-minute powered flight, and then a splashdown of the rocket’s booster stage nearly 150 miles downrange.

The Ares I-X flight test will provide NASA the opportunity to test and prove the new rocket’s flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations, while also helping to verify computer and wind tunnel models. According to NASA, more than 700 sensors were placed throughout the vehicle to collect data for use in future exploration missions.

The Ares I-X is a prototype for the Ares I rocket NASA plans to use to launch its shuttle successor, the Orion spacecraft.

Source: NASA

The Ares I-X  is a prototype for the Ares 1 rocket NASA plans to use to launch its shuttle successor, the Orion spacecraft. The flight test will provide NASA with an opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I.

Of course, test flights like this don’t come cheap, and it’s estimated that this one will cost $360 million.

Below is NASA video of a test of the (22 million HP) Ares I solid rocket motor . This test was conducted in Utah last month.  The flame exited the rocket motor approached 4500 degrees Fahrenheit, approximately two-thirds the temperature of the sun’s surface.  At this temperature, steel doesn’t melt , it boils –and according to the video narrator, the sand around the rocket motor got so hot that it turned to glass.

Source: NASA

Here’s what you need to know:

1. The meteor shower will be peaking just before sunrise tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, when you may be able to see as many as 20 to 25 meteors an hour.

2.Look towards Orion, the constellation that’s also known as “the Hunter.” You probably know it because of its easily recognizable belt of stars.

3. At this time of year, Orion doesn’t rise until about 11pm. So, you don’t have to start looking until after that. Experts predict the best viewing won’t start until after midnight, or so.

4. Fortunately, the moon is in its new phase right now, so you don’t have to worryabout moonlight ruining the show.

5. You don’t need binoculars to see the meteors. Just go to a dark site away from city lights.

6. Dress warmly! It can get cold sitting outside after midnight.

7. Can’t fit the peak viewing early Wednesday morning into your schedule? That’s okay. You’ll still be able to see meteors for a few nights after the peak.

The Orionid meteors are created by small particles in the orbit of Halley’s comet.

Photo credit: jaredten

Ever wonder if there is water on the moon?

NASA does.

In fact, NASA is so curious that it’s going to “bomb” the moon tomorrow morning in hopes of creating a debris cloud that can be analyzed for water content.

NASA will use the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) that it launched earlier this summer. Tomorrow, the LRO –which is now positioned for impact on a lunar pole –will separate into two parts, sending its Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage rocket towards the moon.

The impact of the Centaur will create a debris plume predicted to rise above the lunar surface. Four minutes later, the shepherding spacecraft will fly through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before it, too, impacts the lunar surface and creating a second debris plume.

Here’s a video with animation that helps explain the mission:

Projected first impact at the lunar South Pole is currently: Friday, Oct 9, 2009 at 7:31 am EDT (4:30 a.m. PDT).

NASA says the debris plumes are expected to be visible from Earth- and space-based telescopes 10-to-12 inches and larger.

In addition, a NASA TV Broadcast is planned for the LCROSS impacts starting at 6:15 a.m. EDT/3:15 a.m. PDT, Oct. 9, on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv.

The 1.5 hour broadcast includes:
•    Live footage from spacecraft camera
•    Real-time telemetry based animation
•    Views of LCROSS Mission and Science Operations
•    Broadcast commentary with expert guests
•    Prepared video segments
•    Views of the public impact viewing event at NASA Ames
•    Possible live footage from the University of Hawaii, 88-inch telescope on Mauna Kea.

The live LCROSS Post-Impact News Conference will be 10 a.m. EDT/7 a.m. PDT on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv.

Source: NASA

Late Tuesday night is an option as well.

The Perseids are bits of debris from the Comet Swift-Tuttle. Every year around August the Earth passes through these debris streams.

“They are typically fast, bright and occasionally leave persistent trains,” says a SPACE.com Columnist. “And every once in a while, a Perseid fireball will blaze forth, bright enough to be quite spectacular and more than capable to attract attention even in bright moonlight.”

God has a show in store for tonight for those who are up or wish to stay up. Remember, to give credit where credit is due.

The best times to watch:

1. between midnight and dawn Wednesday

2. 4am-5am EST.

3. 1-2am PST

4. After daybreak in Europe.

There are lots of people around me who are. Extremely knowledgeable folk. You can’t swing a dead cat at my church without hitting a PhD and we have less than 50 people in the building.

My son is going to be a scientist – grad school, physiology and so on.

Even with all the scientists, professional and otherwise, astronomer-types, an amateur stargazer was the one who found the  ’scar’ on Jupiter.

The guess is a  large comet or asteroid has slammed into Jupiter. It created a hole the size of Earth. And if Earth doesn’t clean up its act, we are likely to get sucked into that hold.

The pictures were taken by an Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley, 44.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Wesley did find what he said he found.

More details here.

The find on a backyard 14.5-inch reflecting telescope stunned the astronomy world.

I am stunned that the professional astronomers are stunned!

Scientists say the impact will last only days more. Where’s it going to go?

I want to know what Anthony Wesley thinks caused the scar.

My guess…the ‘real’ scientists don’t know.

In fact just because folk say they know it doesn’t always mean they know (including me, of course!).

Just because folk are supposed to know, doesn’t mean they know. And that includes scientists!

“We estimate objects this size enter Earth’s atmosphere once every few months,” said a spokesman of the Near-Earth Object Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The unique aspect of this event is that it is the first time we have observed an impacting object during its final approach.”

It is expected to become an extremely bright fireball. It was first detected by the Mount Lemon telescope of the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey early Monday and near the Earth Object Observation Program it’s called “Space Guard.”

This reminds me of the lawyer in a hospital who woke up one morning to see a fiery sunrise through the window and began to scream “the world’s on fire, the world’s on fire.” Indeed, lawyers worry about whether they will burn or not.

Perhaps we need to be concerned about the ultimate outcome of our planet, too, before it comes on fire. What do you think?

Image courtesy of Pranav Singh