Aurigids from 47 000 Feet
Explanation:
On September 1,
Aurigid
meteors filled the sky, in keeping
with inovative predictions of an outburst
from this
historically tentative meteor shower.
Astronomers flying at 47,000 feet on a
dedicated mission
to observer
the outburst collected image data for this composite
photo of the Aurigids' bright and colorful streaks.
The source of the shower is understood to be
Comet Kiess, a comet that would have last swung
through the inner solar system around 2,000
years ago.
Influenced by gravity,
dust from
the tail of the comet
has been drifting toward the Earth's orbit ever since.
Predicted to
pass through a clump of dust this year creating the
2007 outburst, Earth has also passed through dust clumps from
this comet in 1935, 1986, and 1994.
Of course, the shower's
radiant
point is in the eponymous constellation
Auriga,
the Charioteer.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
