Science is Fun Fridays!


The alpha Monoceratids meteor shower typically lasts about 10 days, and peak viewing was expected last night around 11:50pm ET in North America.

The outburst had been forecast by Peter Jenniskens, who also expected the shower in 1995 based on "estimations of the movements of cloud particles" left behind by a comet.  He believes we are passing through a thick section of the tail of this unknown comet, which is similar to 1995, when about 400 meteors were visible in an hour.  

Meteor showers are named for the constellations from which they appear to come from.  Monoceros is Greek for unicorn, and can be found next to Orion.  



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