Comet Linear C/2012 X1

I finally got a chance to edit and post the shots I managed to get with the BRT of Comet Linear from late 2013, early 2014. As of this article, the comet is already on its way out of the solar system almost to Jupiters orbit and thus, not really visible or worth photographing anymore (for the casual astronomy person that is). Even so, I wanted to share what I did get of this one as it came through.

Below, you'll find 3 different pictures of the comet, make sure to click on the picture for the full version of the image. The first two are from November 20th and 21st 2013 (respectively) and were taken with a wide field camera, the equivalent of your mid-grade DSLR which is why the comet appears to be so small. In the two pictures where it is small, I've included a red arrow pointed at the nucleus of the comet.

Black and white version – November 20th, 2013

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Color version – November 21st 2013

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Black and white with galaxy camera – March 1st, 2014

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Camelopardalid Meteor Shower May 23rd to 24th

In an extremely rare treat, anyone with clear skies overnight tonight may get the opportunity of a life time. A brand new, one chance to see, meteor shower! Comet 209P/LINEAR has left a stream of debris in the Earths path and researchers expect us to hit the most dense part of the debris field (otherwise known as the peak of the meteor shower) at between 2 AM and 4 AM EST on May 24th.  Since this is being posted on the 23rd, that means overnight tonight!

Current estimates say this shower could be as little as 200 per hour all the way up to a whopping 1,000 per hour and those of us in North America will have the best visibility to the peak of the shower.

The reason for the name Camelopardalid is actually quite simple, as with other meteor showers, it is named for the area in which it originates in the night sky.  In this case, the constellation Camelopardalis (The Camel) which is near the Dippers and Cassiopeia in the Northern sky.  This is known as the radiant, the position in the sky where the meteors will appear to originate.

Camelopardalis

It is important to note that in most cases, that you certainly can see meteors by toward the radiant, you should not need to look at or toward the radiant to see meteors from a shower, especially if the rate is as high as predicted so if you are not in an ideal spot to see the constellation, don't let that discourage your viewing attempt.

Now, in the event that you're not in North America, or, you simply don't want to go outside to check out this show, you can sit back and watch from a computer or mobile device at the link below.  The Slooh network will be streaming the view from equipment set up to watch the shower.

http://live.slooh.com/

Accuweather has also provided a general viewing guide taking into consideration the weather anticipated for North America.  You can find that information here:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/viewable-for-the-first-time-ne/27352068

Another good resource is a page direct from NASA setup for this event that can be found here:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/may-camelopardalids.html

Hopefully some of you may get a chance to view this potentially spectactular event!  Happy viewing everyone!