Shooting Stars of May

I trust by the time you read this column the April showers will have subsided, and we stargazers can finally enjoy some clear skies. I can understand why so many of my associates are talking about retiring to the desert southwest to escape the cold winters and the persistent precipitation here in the northeast.

Skyscrapers has had to cancel many star parties for local schools this spring. It's extremely frustrating to have to deprive the students, parents and teachers an opportunity to observe some of the magnificent views the heavens have to offer. Nothing stirs my soul more than having a child gaze upon the golden image of Saturn and his system of rings through one of our telescopes. Who knows? That youngster may be inspired to continue his or her education in the sciences and could possibly be the first person to walk on Mars!

So let's hope that despite the recent inclement weather, those children and their families find their way out to Seagrave Memorial Observatory for one of our Saturday public open nights when a clear night avails itself. Our members are always happy to share their love of astronomy with visitors to our facility. See our web site for additional information: www.theskyscrapers.org.

When the April showers bring May flowers, we hope it will bring clear skies for an early May meteor shower, the Eta Aquarids. Unfortunately this shower is an old and declining one. The particles we see hitting our upper atmosphere were shed by Halley's Comet long ago. But this year sky conditions will favor viewing this shower, and I, for one, will welcome even a small display of shooting stars.

The Eta Aquarids peak during the predawn hours of May 5th. The waning crescent Moon will pose no serious hindrance to observing as many meteors as possible. So, my best advice would be to get up a couple of hours before sunrise and scan the sky from zenith toward the east and southeast. To better your chances of observing more meteors, try to observe well away from any light pollution source and also try to block the Moon from view. You shouldn't have any problem spotting some of these remnants of Halley's Comet.

The swarm of particles comprising the meteor stream hits the Earth's upper atmosphere nearly head-on at 41-miles per second. This high-speed collision results in forty percent of the meteors leaving long persisting dust trains. A keen observer can potentially observe 10 to 15 swift, yellow Eta Aquarids per hour.

Just get comfortable and enjoy the free show provided by Mother Nature. Next month I'll talk about my favorite planet in our solar system, Jupiter!

Just as I had finished this column and was ready to prepare it for distribution, we experienced a wave of great weather, with abundant clear skies. The views of Saturn and Jupiter through our telescopes have been incredible. The air has been steady and transparent, providing wonderful images of these planetary systems. In fact, many of our members even commented that they hadn't seen such steady viewing for quite some time.

If you haven't visited Seagrave Observatory to take advantage of the clear skies recently, I hope for your sake our luck continues, and you will get similar great results at an upcoming Saturday public open night.

Keep your eyes to the skies.