I know the Lyrid Meteor Shower is visible this time of yr.Any good sites to learn more about it. Any viewing tips?\nI'm in the socal desert and have small telescope.
128736
A telescope won't really help much to view a meteor shower.  It's best to just find a spot as far away as possible from city lights, sit back, and watch the sky.  Because meteors aren't entirely predictable, the chances of one being caught in your telescope are very remote.  The meteor shower you're referring to is going to peak around 2 in the morning on April 22nd, a Saturday.  The meteors can come from any part of the sky, so just take a blanket, something warm to drink, a few friends, maybe, relax.  It'll be a good time, I assure you.
614991
See if any of the pictures on this link look like what you saw:\nhttp://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=meteors&ei=UTF-8&fr=ytff1-&x=wrt
174116
yeh, a meteorit and a galaxy are coming to earth. Don't worry, they come only after 2 milion years...;))
589172
"Near close approach around 4h44m UT July 3, this 600-meter/yard diameter asteroid\n\n Passes only 268,873 miles from the Earth, only  1.1 times the distance to the moon away.\n\nPeaking at  visual magnitude 11.1 four hours later, users of telescopes of 6 inches (15cm)  \n\nor larger can enjoy observing a  rare celestial  treat.  At time of close approach, 2004 XP14\n\n races along at 8.323 degrees per hour, or a mean lunar diameter every four minutes!\n\nSuch a rapid speed results in direct motion becoming visible, second by second. Just \n\nas naked eye Earth satellites are seen crossing the sky, 2004 XP14 will both amaze and\n\nchallenge the observer, both visually and those taking images."\n\nFrom www.lpl.arizona.edu\n\nHope it helps.
391919
I know that San Dieguito River Park in north county san diego is doing some astronomy events. \nhttp://www.sdrp.org\nhttp://www.sdrp.org/activities.htm and scroll down for Stargazing in San Pasqual valley. They are really nice people at SDRP.\n\nalso, the Palomar observatory is also in North county, and they sometimes have star parties up at the campground.  It is really cool because they bring out a bunch of really big telescopes and point them at binary starts and neat stuff and let people look. \nhttp://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/\n\nOh, here is the San Diego Astronomy Association's site\nhttp://www.sdaa.org/\nand astronmy white pages\nhttp://whitepages.amsky.com/\n\n;)
343777
Thank you very much for the link you gave. I read this news yesterday night on Yahoo. I have forgotten about this until you have remind me. Thank you again.  \nIs there any other way for us to view it other than using a telescope? I don't have a telescope.
161523
this week, if you look east at about 9:30pm local time, you will see Jupiter just above the horizon.  At about 1am, it will be high in the sky to the south.  just before sunrise, it will be just about to set in the west.\n\nsubtract two hours from each of these times for these positions for every month you add to right now.\n\noh, wait.  a picture.  you don't actually want to find it in the sky.  go to http://www.nineplanets.org and click on "Jupiter".
462393
Call newschannel 3, I bet they would look into it.  Royal Norman may even already have an answer.  I have not seen them, though I live very close to you.  I'll have to keep my eye on the SE sky.  Do they occur at a certain time, or various times?  Are they low to the horizon?
366985
there are only three thing you need to get a great view.  1 make sure your in an area with no and I meen no man made light, 2 any field that is at least 1 acer this is do to the view of the event horizon, 3 last but not least, the higher up you are from sea level the better,  oh and if you can try to stay behind the wind if clouds are going to move in you want to be in a spot that the wind is not going to push then over head.  with that in mind you should have one heck of a show.  Have fun!!!
325435
I love astronomy. So try nasa.com and look for astronomy picture of the day and it will show you every picture from all the way back to 1996 to today. It's so cool.
518684
The meteors will hit the side of the Earth facing the constellation of Leo. That is why they are called the Leonids. You should be able to see meteors any time the constellation of Leo is above the horizon. Since Leo rises around midnight this time of year, that means you need to look after midnight. There is a prediction of a very brief flurry of more than the usual number of meteors to occur at a time before Leo has risen for people in the U.S. but Europe should get a good view. Us Americans may have to be content with just a few meteors per hour. But you never know, the predictions could be wrong!
153321
The below link shows some upcoming ones.\n\nBeing in the southern hemisphere, I would think you should be able to see all except the Lyrid shower.
486227
look here: http://skytonight.com/observing/skychart/3308911.html\n\nOr here for a simpler one just for the month of November:\nhttp://www.accd.edu/sac/ce/scobee/StarChart.htm\n\n\nAfter looking it seems to be below the horizon for the northern hemnisphere. It is up during the day but the Sun drowns out the light coming from the stars.\n\nHere is it's placment in the sky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_%28constellation%29\nIt is just south of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) so it may be up in the early morning.\n\n\nEDIT:\nIf you are looking for the meteor shower see here:\nhttp://www.space.com/spacewatch/061117_leonid_guide.html\n\n\nIn North America, for the Maritime Provinces of Canada, New England, eastern New York and Bermuda, the Sickle of Leo (from where the Leonids appear to emanate) will be above the east-northeast horizon just as the shower is due to reach its peak.  But because Leo will be at a much lower altitude compared to Europe, meteor rates correspondingly may be much lower as well.  However, this very special circumstance could lead to the appearance of a few long-trailed Earth-grazing meteors, due to meteoroids that skim along a path nearly parallel to Earth's surface.
158365
Some people gave you good links in their answers, so you can find when the most spectacular showers can be seen.\n\nBut if you are patient, you can see meteors at ANY time of the year. Just lie down on the ground (its easier to stare at the sky like this), and wait ... I'm sure you won't have to wait longer than 20-40 minutes to see one.\n\nYour geographical location has no importance, but you can see more meteors before dawn then in the evening. Be sure to choose a location which is far away from any city lights (if you can see the Milky Way, its okay :-)
511686
ahhh more swamp gas refracting off venus with a strange cloud formation, is what they'll have you believe.\nfollow it up at http://www.ufoevidence.org/ \nGood luck
468272
Get some Wintergreen lifesavers.\n\n(P.S. - this really belongs in the Chemistry group, not the Astronomy group)
316728
There will be no tsunamis, firestorms or mass extinctions to spoil your Memorial Day weekend. \n\nAlthough the Internet is rife with speculation that a fragment of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 will strike the Earth on May 25, neither the main comet nor any of its more than 40 fragments pose a danger to Earth. \n\n"We are very well acquainted with the trajectory of Comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann 3," said Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office. "There is absolutely no danger to people on the ground or the inhabitants of the International Space Station, as the main body of the object and any pieces from the breakup will pass many millions of miles beyond the Earth."\n\nImage above: Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys took images of the disintegration of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3's fragment B. Click to EnlargeCredit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (APL/JHU), M. Mutchler and Z. Levay (STScI)\nMovie: Zoom to Fragment B close-up: + 544 Kb QuickTime | + Windows Media \n\nHowever, you can see the comet falling apart right before our eyes, thanks to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. \n\nRecent Hubble images have uncovered many more fragments than have been reported by ground-based observers. These observations provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the demise of a comet nucleus. \n\nNone of the comet's fragments will come closer than 5.5 million miles to Earth during its closest approaches May 12 - 28. That's more than 20 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.\n\nThe main fragment, designated fragment C, will pass closest to Earth on May 12 at a distance of approximately 7.3 million miles. It will be visible to small telescopes during the morning hours in the constellation Vulpecula. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope will observe the comet in May. \n\nAstronomers have been observing the comet for more than 75 years. The trajectory of this comet has been monitored and refined over time, and its path around the sun is well understood. Amateur and professional astronomers around the world have been tracking its spectacular disintegration for years. \n\nThe comet is currently comprised of a chain of fragments, named alphabetically, stretching across several degrees on the sky. (The sun and moon each have an apparent diameter of about 1/2 of a degree.) Ground-based observers have noted dramatic brightening events associated with some of the fragments (as seen in the image below) indicating that they are continuing to break-up and that some may disappear altogether.\n\n Image above: Ground based view of fragments B and G, R, and N on April 8, 2006. Credit: M. Jäger and G. Rhemann \n\nHubble caught two of the fragments, B and G, shortly after large outbursts in activity. Hubble also photographed fragment C , which at the time was less active. The resulting images reveal that a hierarchical destruction process is taking place, in which fragments are continuing to break into smaller chunks. Several dozen "mini-fragments" are found trailing behind each main fragment, probably associated with the ejection of house-sized chunks of surface material that can only be detected in these very sensitive and high- resolution Hubble images.\n\nSequential Hubble images of the B fragment, taken a few days apart, suggest that the chunks are pushed down the tail by outgassing from the icy, sunward-facing surfaces of the chunks, much like space-walking astronauts are propelled by their jetpacks. The smaller chunks have the lowest mass, and so are accelerated away from the parent nucleus faster than the larger chunks. Some of the chunks seem to dissipate completely over the course of several days.\n\nDeep-freeze relics of the early solar system, cometary nuclei are porous and fragile mixes of dust and ices. They can be broken apart by gravitational tidal forces when they pass near large bodies. For example, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was torn to pieces when it skirted ne