National Meteor Watch Day 2024

Perseid Meteor 2012

Today is National Meteor Watch Day. The date, June 30, was chosen because it is the anniversay of the Tunguska Event in Russia in 1908. On that day a meteor perhaps as wide as 260 feet exploded at an altitude of six miles over the wilderness. The blast destroyed forests and wildlife, including severl large reinbeer herds, over a area of 840 square miles. Although there is plenty of evidence of even larger explosions of this type the Tunguska Event remains the largest in recorded history. 

Fortunately destructive meteors are an exceptionally rare event and should not keep us from enjoying what we've come to know as shooting stars, Although meteor showers provide better opportunities for watching the show it goes on every night. If you have a clear sky tonight would be a fine time to go outside and watch these small bits of space debris as they burn up in our atmosphere. The waning moon will offer only limited interference this year so a clear sky away from light sources should make for excellent viewing. 

Most meteors only survive about one second as they hit the earth's atmosphere at around 25,000 to 160,000 miles per hour. The show takes place anywhere from thirty to seventy miles above in the atmospheric region known as the mesosphere. Depending on composition and speed, meteors can appear in a variety of colors including white, orange, yellow, blue, purple, and red. If a meteor reaches the ground it becomes a meteorite. Thankfully, few meteors actually hit the earth intact but about six tons of meteor dust settles on our planet every day. Although it's fun to watch the sky for meteors and other near earth objects the potential for significant environemntal impacts on the planet certainly warrant their observation and study. Here is a good example why.

This day is also a good reminder that the Perseid shower, the most reliable of the year, peaks on August 13. Unfortunately the moon will be just past full so there will be plenty of interference that evening. All is not lost because the Perseids begin around mid-July and end in late August so there will be plenty of hours of clear skies and good viewing during that five week period.

Here's a link for more information about National Meteor Watch Day. For a forecast of what you can expect to see in the weeks leading up to and including the Perseids you can check out the American Meteor Society's website here.





Sources:

Photos:
Visian ICL Blog, visianinfo.con, Roberto Porto

Text:
wikipedia.com
nationalcalendarday.com