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Hole in space


Bob Sharples

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If you know the date and your location we could check one of many free planetarium apps which shows the night sky configuration at that time.  Be helpful if you could also say the direction you were looking N, S, E or W and whether it was directly overhead, mid way or low in the sky.

Jim

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Can you give any more detail about the "hole"?

Regarding the shooting stars, at certain times of year there are strong meteor showers, eg. the Perseid meteor shower which peaks around 12 Aug. It's not unusual to see 50+ meteors per hour in a clear sky, on a peak night. The peaks of the stronger showers are fairly consistent, and can be seen around the same time every year (weather cooperating), but meteors can be observed on any night, although not usually in the numbers that can be observed during a peak night. In fact there are actually over 1000 known annual meteor showers, but most are obscure/weak. It's estimated that 100 tonnes of rock enters our atmosphere every 24 hrs, mostly in the form of dust. Even a small sand grain sized meteoroid, as the particles are known, can cause a visible meteor, but larger meteoroids, or even entire asteroids/comets can and do enter the atmosphere causing what are referred to as "fireballs".  These can be extremely bright, and often shock the unwary who happen to observe them by chance. Here's an example of a fireball one of my cameras caught a couple of nights ago. The brightness is due to the energy a meteoroid carries due to it's velocity in relation to Earth. They enter the atmosphere at velocities that usually range from 10-74 km/s, slamming into air molecules in the atmosphere which ionizes them, and causes them to emit light. The colour/wavelength of light emitted corresponds to whichever element is involved. Green for example is commonly seen, and in fast meteors it is due to oxygen.

There is much more to it than that of course - it's a big subject - so feel free to ask if you have more questions!

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I too are intrigued by the ‘hole’. You state the sky was clear, so I am unsure what you mean.

Exact date, time, location and direction of view would get it down to handful of objects I guess, no matter how many years in the past.

Marvin

Edited by Marvin Jenkins
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  • 4 months later...

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