Yesterday brought the peak of the annual Quadrantid Meteor Shower, which is often regarded as the best 'minor' showers of the year as it has been known to produce in the range of 100 meteors per hour some years.. Needless to say, being a once a year event,it is only natural that people will turn their cameras skyward in order to catch the spectacle.
So, what's hit the web so far?
Being such a widespread event, people all over the world who weren't clouded out were also busy snapping away with their cameras as the meteors shot through the sky. Of all the websites featuring meteor photos (even some mainstream news outlets have them), perhaps the best of all is Spaceweather. Why is this site so good? Simple, the photo galleries are created by you, the visitors.
More than on other astronomy websites, Spaceweather's photo galleries are largely user-created in that people from all over the world are free to upload their photos directly from their hard drives to the Internet for anyone with a Web connection to see. Result: a very unique assortment of photos from all over the world that is very worth checking out for oneself.
Some other galleries:
Want to see Quadrantids? The best time to view is anytime as the meteors radiate from near the, Polaris, the North Star, which is up all night. To improve odds of seeing meteors, travel out of light-polluted Cleveland and to the suburbs or, even better, the country if you can. In the suburbs, just going from the front to back yard can make a dramatic difference, too. More good news: the Moon is waning, so it will become less of a problem each night.
As for the Cleveland forecast, things are looking really lousy for tonight. For an even more up-to date, hour-by-hour weather forecast, check out the Cleveland Clear Sky Clock to see what the night will bring. Live somewhere else? Find a Clear Sky Clock near you for hourly cloud forecasts.
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