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draconid meteor outburst presented by

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science at nasa

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have you ever felt like the sky is

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falling

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on october 8th you might be right earth

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is going to plow through a stream of

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dust from comet 21p giacobini's inner

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and the result could be a storm of

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draconid meteors

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we're predicting as many as 750 meteors

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per hour visible mainly over the middle

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east north africa and parts of europe

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says bill cook of nasa's meteoroid

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environment office

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every six and a half years more or less

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comet giacobini's inner swings through

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the inner solar system

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with each visit it lays down a narrow

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filament of dust over time forming a

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network of filaments that earth

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encounters every year in early october

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most years we pass through gaps between

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filaments maybe just grazing one or two

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as we go by says cook

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occasionally though we hit one nearly

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head-on and the fireworks begin

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2011 could be such a year

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forecasters at nasa and elsewhere agree

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that earth is heading for three or more

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filaments on october 8th

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multiple encounters should produce a

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series of variable outbursts beginning

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around 1600 universal time with the

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strongest activity between 1900 and 2100

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universal time

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estimates of the meteor rate range from

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dozens to hundreds of meteors per hour

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one respected forecaster paul weigert of

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the university of western ontario says

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the meteor rate could go as high as 1000

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per hour the definition of a meteor

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storm

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it wouldn't be the first time

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close encounters with dusty filaments

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produced storms of more than 10 000

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draconids per hour in 1933 and 1946

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with lesser outbursts in 1985 1998 and

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2005.

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meteors from comet geocobini's inner

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stream out of the northern constellation

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draco hence their name

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draconids are among the slowest of all

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meteors hitting the atmosphere at a

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relatively leisurely 20 kilometers per

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second

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the slow pace of draconid meteors

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minimizes their danger to satellites and

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spacecraft and makes them visually

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distinctive

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a draconide gliding leisurely across the

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sky is a beautiful sight says cook

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unfortunately many of this year's

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dragonids will go unseen

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clear from the almost full moon will

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reduce the number of meteors visible

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over europe africa and the middle east

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by two to ten fold

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the situation is even worse in north

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america where the shower occurs in broad

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daylight from about noon to 5 pm eastern

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daylight time completely obliterating

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the display

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that isn't stopping a group of high

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school students from bishop california

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however

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they plan to observe the shower from the

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stratosphere where the sky is jet black

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even in noon time

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led by science at nasa's tony phillips

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the 12 students have been launching

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helium balloons to the edge of space

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since may of 2011.

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with more than 95 percent of earth's

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atmosphere below the balloon the sky

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above looks almost as black as it would

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from a spacecraft perfect for astronomy

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the students are going to fly one of our

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low light meteor cameras in the payload

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of their balloon says cook

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i hope they catch some draconid

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fireballs for us to analyze they could

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be the only ones we get

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stay tuned for results after october 8th

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for more news about things flashing in