Meteor Shower Expected Tonight

The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a good show this week for those willing to get up in the wee hours of the morning and wait patiently for the shooting stars.


In North America, the best time to watch will be between midnight to 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, but late Tuesday night and also Wednesday night could prove fruitful, weather permitting.


The Perseids are always reliable, and sometimes rather spectacular. The only things that puts a damper on the August show are bad weather or bright moonlight. Unfortunately this week, as the Perseids reach their peak Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the moon will be high in the sky, outshining the fainter meteors.


Still, skywatchers around the globe will have a good chance of spotting the brighter meteors. Some already are enjoying the show.


Already underway


The Perseids are bits of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which has laid down several streams of debris, each in a slightly different location, over the centuries as it orbits the sun. Every August, Earth passes through these debris streams, which spread out over time.


"They are typically fast, bright and occasionally leave persistent trains," says Joe Rao, SPACE.com's Skywatching Columnist. "And every once in a while, a Perseid fireball will blaze forth, bright enough to be quite spectacular and more than capable to attract attention even in bright moonlight."


Low numbers of Perseids, including some bright fireballs, have already been reported as Earth began entering the stream in late July. Seasoned observers have counted up to 25 per hour already, or nearly one every two minutes.


Most meteors are no bigger than a pea. They vaporize as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating bright streaks across the sky.


The Perseids appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus, which rises high in the sky around midnight and is nearly overhead by dawn. Like most meteor showers, the hours between midnight and daybreak are typically the best time to watch, because that's when the side of Earth you are on is rotating into the direction of Earth's travels through space, so meteors are "scooped up" by the atmosphere at higher rates, much like a car's windshield ends the lives of more bugs than does the rear bumper.


Astronomers expect up to 200 meteors per hour in short bursts of up to 15 minutes or so. But many of the fainter meteors will simply not be visible due to moonlight, and rates will go down even more for those in urban areas. More likely a typical observer under reasonably dark skies might hope to see a meteor every couple minutes when the bursts come, and fewer during lulls.


When to watch


The best time to watch is between midnight and dawn Wednesday. Forecasters say the best stretch could come between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET (1-2 a.m. PT), which would be after daybreak in Europe. Some Perseids might be visible late Tuesday night, and Wednesday night into Thursday morning could prove worthwhile, too.


Meteor forecasting is still in its infancy, however, so the best bet for anyone truly hungry to spot shooting stars is to get in as much observing time as possible from around 11 p.m. Tuesday night until dawn Wednesday, and if you miss that show, try the same time frame Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.


Meteors should be visible in the pre-dawn hours, weather permitting, all around the Northern Hemisphere.


"Earth passes through the densest part of the debris stream sometime on Aug. 12," said Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Then, you could see dozens of meteors per hour."


Viewing tips


The best location is far from city and suburban lights. Ideally, find a structure, mountain or tree to block the moon. Then scan as much of the sky as possible. The meteors can appear anywhere, heading in any direction. If you trace their paths backward, they'll all point to the constellation Perseus.

People in locations where any chill might occur should dress warmer than they think necessary to allow for prolonged viewing.

Seasoned skywatchers advise using a blanket or lounge chair for comfort, so you can lie back and look up for long periods. Allow at least 15 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust to the darkness. Then expect meteors to be sporadic: You might see two in a row, or several minutes could go by between shooting stars.

Avid meteor watchers might want to try scanning the northeastern horizon from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. local time (your local time, wherever you are) for Perseids that graze the horizon.

"Earthgrazers are meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond," Cooke explained. "They are long, slow and colorful – among the most beautiful of meteors." He notes that an hour of watching may net only a few of these at most, but seeing even one can make the whole night worthwhile.


from space.com

Saturn's Rings to Disappear

In a celestial feat any magician would appreciate, Saturn will make its wide but thin ring system disappear from our view Aug. 11.


Saturn's rings, loaded with ice and mud, boulders and tiny moons, is 170,000 miles wide. But the shimmering setup is only about 30 feet thick. The rings harbor 35 trillion-trillion tons of ice, dust and rock, scientists estimate.


The rings shine because they reflect sunlight. But every 15 years, the rings turn edge-on to the sun and reflect almost no sunlight.


"The light reflecting off this extremely narrow band is so small that for all intents and purposes the rings simply vanish," explained Linda Spilker, deputy project scientist for the Cassini Saturn mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.


Mysterious rings


The rings remain a bit of a mystery. Scientists are not sure when or how they formed, though likely a collision of other objects was involved.


Saturn's equator is tilted relative to its orbit around the sun by 27 degrees – similar to the 23-degree tilt of the Earth. As Saturn circles the sun, first one hemisphere and then the other is tilted sunward. This causes seasons on Saturn, just as Earth's tilt causes seasons on our planet.


While Earth goes around the sun once every 365 days or so, Saturn's annual orbit takes 29.7 years. So every 15 years, the attitude shift puts the gas giant planet's equator, and its ring plane, directly in line with sunlight. Scientists call it an equinox, and this one marks the arrival of spring to the giant planet's northern hemisphere. (On Earth, equinoxes occur in March and September.)


"Whenever equinox occurs on Saturn, sunlight will hit Saturn's thin rings, the ring plane, edge-on," Spilker said.


Galileo puzzled


Galileo Galilei was the first to notice the rings and their then-mysterious transformation in the 17th century. Through one of the first telescopes, which he built himself, Galileo discovered Saturn's rings. He didn't know what they were, though, since all he could see were two lobes attached to the planet like ears. He entered the newfound setup in his notebook as a tiny drawing, mid-sentence, to serve as a noun.


By December 1612, Galileo had studied the phenomenon for more than two years, and the lobes (he thought they might be moons) were getting thinner. Then they disappeared.


"I do not know what to say in a case so surprising, so unlooked for and so novel," he wrote in a letter.


Dutch mathematician Christiaan Huygens, using a better telescope, figured out what the rings were in 1655.


"Galileo had every right to be mystified by the rings," Spilker said. "While we know how Saturn pulls off its ring-plane crossing illusion, we are still fascinated and mystified by Saturn's rings, and equinox is a great time for us to learn more."


Up-close view


The edge-on setup casts shadows across the rings in a unique way that can reveal moonlets and other structures otherwise not visible.


NASA's Cassini spacecraft has a front-row seat to the event.

Cassini is watching for topographic features – perhaps some tiny moons or warps in the rings, and it has already spotted some mystery features in the days leading up to the equinox. In one new image, an object seems to have punched through one of the rings, dragging material with it to leave a visible scar. The craft's near-infrared and ultraviolet instruments will be on the hunt for signs of seasonal change on the planet.

"We are not sure what we will find," Spilker said. "Like any great magician, Saturn never fails to impress."


from space weekly

Police hits pickup, killing 7

FRESNO, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol says a car fleeing from police ran a stop sign and slammed into a pickup, killing three people in the car and four young children in the truck.

The patrol says police in Dinuba, southeast of Fresno, were trying to stop the car Saturday afternoon for a traffic infraction.

The patrol says the truck was carrying two adults and their five children. Four of the children — ages 1, 3, 4 and 7 — were ejected and died at the scene. The fifth child — age 8 — and the parents were taken to a hospital. The adults were identified as 29-year-old Carlos Salazar Jr. and 26-year-old Jennifer Salazar of Orange Cove.

All three men in the car being chased were killed. Their identities and ages weren't known.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Central California police say a fleeing car ran a stop sign and slammed into a pickup truck, killing three people in the car and four children in the truck.

The California Highway Patrol says police in Dinuba, southeast of Fresno, were trying to stop the car Saturday afternoon for a traffic infraction.

The Fresno Bee reports that the truck was carrying two adults and five children. The newspaper reports that four of the children were ejected and died at the scene. It says the other child and the adults were taken to a hospital.

The newspaper also says all three people in the car being chased were killed.

A highway patrol dispatcher refused to discuss the accident with The Associated Press and said the agency would be able to answer questions later Sunday.


by the associated press

5 bodies discovered from Hudson after midair crash

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Divers recovered a piece of a submerged helicopter and a fifth body Sunday as investigators searched the Hudson River for wreckage from the helicopter and a small plane that collided in midair, killing nine people.

Investigators also were searching for pictures and video of Saturday's accident, which was seen by thousands out enjoying a beautiful summer day.

Nine people — three members of a Pennsylvania family in the private plane, five Italian tourists and a pilot from New Jersey in the Liberty Tours helicopter — died in Saturday's collision, the city's worst air disaster since a 2001 commercial jet crash in Queens that killed 265 people.

One of the Italian victims was a husband celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary, a family friend said. His wife had stayed behind, but their 16-year-old son was also in the helicopter.

On Sunday morning, divers recovered a torso stuffed in the fuselage of the helicopter wreckage, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because all the bodies have not yet been recovered or identified.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a fifth body was also recovered Sunday.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman said a nearby helicopter pilot saw the plane approaching the in-flight helicopter and tried to alert his fellow pilot. He radioed the doomed helicopter and said, "You have a fixed-wing behind you," but there was no response from the pilot, Hersman said.

The pilot then saw the plane's right wing clip the helicopter, and both aircraft split apart and fell into the river, she said.

The two aircraft went down just south of the stretch of river where a US Airways jet landed safely seven months ago. But this accident was, in Bloomberg's words, "unsurvivable."

On Sunday morning, New York Police Department boats about 100 yards from Hoboken's waterfront circled three buoys that marked the wreckage of the helicopter, and three New Jersey State Police divers were in the choppy waters. The plane had not yet been found.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crane was moved up the river near the helicopter wreckage, which authorities hoped to remove by Sunday.

The river's strong currents and poor visibility hampered recovery efforts.

"The current and undertow are very strong in the Hudson, plus the murky conditions underneath," Hoboken Police Capt. Anthony Romano said. The river bottom is full debris dumped from cruise and other ships decades ago, which makes the searching more difficult, he added.

Hersman said she did not know if there were black boxes or other recording devices on the two aircraft. Aircraft of their size are not required to have such equipment.

She said investigators were hoping to find photos and video of the accident that could help them determine what happened. A handful of photos have surfaced in the media, including at least one showing the moment of impact.

The helicopter company, Liberty Helicopters, released the name of the pilot in the crash: Jeremy Clark, of Lanoka Harbor, N.J.

The plane's pilot was 60-year-old Steven Altman, of Ambler, Pa., the two law enforcement officials told the AP. Also in the plane were 49-year-old Daniel Altman, of Dresher, Pa.; and his 16-year-old son, Douglas, the officials said.

The five tourists were from the Bologna, Italy, area. The two officials identified them as Michele Norelli, 51; his son Filippo Norelli, 16; Fabio Gallazzi, 49; his wife, Tiziana Pedroni, 44; and their son Giacomo Gallazzi, 15.

"The trip was a gift from one of Norelli's sisters to mark the 25th anniversary of his marriage," Giovanni Leporati, a friend of the Norelli family, told the AP by phone. "The anniversary already happened but they took advantage of the August holidays and went."

The accident happened in a busy general aviation corridor over the river where pilots are generally free to pick their own route, as long as they stay under 1,000 feet and don't stray too close to Manhattan's skyscrapers.

The skies over the river are often filled with pleasure craft, buzzing by for a view of the Statue of Liberty.

Saturday's accident recalled another crash involving New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor, who died when their plane hit a skyscraper while flying a popular sightseeing route in 2006.

In January, the river was the scene of a spectacular aircraft landing after a US Airways flight taking off from LaGuardia Airport, in Queens, slammed into a flock of birds and lost power in both engines. The plane crash-landed in the river, and all 155 people on board were pulled to safety.

The NTSB has long expressed concern that federal safety oversight of helicopter tours isn't rigorous enough. The Federal Aviation Administration hasn't implemented more than a dozen NTSB recommendations aimed at improving the safety of the tours, called on-demand flight operations.

A report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general last month found that 109 people died in accidents involving on-demand flights in 2007 and 2008, while no one died in commercial airline accidents.

The plane, a Piper PA-32, was registered to LCA Partnership in Fort Washington, Pa. The address is shared by a real estate company run by Steven Altman.

Two police cars were stationed at driveway of the gated community of large single-family homes where Steven Altman lived and officers were blocking reporters.

Liberty Tours runs sightseeing excursions around the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Manhattan at costs ranging from $130 to about $1,000.

Two years ago, a Liberty helicopter fell 500 feet from the sky during a sightseeing trip. The pilot was credited with safely landing the chopper in the Hudson and helping evacuate her seven passengers.

In 1997, a rotor on one of its sightseeing helicopters clipped a Manhattan building, forcing an emergency landing. No one was hurt.


by the associated press

Fastfoods

Man wins big in lottery for 2nd time in '09

WICHITA, Kan. – Edward Williams is the definition of lucky after winning the lottery for a second time in a year. Williams, 47, of Wichita won $75,000 in September playing a $10 scratch ticket. Then on Wednesday, he defied the odds again when matched all the numbers in the Super Kansas Cash drawing to win a jackpot worth nearly $900,000.

"When I hit $75,000, I figured lighting struck once, it won't ever hit again," Williams said in a prepared statement released by Kansas Lottery officials. "This one knocked me flat!"

He traveled Friday to Topeka to collect his winnings. Super Kansas Cash jackpots are paid in a single cash lump sum. After taxes are withheld, the jackpot is worth $627,541. Also, Yogi's Grill & Bar in Wichita will be eligible for a $1,000 bonus for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.

"When I won the $75,000, I bought a car and put the rest of the winnings into a CD," Williams said. "This time, I'm saving it for retirement, which I hope to do at 55."

Williams, who is single, has worked for almost 17 years ago for Johnson Controls. Before that, he served in the Marines.

He said he has been playing Super Kansas Cash, Powerball and other lottery games consistently for 17 years.

"Just keep on playing," advised Williams, who buys a $5 Quick Pick for every Super Kansas Cash drawing. "That's the best advice I have for other people looking for that big win."

Williams isn't the first repeat lottery winner.

Keith Selix, of Waterloo, Iowa, gained notoriety in 2006 after winning three lottery prizes totaling $81,000.

At the time, he said his fortune mysteriously changed after his wife died, and he was convinced he was being "led from above."

Ironically, Selix's wife had often scolded him for wasting his money on the "those cotton-picking tickets."


by the associated press

Largest declines in babies born in California, Florida

ATLANTA — There aren’t just fewer jobs in a recession. There are fewer babies, too.


U.S. births fell in 2008, the first full year of the recession, marking the first annual decline in births since the start of the decade and ending an American baby boomlet.

The downturn in the economy best explains the drop in maternity, some experts believe. The Great Depression and subsequent recessions all were accompanied by a decline in births, said Carol Hogue, an Emory University professor of maternal and child health and epidemiology.

And the numbers never have rebounded until the economy pulled out of it, she said, calling the 2008 recession the most likely culprit for fewer babies.

It’s not clear that it’s the only explanation, however. Another expert noted a recent decline in immigration to the U.S. may also be a factor.

The nation recorded about 4,247,000 births last year, down about 68,000 from 2007, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics.

This recession began in December 2007, and since then the economy has lost almost 7 million jobs. Housing foreclosures worsened in 2007 and fell into a state of crisis in 2008.

The largest decline in births were in California and Florida, two states hit hardest by the housing crisis.

But the downturn’s effect on the public psychology — and families’ willingness to have babies — may not have really hit until the fall of 2008, said Stephanie Ventura of the health statistics center, the agency that put out the report.

The new report is an early count of births from each state and does not contain demographic breakdowns.

Births were up in January, February and April of 2008 compared with 2007, but were down every month after that except September. The largest declines were recorded in October and November.

Births were down in all but 10 states, primarily the northwest quadrant of the country, including North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Alaska.

In contrast, births in California were down by 15,000 and in Florida, by 8,000, compared with 2007.

While the recession probably played a role, another factor may be the net decline in immigration, said Population Reference Bureau demographer Mark Mather.


by the associated press