We Might See A Pretty Awesome Meteor Shower Soon

I saw on facebook that my buddy Howard Manges(Meterologist Extrodinare) talked about this on the news tonight! Unfortunatley, I'm here at work and not near a TV. Here's what I have learned about the possiblity of Mother Nature giving us a free fireworks show so far:

It's looking like if we are going to see the meteors, it will be here on May 24th. They are stemming from a comet stream that's about 100 years old that our planet has never met with before! What we might see will be produced by Comet 209P-LINEAR. The comet stream was spotted in 2004 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project. Now... Our planet's orbit and said comet stream are lined up for a fly by! If it happens, we are in for a pretty cool show!

Now, no need to be worried too much about damage to property or loss of life or any of that stuff because usually the particles are dust size or a little bigger. when these little guys come screaming into our atmosphere the heat causes them to burn, showing off the cool light emitting trails behind them. The particles usually vaporize in mid air.

Earths path will cross the Comet debris path that began previously. <--Now... That's the problem. "Began previously" In the 19 Century to be exact. Before the the comet was even discovered.

"We have no idea what the comet was doing in the 1800s, there could be a great meteor shower — or a complete dud." -Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office

Of course, if you want to see them... it's going to be a late night for you, we are talking between 2am and 4am on May 24th. We... as in North America, will be in a good viewing spot for the shower, IF IT HAPPENS!