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Delta State students observe spectacular meteor shower

By September 3, 2010General

Meteors are small and rocky objects that are observed as flash-lights in the sky when moving through the atmospheric air which surrounds the planet Earth. There are a few meteor showers every year (our planet Earth moving annually around the Sun “visits” areas where higher density of meteoroids) when more than the usual number of meteors can be observed in our local skies.

On Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 1 a.m., one of these meteor groups named Auriga’s was observed by students who take the Introductory Astronomy class in the Division of Biological and Physical Sciences at Delta State University.

Dr. Alina Gabryszewska – Kukawa, astronomy teacher and Mariusz Kukawa, planetarium assistant and astronomical instruments operator at Delta State, led the students on a meteor night exhibition to observe this phenomenal event.

Astronomers typically report the frequency of meteors as the number of these objects viewed during one hour of observation. The Auriga’s meteor shower was not expected by astronomers to have more than 15 meteors per hour during its scheduled occurrence. 

The Delta State students watched the sky and their observational results were fantastic!  They counted 17 meteors per hour which was more than predicted. Congratulations to all students who participated in this event!

The students used a telescope to make some interesting, astronomical observations before the meteor shower started. They observed the Moon’s surface and the planet Jupiter with its four largest moons.

 A night “under the stars” proved to be a very educational experience for the students.