Planet Wasp-17

Jan. 4 Quadrantids: Radiant--Bootes. Very short lived shower, less that one day. Variable rate, but generally around 60 per hour. Speed 41 kps and bluish color.

Jan. 16 Delta Cancrids: Radiant--just west of Beehive. Minor shower, rate about 4 per hour. Very swift.

Jan. 18 Coma Berenicids: Radiant--near Coma star cluster. Only one or two per hour, but among fastest meteors known--65 kps.

Feb. 26 Delta Leonids: Radiant--midway in Leo's back. Feb. 5 to Mar. 19 with peak in late Feb. 5 per hour at 24 kps.

Mar. 16 Corona-Australids: Radiant--16 hr 20 min, -48 deg. 5 to 7 per hour from Mar. 14 to Mar. 18.

Mar. 22 Camelopardalids: No definite peak, with only one per hour. Slowest meteors at 7 kps.

Mar. 22 March Geminids: Discovered in 1973 and confirmed in 1975. Rate generally about 40 per hour. Seem to be very slow meteors.

Apr. 4 Kappa Serpentids: Radiant--near Corona Borealis . 4 or 5 per hour from Apr. 1 to 7.

Apr. 7 Delta Draconids: Radiant--near Cepheus border. From Mar. 28 to Apr. 7. Slow meteors at about 5 per hour.

Apr. 10 Virginids: Radiant-- near Gamma in bowl of Virgo. 20 per hour.

Apr. 15 April Fireballs: Radiant-- between The Water Jar and Scutum, very erratic. From April 15 to 30 many bright bolides from Southeastern sky.

Apr. 17 Sigma Leonids: Radiant-- at Leo Virgo border, actually has moved into Virgo in recent years. Weak shower of 1 to 2 per hour.

Apr. 22 Lyrids: Radiant-- near Vega. 15 per hour, bright and long lasting meteors. From Comet Thatcher.

April 25 Mu Virginids: Radiant--near Libra. 7 to 10 per hour of medium speed meteors.

Apr. 28 Alpha Bootids: Radiant-- near Arcturus. From Apr. 14 to May 13. Slow meteors with fine trails.

May 1 Phi Bootids: Radiant--near Hercules. From Apr. 16 to May 12. 6 per hour.

May 3 Alpha Scorpiids: Radiant-- Near Antares. From Apr. 16 to May 9.

May 4 Eta Aquarids: Radiant-- near Water Jar. From Apr. 21 to May 12. 21 per hour, yellow with bright trails. Comet Halley debris.

June 3 Tau Herculids: Radiant--near Corona Borealis. About a month long, 15 per hour max, most quite faint.

June 5 Scorpiids: Radiant--near Ophiuchus. 20 per hour with some fireballs.

June 7 Arietids: About 30 per hour. Slow moving with some fireballs.

June 13 Ophiuchids: Radiant-- near Scorpius. Only 3 per hour but fast moving bolides are common. Duration--25 days

June 16 June Lyrids: Radiant--near Vega. Another part of May Lyrid meteor stream. 15 per hour, faint blue meteors.

June 20 Ophiuchids: Radiant-- near Sagitarrius. Rate varies from 8 to 20, with occaisionally many more.

June 30 June Draconids: Radiant--near handle of Big Dipper. Rate varies from 10 to 100 per hour. Pons-Winnecke Comet is parent.

July 28 Delta Aquarids: Radiant--near Capricornus. 25 per hour, slow (24 kps) with yellow trails. Duration--40 days

July 30 Capricornids: Radiant--near Aquarius. Tough to tell these from Delta Aquarids. 10 to 35 per hour with bolides.

Aug 10 Perseids: Radiant--near Double cluster. 50 to 100 per hour, yellow with trails and bolides. The best modern dependable shower. Duration--5 days.

Aug 20 Kappa Cygnids: Radiant--near Deneb. 12 per hour with many fireballs. Duration--15 days.

Aug 31 Andromedids: Radiant-- near Cassiopeia. Occaisionally spectacular, usually 20 per hour. Some red fireballs with trails. Biela's Comet parent.

Sept 23 Alpha Aurigids: Radiant-- near Capella. 12 per hour, fast with trails.

Oct 7 Piscids: Radiant--near Aries. 15 per hour at 28 kps.

Oct 9 Draconids: Raidiant--near Hercules. Spectacular when comet Giacobinni-Zinner passes near Earth. 200 per hour when comet is close is not uncommon, 1000 per hour sometimes.

Oct 20 Orionids: Radiant--near Taurus. 30 per hour, fast (67 kps) often in colors with long trails. Duration--8 days

Nov. 5 Taurids: Radiant--near Pleaides. 10 per hour with many fireballs. Debris from comet Encke. Duration--45 days.

Nov. 12 Pegasids: Radiant--Near Square. from Oct. 10 to late Nov., 10 per hour, used to be spectacular.

Nov 17 Leonids: Radiant--near Sickle. Most spectacular of modern showers. 1966 saw 500,000 per hour-- 140 per second. Comet Temple--Tuttle is parent. 20 per hour between 33 year shows, fastest known at 71 kps. Duration--4 days.

Dec. 10 Monocerids: Radiant-- near Gemini. 12 per hour.

Dec. 11 Sigma Hydrids: Radiant--near Head. 12 per hour, fast.

Dec. 14 Geminids: Radiant--near Castor. 60 per hour, many bright, white but few trails. Icarus, the Earth-crossing astroid seems to be the parent. Duration--6 days.

Dec. 14 Leo Minorids: 10 per hour, somewhat faint. Discovered by amateurs in 1971.

Dec. 20 Delta Arietids: 12 per hour, must view in early evening, before radiant sets.

Dec. 22 Ursids: Radiant--Little Dipper Bowl. Medium speed, 20 per hour, many with bright trails. Duration--2 days

Source: ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/astro/dbases/stars/potporri.txt

I find it is comforting to bring nature inside in as many ways as possible.
Plants, and pictures of nature are two ways to do so. I have always used both, and space pictures have always been part of my designs.

Now there are even decals of the universe to put all over the ceiling... and walls... and there are neon crayons for the artists who want to draw their own...

I once took hours and placed stars and planets all over the ceiling of my bedroom in a replica of a star map.

Meanwhile my son did his randomly, just splashing stars everywhere with total abandon and even putting some on the ceiling fan blades.

Guess what? His looked just as nice at night with the lights off. In fact, the stars on the blades made them seem to float in space like real stars... Beautiful!

Here are some stars to light up your rooms!