* Astronomy

GAIA intersects a Perseid meteoroid

In orbit at the second Sun-Earth/Moon Lagrange point (L2), Gaia is exposed to a flux of high-velocity meteoroids. When a meteoroid strikes Gaia, these particles carry enough momentum to disturb the spacecraft attitude and at the same time cause local heating and deformation of the spacecraft structure. The Gaia measurements of a single meteoroid strike from 2015 are presented here.
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Perseids 2015: visual data quicklook

http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2015/

The Perseids meteor shower peak is predicted at 09:00 UT or 11:00 UT, 13th August, 2015.

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The Winter When the Stars Fell

It was the Winter When the Stars Fell. The white men said it was 1833...August 12. It was our Month of the Snapping Trees. The evening started quietly, the stars and constellations turning slowly silently overhead. Every now and then a meteor, like a falling star, would streak across the heavens as on any evening. But this was to be no ordinary night. For now there were falling stars everywhere, and then more...thousands every minute. Beyond all counting.
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