* Astronomy

Kappa-Cygnids meteor shower in the constellation Draco, 18th August, 2012

"I have identified another minor planet that is likely responsible for one of our meteor showers. The cometary breakup that created the Kappa Cygnid meteor shower 4000 to 6000 years ago has a fragment remaining: minor planet 2008 ED69.

We conclude that the Kappa Cygnid stream was created in the breakup of a Jupiter-family comet around 4000-1600 BC, 2-3 nutation cycles ago. The now mostly dormant minor planet 2008 ED69 is a remnant. Most of the debris passes close to the orbit of Venus, making the Kappa Cygnids a significant shower on Venus. Fortunately, the cloud of debris stretches far enough from the comet position to make the Kappa Cygnids also a joy for Earth-bound observers, including myself, who will never look at this shower with the same eyes again.
2008 ED69 is closest to Earth on June 22, and brightest in the first week of June when its apparent visual magnitude +18.45 makes it a point of light in the constellation of Cassiopeia."

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The UK coastguard were inundated with frantic phone calls at the weekend after a bright fireball was seen plunging from the sky over the Hebrides, prompting fears of a plane crash.
Seven shore rescue teams were scrambled from the Butt to Barra in a search of the islands' coastline.
A large-scale disaster was initially expected following the 999 calls.
But the emergency response was called off before any lifeboats were launched after an unusually spectacular meteor shower was deemed responsible for the fireworks in the sky.

"We received numerous 999 calls with around 40 alone on Friday night. People were reporting seeing something like a plane going down with a trail of smoke behind it. It would have been a shooting star from the meteor activity. We discussed the situation with RAF Kinloss and other sources and concluded it was meteor activity. We got calls from all over such as Stoer on Skye and from Barra to Barvas" - coastguard spokesman.

The incident coincided with the Kappa Cygnid meteor stream which peaked at the weekend and continues for another fortnight.
Every seven years it may emit a series of bright fireballs.
Meteor showers can be caused by comets passing through space, leaving a trail of dust and ice.
If the Earth crosses this trail the comet fragments burn up in the atmosphere.
They appear from the ground as jets of bright light shooting across the sky.

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