News About Deep Impacts On Earth 20-NOV-09 en-us Washington DC (SPX) Nov 17, 2009 - The annual Leonid meteor shower should be reaching its climax late tonight in the U.S., from about 1 a.m. your local time to dawn Tuesday morning November 17th. "Viewing conditions will be excellent, because the Moon won't be lighting the sky this year," says Alan MacRobert, senior editor of Sky and Telescope magazine.]]> Bonn, Germany (SPX) Nov 17, 2009 - A bright line of light appears across the night sky - and popular wisdom would have us believe that any person witnessing a shooting star is entitled to make a wish. With eyes closed, that person must then make their wish, but not tell anyone else what it is.]]> Greenbelt MD (SPX) Nov 16, 2009 - This year's Leonids meteor shower peaks on Tuesday, Nov. 17. If forecasters are correct, the shower should produce a mild but pretty sprinkling of meteors over North America followed by a more intense outburst over Asia.]]> Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 11, 2009 - A newly discovered asteroid designated 2009 VA, which is only about 7 meters in size, passed about 2 Earth radii (14,000 km) from the Earth's surface Nov. 6 at around 16:30 EST. This is the third-closest known (non-impacting) Earth approach on record for a cataloged asteroid.]]> Washington DC (SPX) Nov 11, 2009 - There apparently is a great deal of interest in celestial bodies, and their locations and trajectories at the end of the calendar year 2012. Now, I for one love a good book or movie as much as the next guy. But the stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science.]]> Huntsville AL (SPX) Nov 11, 2009 - This year's Leonid meteor shower peaks on Tuesday, Nov. 17th. If forecasters are correct, the shower should produce a mild but pretty sprinkling of meteors over North America followed by a more intense outburst over Asia. The phase of the Moon will be new, setting the stage for what could be one of the best Leonid showers in years.]]> Washington (AFP) Nov 9, 2009 - The world is not coming to an end on December 21, 2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie.]]> Riga, Latvia (RIA Novosti) Oct 26, 2009 - No one was injured after a meteorite fell near a small town in northern Latvia on Sunday, local Latvian media reported. According to media reports, the meteorite fell near a residential house on the outskirts of Mazsalaca town in the Valmiera district of Latvia, leaving a crater of some 20 meters (66 feet) in diameter and 10 meters (33 feet) deep.]]> Huntsville AL (SPX) Oct 22, 2009 - The false-color images above are composite images from 2009 Orionids meteor shower observations, as seen in the skies over Huntsville, Ala.]]> Huntsville AL (SPX) Oct 20, 2009 - The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show. "Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the Orionids," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour."]]>