Slightly Sketchy Meteors and Meteor Watch Day Itself

If you are looking for a slow moving meteor, with a quirky personality that makes its very appearance rather chancy, then you are in luck!   It is time for the Bootid meteor shower. 

Gets the name because it comes from the vicinity of Bootes -- and if you've ever been out on the lawn with Nancy during our Bondi Village Star Search nights, you'll know that as the base of the Ice Cream Cone that grows upward from Arcturus.  If you haven't, why not book a week here and come find out how to map out the skies above?

The source of the June Bootids is comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke (don't panic, you won't have to spell that on the test...)   which orbits the Sun once every 6.37 years.  The comet follows an elliptical path that carries if from near the orbit of Earth to just beyond the orbit of Jupiter.  The comet's tail is described as clumpy -- and when our planet passes through a dense spot in the debris stream, a meteor shower erupts.  It can be a chancy thing, due to the orbit, and the uneven density of the comet's tail.   As meteor showers go, this one is a bit sketchy, but since it coincides with Meteor Watch Day on June 30th, it's always worth looking up.

After all, if you see a shooting star, and make a wish, the legends say it will come true.