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Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","Introduction","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/080808-perseids-brill.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Ethan Miller", "Getty Images", "274", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b> <P style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">Introduction</P></b><p><br><a href=\"http://www.msnbc.com\"><img src=\" http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/Art/source-msnbc-com-newlogo.gif\" align=\"center\" border=0></a><br ALIGN=LEFT><i>By John Roach, contributor</i><br></BR><br>Spend a night stargazing, and chances are that at least one &#147;star&#148; will appear to suddenly shoot across the sky. Shooting stars occur when tiny flecks of dust and debris &#150; shed by comets during their trips through the inner solar system &#150; burn up in Earth's atmosphere, causing a streak of light. When Earth passes through a particularly dense debris trail, we're treated to a meteor shower. The showers are usually named after the area of the sky from which they appear to originate. For example, August&#146;s Perseids seem to emanate from the constellation Perseus. Click the \"Next\" arrow above to learn more about the Perseids as well as six other major showers, plus a handful of minor showers. Happy stargazing!";

Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","August: Perseids, the crowd favorite","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040810/040810_perseid_hlg_5p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Ali Jarekji", "Reuters file", "273", "355", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">August: Perseids, the crowd favorite</p></b><p><br>The annual Perseid meteor shower is considered one of the best &#150; and most viewed &#150; sky show of the year, every year. It's the best because at the peak in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 12, dozens of meteors per hour can be seen streaking across the sky at a blazing fast 132,000 miles per hour. It also helps that mid-August is a pleasant time of year to head outside and gaze at the stars. The meteors occur when the Earth orbits through a trail of dusty debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. In this long-exposure image, a Perseid meteor streaks over the deserts of Jordan.";

Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","October: Orionids, little bits of Comet Halley","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/071018/071018_orionid-1person.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Joe Klein", "msnbc.com First Person", "273", "342", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">October: Orionids, little bits of Comet Halley</p></b><p><br>As the fall foliage begins to wane in mid-October, leaf peepers can turn their gaze skyward and catch an eyeful of the Orionids. The meteor shower generally runs from Oct. 15 to 29, peaking between Oct. 20 and 22. Most astronomers believe the Orionids occur when Earth passes through dust released by Halley's Comet. The maximum meteor rate can reach about 20 shooting stars per hour, but the rate is often unpredictable. This may be because the comet has left heavy as well as light filaments of debris in its wake during its 76-year-long laps around the sun. Photographer Joe Klein captured this Orionid meteor streak just after midnight on Oct. 23, 2006, from the hills to the east of San Diego.";

Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","November: The occasionally spectacular Leonids","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061117/061117_leonid_shower_hmed_9a.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Stephen Shaver", "AFP - Getty Images file", "273", "420", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">November: The occasionally spectacular Leonids</p></b><p><br>Every 33 years or so, the annual Leonid meteor shower is a veritable storm, with hundreds of shooting stars per hour, as seen in this image from 1998 of the night sky over the Great Wall of China. The impressive display results from debris shed by Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle as it passes through the inner solar system. The stormy years following the comet's latest pass winked out in 2002. Nevertheless, the Leonids occasionally surprise viewers during the off years with a burst of activity. So a peek skyward may prove worthwhile during the shower's peak, usually on the night of Nov. 17-18. Just be sure to bundle up.";

Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","December: Geminids, reliable and remarkable","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/041210/041210_geminids_vmed.hmedium.jpg","","Image: mummified Chinchorro baby ", "", "", "", "", "", "Jimmy Westlake", "Colorado Mountain College", "273", "187", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">December: Geminids, reliable and remarkable</p></b><p><br>If only it weren't so darn cold in December, the annual Geminid meteor shower might be as well-known &#150; and as widely seen &#150; as the Perseids in August. The shower runs Dec. 6-18, with the peak on the night of Dec. 13-14. More than 100 meteors per hour can be seen when the viewing conditions are at their best. The display, as seen in this time-exposure photo, is remarkable in and of itself &#150; but the Geminid meteor shower is also notable because it may be the only one spawned by an asteroid, not a comet. Some scientists believe the asteroid, 3200 Phaethon, got a debris tail from a collision with another space rock. Another theory is that the asteroid is actually a comet, albeit burned out.";

Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","January: The unpredictable Quadrantids","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/080808-Science-Quadrantids.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Jeremie Vaubaillon", "273", "410", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">January: The unpredictable Quadrantids</p></b><p><br>The New Year gets off to a showery bang with the peak of the annual Quadrantid meteors, usually in the morning hours of Jan. 4. The short, intense burst has a reputation for being frustratingly unpredictable. For starters, peak intensity lasts just eight hours, and the meteors emanate from a part of the sky that doesn't rise above the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere until after midnight. That means the eight-hour window needs to occur before sunrise, which sometimes doesn't happen. And then there's the weather. This is January, after all. But those who hit the jackpot can expect dozens of meteors per hour, sometimes more than 100. This composite image shows the meteors and the aurora borealis.";

Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","April: Lyrids, a welcome trickle","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070420/ns_MeteorShower_070420_02.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Space.com", "273", "274", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">April: Lyrids, a welcome trickle</p></b><p><br>April's Lyrids end a months-long meteor shower drought with a peak of about 10 to 20 meteors per hour in the pre-dawn hours of April 22. For a few days on either side of the maximum, stargazers can often catch 5 to 10 Lyrids per hour as well. The meteors are bits of debris shed by Comet Thatcher, which last appeared in 1861 in its 415-year circuit around the sun. The first observations of the Lyrids may extend back to 687 B.C., when Chinese observers noted that the \"stars fell like rain.\" That would make the Lyrids the world&#146;s oldest recorded shower. On occasion, the shower is remarkably intense. In 1982, rates of 90 an hour were recorded, for example. The shower radiates from Lyra, as shown in this star chart.";

Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","May: Eta Aquarids, first crossing of Halley's stream","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/080808_Science_Aquarids.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "NASA", "273", "269", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">May: Eta Aquarids, first crossing of Halley's stream</p></b><p><br>Like October&#146;s Orionids, the Eta Aquarids sparkle with debris left behind by Comet Halley. The meteor shower is best viewed in the Southern Hemisphere, where rates can reach 30 per hour in the pre-dawn hours of May 6. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteors radiate from a patch of sky that rises just a few hours before morning twilight, treating observers to rates of about 10 per hour. Occasionally, northern observers are treated to \"earth grazers,\" meteors that skim slowly and horizontally through the upper atmosphere. This image, taken by the Giotto spacecraft in 1986, shows debris boiling off Comet Halley.";

Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i++] = new Array("","Other notable meteor showers","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/080809-meteor-hmed-3p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Carolyn Kaster", "AP file", "273", "366", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Tech_WeirdScience_MeteorShowers[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\">Other notable meteor showers</p></b><p><br>The Alpha and Beta Centaurids are minor showers in February best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. The peak intensity of 3 to 14 meteors per hour occurs around Feb. 8. The southern Delta Aquarids peak around July 29 with rates of 15 to 20 per hour. The Alpha Capricornids, another minor summer shower, has a peak of 10 per hour around July 31 and Aug. 1. Broken-up Comet Encke is thought to give rise to the Taurids in late October and early November, often producing slow-moving fireballs. The Ursids peak at about 10 per hour in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 23. Some years get unexpected, short-lived outbursts of 100 Ursids per hour. Stargazers herald Cherry Springs State Park, Pa. &#150; one of a small but growing number of \"dark sky\" parks (shown here) &#150; as one of the best locations to see a meteor. Wherever you are, get outside and enjoy.";

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