Observing Meteors, Comets, Supernovae and other Transient Phenomena [Paperback]

Many books cover permanent astronomical objects, but few consider transient, out-of-the-ordinary astronomical phenomena. This book covers a wide range of topics, from the partly-predictable to the totally unpredictable. At one end: of the scale, it gives advice on the best ways to observe meteors, and at the other end:, it describes the best methods for undertaking painstaking searches for new comets and supernovae. The book also includes material about phenomena that occur in the lower atmosphere, such as ozone eaters , nacreous clouds, and solar and lunar halos.1 Introduction.- 2 Meteors.- 2.1 The Leonids: A Storm Coming?.- 2.1.1 The Quiet-time Leonids, 19701993.- 2.1.2 On the Rise: 19941996.- 2.1.3 The Possible Storm Years: 19972000.- 2.1.4 Observing the Leonids.- 2.2 The Perseids: The Unexpected Rise of Old Faithful.- 2.3 Other Showers in Outburst.- 2.4 Fireballs.- 3 Aurorae and other Atmospheric Phenomena.- 3.1 Auroral Storms.- 3.1.1 The Causes of Auroral Activity.- 3.1.2 Auroral Substorms.- 3.1.3 Geomagnetic Storms.- 3.1.4 Observing the Aurora.- 3.2 Noctilucent Clouds.- 3.2.1 Observing Noctilucent Clouds.- 3.3 Synthetic Atmospheric Phenomena.- 4 The Sun.- 4.1 Observing the Sun in White Light.- 4.2 Monochromatic-light Observations: The Sun in Hydrogen-alpha.- 4.3 Solar Eclipses.- 5 The Moon.- 5.1 Transient Lunar Phenomena.- 5.2 Lunar Occultations.- 5.2.1 Observing Occultations.- 5.2.2 Grazing Occultations.- 5.2.3 Electronic Observing.- 5.3 Lunar Eclipses.- 6 The Planets.- 6.1 Venus.- 6.1.1 Transits of Mercury and Venus.- 6.2 Mars.- 6.3 Jupiter.- 6.3.1 The Shoemaker-Levy 9 Impacts of 1994 July.- 6.4 Saturn.- 6.5 Planetary Occultations.- 7 Small Bodies of the Solar System.- 7.1 Asteroids.- 7.1.1 Asteroid Occultations.- 7.2 The Galilean Satellites of Jupiter.- 7.2.1 Mutual Phenomena of Jupiters Satellites.- 7.3 Saturns Satellites.- 7.3.1 The Occultation of 28 Sagittarii by Titan.- 8 Comets.- 8.1 The Nature and Origin of Comets.- 8.2 Comet Discoveries.- 8.3ls›