The MESSENGER probe is circling Mercury right now. Why is it there? What’s so interesting about Mercury?

Special thanks to Amy Gahran for editing a great script and making it fun!

August 11th and 12th mark the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. But what is a meteor shower and what causes it? SkyGuy explains…

Special thanks to Amy Gahran for editing a great script and making it fun!
More about the Perseids:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/22jul_perseiddawn.htm
A list of meteor showers, world-wide:
http://www.obliquity.com/skyeye/misc/meteor.html
Sunrise calculator
http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/sunrise.html

Comets and shooting stars are very different beasts. But what exactly are they? SkyGuy gives the answer…