Catch A Meteor (Beta)

This project is solving the “Catch a Meteor” Tracker challenge.

This project is an Android application allowing users to visualize a map of the night sky and note their observations of meteors, eventually to share their on social networks. It also provide help and tips for people willing to observe meteors who don't have the knowledge, and a forecast of the upcoming meteor showers.

Technologies used: Android, OpenGL, Google Sky Map, ORMLite... and 2 keyboards !

Features: Guide & Help to observe meteors, List of this year's meteor showers, Interactive 3D space map, Storage of the observed meteors.

Future Features: Use of double tap on the interactive map to record an observation, Share observations, Report observation to scientific organizations, and more...

Meteor Showers data found on the American Meteor Society Website (cf. project resources). Thanks to Joel Chia for the design of the application splash screen and icon.

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Nasa's International Space Apps Challenge:

http://spaceappschallenge.org/challenge/catch-a-meteor-tracker/

Background:

Each year, millions of observable, unexpected meteors encounter the Earth's atmosphere and become a spectacle to the population below. Many of the brighter "shooting stars" actually reach the surface of the Earth, becoming "meteorites", encapsulating secrets of our universe in their charred remains.

The meteor that fell over Chelyabinsk in February of this year produced meteorites with a mass of over 1 kg. Most meteorites, however, are very small and often break into even smaller pieces before landing in remote areas, hiding in plain sight as the moisture of Earth's atmosphere degrades them.

Challenge Description:

Educate the interested public about the science of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), the likelihood of encounters with objects of various sizes, and the discoveries that are made by studying these rocky visitors to our planet.

Functional Specifications:

Enhance education on the subject of NEOs through visualizations, games, social media, and the building of an online community.

Techniques to observe with more accuracy, precision, or even with different methods (like building a radio receiver to "hear" the meteor as it encounters the ionosphere), could be shared by this community and enable it to be self-sustainable.

Look at meteor-tracking apps like those listed below and design something similar, but with an educational spin on it.

Resources

GMAT (http://gmat.gsfc.nasa.gov)

Meteor Counter (http://meteorcounter.com/)

Google Sky Map (http://www.google.com/mobile/skymap/)

Star Walk (http://vitotechnology.com/star-walk.html) Meteor Shower Guide (http://www.meteorshowerguide.com/)