myhousekey Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/8935687.html August is the best month overall to view meteors from the Northern Hemisphere, according to Robert Lunsford, operations manager of the American Meteor Society. And conditions are ideal this year because the Perseid meteor shower peaks on the new-Moon night of Sunday–Monday, August 12–13. The Perseids are one of the two strongest and most reliable annual meteor showers. (The other is December's Geminids.) And while some showers produce brief bursts lasting just a few hours, the Perseids have a broad peak. So don't despair if clouds are forecast for Sunday night — or if work obligations prevent you from staying up until dawn on Monday. Even now, a week before the peak, you can see up to a dozen Perseids per hour if conditions are perfect. That's stronger than some meteor showers at their best! The meteor rate increases to roughly 30 per hour in the predawn hours on Saturday, 45 per hour on Sunday morning, and 80 per hour before the sky starts to get light on Monday morning. That's for a single observer at a dark-sky site in the north temperate latitudes. On any given night, activity starts slowly in the evening but picks up by 11 p.m., when the radiant gets reasonably high in the sky. The meteor rate increases steadily through the night as the radiant rises higher, peaking just before the sky starts to get light, roughly 1½ to 2 hours before sunrise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moss6 Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Woke the kids up at 3:30am last night to watch - my 8 yr old boy just kept falling asleep outside although he was determined to try ------ was just ok, supposed to be better tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myhousekey Posted August 13, 2007 Author Share Posted August 13, 2007 (edited) Just saw a huge meteor fly thru the sky. I've seen lots of "shooting stars" in the past but this one definitely took me by surprise with how bright it was and how long it streaked across the sky. Hopefully as the night goes on (and the light pollution dies down) the show will be even better. Edit: The ones I've seen were going from east to west... Edited August 13, 2007 by myhousekey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 (edited) just saw one or two.... nothing unusual though. did see a light go accross the sky... didn't seem like a plane. edit: so far the ones i've seen are coming from the west...how about you? Edited August 13, 2007 by Bier Meister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Just came in from an hour watching in the back yard. The few we saw were going N to S or S to N, roughly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 (edited) started to see more of them.. some with decent sized tails... the ones i am seeing are going east to west. a fricking neighbor who isn't there has their porch light on. Edited August 13, 2007 by Bier Meister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 clouds rolled in... cloudy all night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 I forgot all about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nogohawk Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 I forgot all about it. Me too ... Hopefully will be able to see some tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myhousekey Posted August 13, 2007 Author Share Posted August 13, 2007 Went out at 2 different times last night and didn't see too much. Guess there was just too much light pollution radiating from Dallas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Linguist Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 (edited) I was hoping to catch some on the camera last nite, similar to the northern lights i did last year. It may be cool to do long exposures with the streaks across the sky and lake michigan in the background. I was out about an hour but saw nothing from 1-2am. If its clear i mat try again tonight or early am Edited August 13, 2007 by Cunning Linguist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 I assume these will still be going tonight...yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgaddis Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 I assume these will still be going tonight...yes? Nope, they just announced that they cancelled the meteors for tonite...dam... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Linguist Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Nope, they just announced that they cancelled the meteors for tonite...dam... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Nope, they just announced that they cancelled the meteors for tonite...dam... Bastard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanzzzz Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 we got forest fires, it is too smokey to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Linguist Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 I got up at 4:30 this morning only to see rain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 It was cloudy all night long here ... maybe tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxfactor Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Went out last 2 nights and didn't see squat. Of course I live southwest of the city so I had to look towards the city to see anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncosn05 Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Is this still going on? I live way far away from Denver and the stars are real bright so I'd be really interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nogohawk Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Went out Tues AM (about 1:45 AM EST) and saw 6 in about 20 mins. - one real nice reddish streak & fairly wide. The more amazing thing was just the number of stars you could see in the sky - it was difficult to pick out the major constellations with all the stars - really nice look at the Milky Way. Went back out again at 5 AM - saw 3 more. Didn't go out last night, but might try again tonight if we don't get rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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