Perseid Meteor Shower This Week

[mitch5252]

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If anyone likes to watch shooting stars, this year's Perseid Meteor Shower is supposed to be spectacular!

Article #1
August 12, 13 - Perseids Meteor Shower. The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak. This year's shower should peak on the night of August 12 and the morning of the 13th, but you may be able to see some meteors any time from July 23 - August 22. The radiant point for this shower will be in the constellation Perseus. The thin, crescent moon will be out of the way early, setting the stage for a potentially spectacular show. For best viewing, look to the northeast after midnight.

Article #2
August 12 and 13, 2010 Perseids - and when we say August 12 or 13, we mean the morning hours after midnight … not that night. These typically fast and bright meteors radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus the Hero. But you don’t need to know Perseus to watch the shower. The meteors appear in all parts of the sky. The Perseids are considered by many people to be the year’s best shower, and often peak at 50 or more meteors per hour. 2010 is a great year for the Perseids. This year, the slender waxing crescent moon will set at early evening, leaving a dark sky for this year’s Perseid show. The Perseids tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into midnight, and typically produce the most meteors in the wee hours before dawn. These meteors are often bright and frequently leave persistent trains. On the mornings of August 12 and 13, watch the Perseid meteors streak across this short summer night from midnight until dawn. Lie back and watch meteors until dawn’s light washes the stars and planets from the sky. The morning of August 11 should be good, too – in fact, this shower tends to rise gradually to a peak for about a week. Then it’s known to drop off rapidly after the peak mornings.

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[Bethers]

Hmmm Liz will be here - they are calling for rain Thursday night - but if the skies are clear - maybe we need to stay up all night - watch these during the night and the sunrise in the morning. Will be watching for clear skies here.

Thanks, Mitch for the timely reminder. Had completely forgotten about them.

[cpatinjones]

Thanks for the info.

[mitch5252]

Tonight, after midnight, is the big night. I just set my alarm for 3:00 AM! To quote Soos, ACK!
But we're all cloudy. First time in weeks we have clouds. Had to be TONIGHT!!! Dang.

Anyway, hopefully, some of you who want to watch, won't have clouds!!!

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[VickieP]

Our local weatherman was talking about it tonight on the 6pm news, but he said it would be too cloudy for us to see.

[snowball]

If I remember will have to look out before I go to bed thanks for reminding me
sheila

[BarbaraRose]

I think they will be going on tomorrow night as well, so maybe it will clear up in the areas that are cloudy tonight.

[Bethers]

Liz and I took the kayaks out about 4:30 am and got to see some - should have gone even earlier - but I was proud of myself getting out of bed at 4. Might try again tomorrow. We got lucky - were a few wispy clouds, but stars were shining through, and so the meteors were visible.

[sharon]

Stayed up until 12:30, Chewy, Sam and I watched the clear skies for about a half hour, saw nothing, went to bed.

[mitch5252]

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Alarm went off at 3:00. I cursed at it. Finally went outside at 4:00. Gorgeous, star-filled night. Saw 10 shooting stars in about 10 minutes, with the last one being pretty spectacular. So on that note, I headed back to bed.

We have a houseful of company arriving today for a long weekend, so we'll sit out again tonight, this time earlier, and with cocktails.

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