Perseid meteor time
CherylFan
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I Gather tonight is prime time for Perseid meteors. Anyone seen any yet?
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CherylFan
Posts: 1,620 CherylFan
Posts: 1,620 CherylFan
Posts: 1,620 CherylFan
Posts: 1,620
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(If it's not cloudy >:( )
(I'm in the very SE of England.)
Look to the north, the pole star. The constellation of Persius is down a little and to the right, roughly 10 degrees and 10 degrees.
I read the 12th.
I've been out for an hour and the conditions are perfect. Only saw two though.
Gonna go out again in a couple.
Just been out to have a look and there's too much cloud cover. All I saw was a little flash through a small cloud and a satellite. I'll try again tomorrow.
Edit:
The 2015 Perseid meteor shower will peak on August 11, 12 and 13. A new moon on August 14, 2015 will create perfect conditions for watching the meteor shower.
When Can I See the Perseids?
The Perseid meteor shower, one of the brighter meteor showers of the year, occur every year between July 17 and August 24. The shower tends to peak around August 9-13.
The best time to view the Perseids, or most other meteor showers is when the sky is the darkest. Most astronomers suggest that depending on the Moon’s phase, the best time to view meteor showers is right before dawn.
My bad. What they actually said was in the early hours of the 13th. So Wednesday night, yes.
That would tally with what Pete Lawrence said on The Sky at Night.
Though the Perseids shower lasts for more than 3 weeks in total - they've been building up for a couple of weeks already, and after the 12th/13th they'll fade away over a period of about a week or so.
The radiant is at the upper end of Perseus, near Cassiopeia, which is to the North-East, about halfway up from horizon to zenith at midnight, and will climb higher as the night goes on.
Shower meteors don't appear AT the radiant, but appear to shoot away from it, with most appearing to begin, between 15 and 45 degrees away from the radiant. So best chance to see Perseids will be to look either North, or East, or overhead (20 or 30 degrees away from the radiant)
They can appear almost anywhere in the sky though, but if they are assosciated with the shower, they'll shoot away from that point in Perseus.
Best time is from midnight onwards - particularly the last hour before the sky starts brightening.
There's also a minor shower (the 'Delta Aquarids') currently tailing off - If you see a meteor coming 'from' low to the South-East, it's probably a Delta Aquarid.
*** shameless plug ***
Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I'll be up at the Tan Hill Inn to watch the peak of the shower, with a few mates from the Bishop Auckland Astronomical Society.
As well as watching the shower, a few of us are taking telescopes and will be doing a bit of 'outreach' (if anyone turns up - LOL)
*weather permitting of course
Think I might spend all night until dawn, flat out on the lawn.
It's cloudy. Completely cloudy.
I've seen the big ones that cause a massive flash through clouds.
I never have
Hopefully it might be clearer tomorrow or Thursday...
It's clear here. I have my blinds open, but haven't seen anything yet
Tremendously bright with a big smoke trail.
First one I've seen tonight.
Logging off to enjoy the show now.