Perseid Meteors set to Dazzle..12th/13th of August

One of the year's most impressive meteor showers is firing up as the Earth swings through a trail of debris left by a comet.

The Perseids will peak on the night of 12 August, streaking through the dark skies of a New Moon. At its peak, the shower is expected to produce one or two meteors per minute, according to Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, Alabama, US.

The Earth is now on its way through comet Swift-Tuttle's tail, so Perseid meteors are already visible in the night sky.

The spectacle begins as Perseus rises in the northeastern sky around 2100 (9 pm) in every time zone. That is the best time to look for dazzling "earthgrazers": meteors that emerge from the horizon and glide overhead. Observers will be lucky to spot a few of these in an hour, Cooke says, but "they are among the most beautiful of meteors".

The Perseids will reach their peak in the pre-dawn hours of 13 August, with the added allure of Mars floating just below Perseus. By then, Cooke says, "dozens of Perseids may be flitting across the sky every hour".

Full New Scientist Article Here

Cool, looks like I'll be up watching!

Only ever seen one meteor before so a whole shower would be quite a spectacle. Hope I get a cloudless night and I'll crack open a bottle of homebrew and camp on the lawn.

Hope many of you get the chance to see this too.

Isn't it all just.....so..BIG?

Yea the Perseids are a great show. Let's cross our fingers and hope for clear skies on the 12th-13th.

Just 'A' homebrew. Geez, need to have several.

My homebrew is in 2 litre flip-top "grolsch" bottles

I think 1 is enough eh.

Enjoy the show.

Here's an update directed towards observers in the UK, but which also has implications for people observing in the US.

Late predictions of a clutch of possible additional Perseid maximum timings were issued by the IAU on August 3, based on independent work by Peter Jenniskens, Esko Lyytinen, I. Sato and Jeremie Vaubaillon. These included peaks around August 12, 22h55m UT (but not all researchers agreed on this timing; others suggested August 12, 22h42m UT or August 13, 00h27m UT; ZHRs probably just a weak addition to the existing rates, so perhaps not sensibly identifiable), August 13, ~04h UT (ZHRs unknown, suggested as due to a young stream filament) and August 13, ~10h UT (ZHRs 80 +/- 20). As these straddle the existing International Meteor Organization predictions given above, August 12-13 remains the key night for British watchers, but the importance of continuing to observe for as long as possible overnight then is emphasized, to get the best idea of when - or if - any of these predictions prove accurate.

Source

I saw them once out at sea where the only lights were from the Coast Guard cutter I was on and they were breathtaking.

That must have been awesome grover. "Breathtaking" is certainly a good word when it comes to describing meteor showers when they perform! Hope you manage to catch this years Perseids, and good luck if you do.

Sadly, it looks like over here in the UK will be clouded out on the peak, but I'll try and catch a few in the nights before, when there is a chance of some clear spells.

Good luck to all who try!

Gosh... Im gonna be on a plane towards London above the clouds at the hours of the peak Gotta get me a window seat... There's never been a case about a plane getting tagged by a meteor has there?

Not that I know of flice

You should have a great view from up there! Grab yourself a blanket (to shut out the light from inside the plane), and enjoy the show

They're coming!

I watched for a bit last night, as was treated to two in a row.
As well as a couple singles..This was in about 30 minutes of watching.

The two I saw, followed the exact same path in the sky. I suspect that not too long ago, they were part of the same chunk. Very nice long trails.

The cameras will be coming out over the weekend..I need to get more shots for my meager collection.

thanks for the pleasant thread! =)

i started to grow weary of "the NWO is making you breathe air even though it knows there's something better!" threads. it's been really hot and hazy all week, so hopefully we get a nice night to gaze.

spacedoubt,

They are already here

I was also out watching them last night (from 10.30PM to about 4.15 AM), but it was a little disappointing as I didn't see any more than I did on Monday night, and I was only out for 3 hours then. Mind you, it was a bit hazier, and about half way through I decided to set up a camera after the sky cleared up a bit more, which took me almost an hour due to various things not wanting to work as they should! Take a tip from me, and test your gear before hand to make sure it all works!

After all that, I saw 19 PER's and 9 others. A couple of them were quite nice, but nothing spectacular. Mostly they were faint, and a couple that did go through the camera's FOV did not register.

I'll probably try again tonight... there should be more about hopefully!

Originally posted by C.H.U.D.
spacedoubt,
They are already here

LOL. you got me there. That explains why I saw them..

We've got some absolutely clear skies this weekend.
Should be awesome viewing.
What camera gear are you using CHUD?

Originally posted by spacedoubt
What camera gear are you using CHUD?

A mixture of Canon and Nikon. 3 DSLRs in all. Just using the 5D in the runup to the Perseids peak, but the other 2 will come out for the peak, should it be clear.

I wish i had seen this thread a few days ago.

I saw only one of these on the 5th.Scared the life out of me.
Im about 1000 ft above sea level in the u.k. and its a little too cloudy to see anything at the moment.

Heres hoping that the clouds disappear in time for us all to see these or im going to have to go higher up (another 500 ft) at a tourist spot.

Please post pics if you can get any. They would be greatly appreciated.

Im a bit cheesed off as i havent got a working camera at the moment.
(Have a cheap telescope though).

tracey,

Sorry to hear you were clouded out. I'm in the SE, and we had pretty clear night here, apart from a few scraps of haze here and there. It was a great night, especially considering it's the night before the peak. If last night was anything to go by, then the peak tonight should be really spectacular. Lots of bright ones, and a good sprinkling of fireballs!

Try and go up to escape the cloud if you can tonight. If you manage to get above it, I'm sure you'll have an amazing night! If you can't tonight, then try on Monday if you can - there should still be plenty to see. Failing that, there's always this years Leonids, and the Geminids too. This year is a good one for meteor observing

Good luck!

By the way, don't bother with the telescope, you want as wide a field of view as possible! Instead, take a sleeping bag, and something to lay down on. Dress for winter too - you'll be thankfull for it! A hot drink and something to nibble on is a good idea too

PS. here is a gallery with Persied photos - keep an eye on it as it should grow over the next few days!

www.spaceweather.com...

Just been out for the last few hours with my kids on the back lawn, dressed in about a dozen layers led on our backs watching the skys.

I've had about 3 hours of non-stop questions about every aspect of atronomy i think.....including the issue of "What would happen if a meteor landed on your head dad?".

Saw about 4 up to now, but we dozed off

Kids are snoring away in bed now, i'll try and hold on for a few more hours to see some more.

CX.

I saw about 19 in a hour here in northern oregon it was pretty awesome... 11:30 to 12:45.... It was too cold so i went in and set my alarm for right before sunrise and didnt wake up always next year

I had a great night watching the meteors from on top of my roof that I am renovating.

Quite spectacular stuff. Never expected some of them to be so bright! wow.

Glad some of you also saw them, it's a big space out there isn't it?

Cheers