Perseids to ignite across skies late this week in one of best meteor viewing opportun

[NAC4EV]

The shower's peak will occur on Thursday night, but Friday night will also offer a good opportunity for those looking to experience the Perseids, according to NASA.

http://www.spacedex.com/perseids/

Discovered during the American Civil War by astronomers Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet colliding with the planet and burning up in the atmosphere provides the spectacular light show, but cloudy skies might block the view for some stargazers.

"One of the best things about the Perseids meteor shower is the fact it occurs during the summer months across the Northern Hemisphere," AccuWeather Meteorologist and astronomy blogger Dave Samuhel said. "Summer tends to feature more clear skies than the colder seasons."

The most likely area to have cloud cover will be the Gulf Coast, he added.

"A storm that will likely capture headlines with flooding this week will slowly move west across the Gulf Coast," Samuhel said. "This feature will likely bring clouds from Louisiana east through Florida, including Mississippi, Alabama and perhaps Georgia."

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm kind of in between "poor" and "fair" so we'll see. I saw a few last night, going to go check nightly, it's not at the peak yet.

I have a fish eye lens now too, so can definitely have some fun with that.

 

[NAC4EV]

Did you click the link and check your location???
My location is going to be excellent.

 

[Spacehead]

Aaaand the clouds start rolling in. Cloudy & chance of rain till at least Saturday.


http://www.spaceweather.com/

PERSEID METEOR OUTBURST:

The Perseid meteor shower peaks this week, and it could be twice a good as usual. Forecasters say the meteor rate could surge to 200+ meteors per hour on Aug. 11-12.

All Sky Fireball Network
On Aug. 9, 2016, the network reported 82 fireballs.
(52 sporadics, 28 Perseids, 1 , 1 Southern delta Aquariid)

 

[Red Squirrel]

Says great visibility for all Ontario but on map it shows north as being better, think I fall in that section, I imagine that's still somewhat estimated and not actually night/day between that zone. So I'm thinking I will probably in fact get good coverage this year. So far there's not too many clouds either. Typically we get screwed over by cloud cover when stuff like this happens. So might be a good year.

 

[IronWing]

We have clouds at the moment but hope springs eternal. Note: that site has the date of the full moon off by a week (the full moon is on Aug 18).

 

[zinfamous]

Hmm, seems a bit early for this year. But we have overcast and possible storms for the rest of the week.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Same here

Hmm, seems a bit early for this year. But we have overcast and possible storms for the rest of the week.

 

[dainthomas]

Supposed to be clear as a bell over Oregon. There are even supposed to be a couple viewing parties in the Portland area put on by Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

 

[Spacehead]

Hmm, seems a bit early for this year.

Happens the same time every year.

 

[skyking]

A little too light out. I will get up at 4 and check it out.

 

[John Connor]

Happens the same time every year.

No fucking way! LOL


Seen a few already a couple days ago. But now we have some storms moving in so that figures.

 

[skyking]

Saw 1 good one at 4:30 this morning. Tomorrow I will set the alarm early and check it out.

 

[DrPizza]

Time to check them out if you're in an area without clouds. Every year it's overcast here. Very very disappointing again this year. But 20 years-ish ago, I got to see a meteor storm during the Perseids. Something I won't forget. Hundreds upon hundreds of them.

 

[DrPizza]

Holy crap! It's not overcast here. It was earlier; now it's as clear as could be. (Flashes on the S horizon from thunderstorms, though not a cloud in sight.) I'm seeing up to 5-8 per minute. Occasional spans of 30 seconds without one, then bam - 3 or 4 right in a row within seconds. Milky way is quite bright tonight - excellent viewing conditions.

 

[TheVrolok]

I was at work all night and forgot to go out and look.. Although I think we were cloud covered

 

[PottedMeat]

crystal clear in north tx. saw ~8 in about a half hour starting at ~1:30am. by the time i shifted my eyes to focus the streak was gone

 

[Nohr]

I stayed out until 5 this morning and saw quite a few. Here's the best two photos that I took.


Perseid & Cepheus


Perseid & Cepheus

 

[DrPizza]

Nice shots. Because of the forecast, I didn't work on getting my camera set up ahead of time - replacing batteries in the remote timer, making sure it was focused as perfectly as possible (since there's nothing to actually see and focus on in the sky). I would have ended up with several photos of up to 3 or 4 within the field of view of the camera in an exposure time of 20-30 seconds.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Nohr, what area is that from?

Edit: Nevermind, I just had to read the description on the flickr page. D'oh

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have to get up early tomorrow, so I can't stay up late. :/ 1-3am or so is usually prime time for night sky as it's at it's darkest. It looks like the clouds are clearing up too.

 

[Fenixgoon]

i got lucky
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...Villier_Andrew_20160812_7988.jpg?format=1500w

 

[Red Squirrel]

Nice!

I might get lucky after all, turns out I don't have to be up as early as I figured tomorrow, so I can stay up late, and the clouds are not as dense, but still more of them than I'd like, so hopefully it clears up. Only 9ish now so still a few hours before it gets dark enough.

 

[Riparian]

Nice!

I might get lucky after all, turns out I don't have to be up as early as I figured tomorrow, so I can stay up late, and the clouds are not as dense, but still more of them than I'd like, so hopefully it clears up. Only 9ish now so still a few hours before it gets dark enough.

I drove up to San Manuel Amphitheater area Thursday night and was able to see quite a few of the meteors quite clearly. If you're looking for somewhere a bit darker than the Ontario city areas, that's a decent option, although there's still a heavy amount of light pollution even there.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can see stars decently from the field in front of my house, actually. That's provided there's no clouds, which there is right now. :/ Just went to check and I can see the odd star but most of the sky is covered. Going to check back again later. I can drive a bit further if I want to get out of the street light area as well.

I imagine driving like 50km or so from the city would probably be even more optimal. But don't really like highway driving at night.