Perseids - August Meteor Shower

[токамак]

Tonight and tomorrow night will see peak activity - when earth passes through the core of dust debris left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. If you have a clear sky you should see plenty of shooting stars.

More info.

Perseid shower to produce 'shooting stars' - space - 10 August 2009 - New Scientist

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Skywatchers set for meteor shower

[nuttycyclist]

Dear Aunty Beeb, please stop confusing me.

In the UK, the best times to see the Perseids are likely to be on the morning of 12 August before dawn and from late evening on the 12th through to the early hours of the 13 August.

But your BBC breakfast show this morning was telling me to watch between 9pm and midnight tonight 

[токамак]

Just look up when it's dark.

[delthebike]

Just look up when it's dark.

Go outside the house first though!   

[Moloko]

Just watch out for those Triffids the next day.
Oh, sorry... You can't. Fuck!!!

[Basil]

Just look up when it's dark.

Go outside the house first though!  

Here's a tip.  Take a nice bottle of wine out with you.  You'll see double the number of shooting stars.  


But thanks for the Heads Up ( ), I'd forgotten about this.

[Rob S]

Just head for Plymouth tonight and tomorrow night and you'll see loads of shooting stars of all colours, in all directions, in three clumps of about 10 minutes each and there will be burger vans there too. And then on Thursday it will be reported in the newspaper which clump of shooting stars was the best.

[Wobbly John]

Not the best evening for it - some cloud and wind blowing trees about enough to distract.

Spent about an hour sitting out in the garden with a beer and good tracks on th'MP3 player. Only spotted half a dozen or so, but there were some spectacularly bright ones this time. 

[Jaded]

It is arse cloudy windy stuff tonight.

I'm hoping for much clearness tomorrow night.

[Chris N]

Saw five last night in about half an hour, before it clouded over.  Hope it clears up this evening.

[Thor]

'Twas clear in Herts.  We watched for 10 mins or so, but saw only one.

There are a lot of aircraft up there.   

[токамак]

Spotted some corkers last night - about 6 I think*, with long bright trails. Lovely clear night for it over Chelmsford. Could see some low earth orbit satellites too - one in particular flared up in brightness as it tracked across the sky, I guess that would be solar panels catching the sun full on and reflecting back in my direction?

Not looking like such a good night tonight, with the forecast cloud cover.

*between around 21:30 and 23:00

[hellymedic]

The Astronomer Partner eschewed the Perseids in favour of imaging Jupiter and then (I think) a deep sky object, returnig to bed at around silly (probably 0530) o'clock; he is asleep and I am tired.

[Chris S]

There were one or two decent ones visible here before the cloud came over. We're in a good location - no light pollution to speak of. The moon wasn't helpful though.

Only one really bright one that left a trail for several seconds. They are my favourites.

[nuttycyclist]

I didn't go out to look last night because the news articles said that tonight was the night to watch.

<----   easily confused.

[токамак]

I didn't go out to look last night because the news articles said that tonight was the night to watch.

It is one of the nights, unfortunately tonight will be cloudy, so you've blown your chance!

[David Martin]

I didn't go out to look last night because the news articles said that tonight was the night to watch.

It is one of the nights, unfortunately tonight will be cloudy, so you've blown your chance!

Predicted to be clear up the east coast from the Wash to Aberdeen.

..d

[Jaded]

28% cloud up here in the NW apparently. Maybe we'll see some. Which direction should I look in?

[Chris N]

NE, according to the beeb:

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Skywatchers set for meteor shower

[Kathy]

NE, according to the beeb:

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Skywatchers set for meteor shower

Bugger. I live to the south-west of London.

I was going to have a look tonight, but there's not much point - there'll just be an orange glow. 

[токамак]

Which direction should I look in?

Umm, up! Sorry, actually they can appear pretty much anywhere in the sky, but mostly appear to all follow the same direction. The ideal location is a wide open space where you can observe a large portion of the sky. Failing that I find straight up is a good bet - they sky is darkest there so any that do cross will really stand out.

[clarion]

London doesn't have stars

[токамак]

Perseids meteor shower: stargazers told to head north | News | guardian.co.uk

Should have been out last night...

[Basil]

London doesn't have stars

In Birmingham you can see all 12 of them 

[токамак]

Managed to catch a couple last night before the cloud rolled over at about 22:30. Not as spectacular as Tuesday evening. There were bunch of enthusiasts in York interviewed on Radio 4 (The World Tonight) who seemed to be enjoying themselves though!