Its moldy in here go watch the sky.
OK, I've been seriously neglecting my site since... we'll about 2 years ago. Maybe its time to get things rolling again.
At any rate. Thought i'd let all know about the chance for a good meteor shower tonight.
Serious meteor hunters will begin their watch early, on Monday evening, August 11th, around 9 pm when Perseus first rises in the northeast. This is the time to look for Perseid Earthgrazers--meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond.
You can see the meteors anywhere, but looking to the north ease you'll see the one point where all meteors seem to be coming from!
For a while the Moon will interfere with the Perseids, lunar glare wiping out all but the brightest meteors. The situation reverses itself at 2 am on Tuesday morning, August 12th, when the Moon sets and leaves behind a dark sky for the Perseids. The shower will surge into the darkness, peppering the sky with dozens and perhaps hundreds of meteors until dawn.
For maximum effect, "get away from city lights," Cooke advises. The brightest Perseids can be seen from cities, he allows, but the greater flurry of faint, delicate meteors is visible only from the countryside.
The picture below shows where the radiant will be. (this is the point in the sky where it appears all meteors come from).
So get out and enjoy the view. Hopefully tonight will be a good show. For the best show go to bed early and get up at 2AM...
Comments
oh man.. i may just have to watch from my backyard... co is really set in his schedule now and hates his sleep to be disrupted...
Posted by: darcie | August 11, 2008 09:16 AM
:(...really was sad as instead we were able to watch as the thick wall-like cloud rolled thru, prohibiting us from seeing ANYTHING...always another to wait on..
Posted by: kristen | August 12, 2008 08:50 AM