Anyone up for a meteor watch? The Perseids peak Aug 11 & 12 [View all]

[LongTomH]

This year may be spectacular! Phil Plait comments on his Bad Astronomy blog: How to watch the 2016 Perseid meteor shower:

The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks this year on Aug. 11 and 12, with the best viewing after local midnight. The shower is one of the very best of the year, with 60 or more shooting stars visible every hour.

I have a viewing guide below, but first there’s some unusual news: The shower may have a rare outburst, a big uptick in activity, this year!

........//snip

This outburst should occur on the night of Aug 11 and 12. It’s not clear if it will happen, or when—these things are pretty difficult to predict—so I advise you go out shortly before midnight and stay out as long as you can. If you miss it, don’t fret: The shower will still be nice the next night, too. As I describe below, the later at night you can stay out the better.

Read the article for Phil's viewing guide: http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/08/05/how_to_watch_the_2016_perseid_meteor_shower.html

If skies are cloudy where you are (They're predicted to be cloudy here in KC), you can always watch the NASA Livestream.


The Perseids over Denver in 2012


Astronaut Ron Garan captured this image of a Perseid meteor from the International Space Station in 2011


The Astronomy Picture of the Day website for Aug 8, featured this magnificent pic of the Perseids over Mt. Shasta, CA.