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sonyc

Perseids

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Been watching these for over 30 years and they rarely disappoint.

The extract is from The Astronomer:

 

Perseids max Aug 12d 13h-16h UT

Despite not producing peak rates as high as those of the Geminids, the Perseid meteor shower remains the favourite for most observers. This is because, in addition to being rich in bright and trained meteors, it also occurs during summer in the northern hemisphere as opposed to the cold nights of December for the Geminids. In addition, the Perseids are rich in bright meteors, with more than a third leaving persistent trains.

Perseid activity can be seen from the last ten days of July through to the third week of August. The highest observed rates on any given night are likely to be seen when the radiant is highest in the sky late in the night. In some years, when the Earth encounters dust trails from old returns of the parent comet, there can be additional short-lived Perseid peaks.

In 2016, a strong enhancement of Perseid rates occurred during the late evening of Aug 11th. This was related to a 12-year periodicity in Perseid rates and continued the sequence of enhanced Perseid rates previously seen in 1968, 1980, 1992 and 2004.

Both Aug 11-12 (Tue-Wed) and Aug 12-13 (Wed-Thu) should be good nights for observing the Perseids from the UK, with the predicted ZHR peak occurring midway between them. The pre-dawn period of the former sees the radiant high in a slightly moonlit sky, while the evening of the latter offers darker skies but with the radiant less high up. Quite good rates should also be seen during Aug 10-11 (Mon-Tue) and during Aug 13-14 (Thu-Fri).

Although the Moon will have passed through Last Quarter early on August 11th, it will still be rising just before midnight UT on the above two nights and thus will affect observations in the second half of the night. Being located near the Aries-Taurus border on the former and near the Hyades on the latter, it will have moved much closer to the radiant since Full Moon.

With Full Moon occurring on August 3rd, observations of the early Perseids will be seriously affected by moonlight. In addition, at this time of the year, for observers at northerly latitudes, the waning gibbous Moon moves out of the evening sky only very slowly

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Yes forgot to look out today . Will certainly keep a look out this week, in particular Tues-Thurs mornings as should also then be out of the city, which I presume will make them even easier to see with less air pollution...

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They are sometimes slow moving and last many seconds moving across the sky but others appear as incandescent streaks of light that literally last a second or two (and bright). It's a joy to behold quite honestly.

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22 minutes ago, FenwayFrank said:

Sorry, what does this mean in plain English? 😁

Best ask Vic Reeves or Bob Mortimer😀

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Haha!!...sorry. It was late at night and perhaps I was in a half dream and too poetic.

Correction:

Read... "bright flashes of light" and "great to see"

Edited by sonyc

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I'm sure he would have got the Vic and Bob connection to "Shooting Stars". Those pair are nuts...along with a few on here.

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4 minutes ago, SHRIMPER said:

I'm sure he would have got the Vic and Bob connection to "Shooting Stars". Those pair are nuts...along with a few on here.

A big favourite that show actually. Hopefully will be a box set soon.

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Another excellent programme Shrimper. Think there is a new one out soon. Sure I saw an advert?

Follow the Fast Show and Bob Mortimer on twitter too. Always good.

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Now off out to see if there's any action up there tonight 

Edited by NFN FC

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1 hour ago, NFN FC said:

Now off out to see if there's any action up there tonight 

Not bad saw around 15 shooting stars on my hour out. Cheers for the heads up @sonyc

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14 hours ago, NFN FC said:

Not bad saw around 15 shooting stars on my hour out. Cheers for the heads up @sonyc

Wow, you were lucky! The weather has been cloudy up north so poor viewing. Wednesday and Thursday should be peak time (can expect 60 to 70 an hour ...or one a minute).

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1 minute ago, sonyc said:

Wow, you were lucky! The weather has been cloudy up north so poor viewing. Wednesday and Thursday should be peak time (can expect 60 to 70 an hour ...or one a minute).

Yeah, we will be going out for a late night stroll again if the clouds allow it. So nice when it is still so warm at midnight! 

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Well worth it tonight (in case anyone wants to spend 10 minutes or so in the garden!). Best area to watch is overhead (but if you know your summer sky between Cassiopeia and Cygnus, the latter being virtually overhead at this time).

Saw 6 in a 10 minute watch.  Two extremely bright and quick flashes (half a second?), some slower fainter ones and a couple that got brighter over their 10 second appearance. Strange always that this shower is not uniform.

Tomorrow is the best day (peak) and on into Thursday early morning.

Edited by sonyc

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Tonight from midnight till about five thirty is supposed to be the best time for them. I have on my phone an app called SKYVIEW LITE I have the free version which is excellent. Hit the app and hold the phone up and it tells you exactly what is above you. It is handy as it shows the outline of all the consterlations and names them. I was on a nav course years ago and plotting by the stars was a nightmare ( for me anyway) The old boys like my grandfather who could steer a ship with just a compass and sextant were exceptional men. Thank god for GPS is all I can say. 

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They were some belters, although very localised. Hopefully a clear sky for tonight up here. 👍

Apples

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Waking up stupidly early has some advantages. The stars are very bright and one, which according to the web is Venus, is looming very large.

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4 hours ago, Herman said:

Waking up stupidly early has some advantages. The stars are very bright and one, which according to the web is Venus, is looming very large.

It's famously called the Morning Star and The Evening Star depending on which side of the sun it is. As the sun rises of course you can't see Venus. You're honoured then to catch it early in the morning.

Mercury is another planet close to the sun and acts in the same way (soon to be a very early evening 'star,' not as bright though as Venus, but bright nevertheless, more than most stars anyway).

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Thanking you. I thought it was far too large to be star, and too stable to be a satellite or one of Musk's machines, and as it was directly east it ruled out the obvious other.

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1 hour ago, Herman said:

Thanking you. I thought it was far too large to be star, and too stable to be a satellite or one of Musk's machines, and as it was directly east it ruled out the obvious other.

If you are up really early then tonight/tomorrow at dawn would be a good time (best night) to possibly see the Aurigids. They are very rapid but not so common (you might see one every 10 minutes!) but they are bright. Copied a link here (scroll down a bit for the section on them). But, if it's a clear sky, should be almost overhead, certainly higher up in the sky.

 

Meteor Activity Outlook for August 29-September 4, 2020 - American Meteor Society https://amsmeteors.org/2020/08/meteor-activity-outlook-for-august-29-september-4-2020/

 

Edited by sonyc

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Cheers pal. Hopefully I am not awake at that time but if I am I will keep an eye out.

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2 minutes ago, Herman said:

Cheers pal. Hopefully I am not awake at that time but if I am I will keep an eye out.

Yeah, didn't expect you to get up early!...only if you were an early starter for your work.

Getting up at 4 or 5 only has one upside which is the silence and night sky. Otherwise.....nah...

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I seem to have developed a mild form of insomnia as I have got older. 90% of the time I can get back to sleep after a while, but on occasion I have to get up or risk getting angrier and stressed. At least I'll have something to check out.😀

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