Post by Centaur on Aug 5, 2010 17:00:59 GMT -6
The Perseid Meteor Shower, often the finest of the year for northern hemisphere observers, should peak during the night of 2010 AUG 12/13. It’s normally fairly active for a week or two on either side. It consists of remnants from the Comet Swift-Tuttle and at its peak can produce 50 to 60 meteors per hour for a sharp-eyed observer.
The Perseids radiant is in the constellation Perseus, but that does not mean you will spot most meteors in or near it. It just means that if you extrapolate the meteors’ tails backward, they will converge near Perseus. A meteor actually seen in Perseus would be coming right at you and appear almost motionless.
The best viewing should come after local midnight (after about 01:00 daylight time) when you’re on the side of the Earth plowing into the meteor stream. A 13% illuminated waxing crescent Moon during the evening of the 12th should not provide much interference, especially since it will set so early at this time of year for observers north of the tropics.
I’ve compiled a timetable for the major meteor showers between now and 2019. It includes Moon illumination data. It can be seen at www.curtrenz.com/astronomical
The Perseids radiant is in the constellation Perseus, but that does not mean you will spot most meteors in or near it. It just means that if you extrapolate the meteors’ tails backward, they will converge near Perseus. A meteor actually seen in Perseus would be coming right at you and appear almost motionless.
The best viewing should come after local midnight (after about 01:00 daylight time) when you’re on the side of the Earth plowing into the meteor stream. A 13% illuminated waxing crescent Moon during the evening of the 12th should not provide much interference, especially since it will set so early at this time of year for observers north of the tropics.
I’ve compiled a timetable for the major meteor showers between now and 2019. It includes Moon illumination data. It can be seen at www.curtrenz.com/astronomical
