Mexray - 8-11-2004 at 08:54 PM
If you're out and about tonight, and into the wee hours of the morning, take a gander up in the sky off towards the EAST and watch the Perseid's space
crud as the Earth makes it's annual pass through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle Comet...
Some Sky-buff types predict about 40-60 'hits' per hour...so we should be able to catch a few!
The most active viewing will be from 2:AM till dawn, they say, but you'll still be able to see a few from 9:00PM, on.
Sure wish we could be sittin' on the beach down in Baja tonight for the Big Show'....what a great excuse to stay up late (early) and drain a few ice
cold Pacifico's!
[Edited on 12-8-2004 by Mexray]
Yes!!!!
BajaCactus - 8-11-2004 at 09:05 PM
You got it Mexray.... count me in!!!
Mexray
Baja Bernie - 8-11-2004 at 09:08 PM
Glad to see the donkey again!
sad to say
thebajarunner - 8-11-2004 at 09:15 PM
the predictions are that the Perseids will be very weak this year, they are at the end of a very robust cycle.
Keck Observatory is saying 10-12 per hour will be a good show.
5 years ago we were lying at Trail Camp, 12,000 foot level, going to the Mt. Whitney summit in the morning.
The Perseids were so vivid, and so frequent that we had a hard time sleeping.
(made the summit, too)
Hope the predictions are wrong and you have great viewing.
Baja Arriba!!
You may be right...
Mexray - 8-11-2004 at 09:29 PM
I was just repeating from a press release I read recently....
I guess as the comet gets farther away from the Earth in it's 130 year orbit, we will run into fewer bit's of the tail-dust.
I can remember about a dozen years ago (maybe more) that our whole family moved out to the back yard with our bed-rolls and watched a metor show
we'll never forget! Some of the bits and pieces were so BRIGHT that they lit up the yard around us during their brief 'flame-outs'...that was the
best I'd ever seen, by a long shot!
Meteor Shower
El Almirante - 8-11-2004 at 09:46 PM
The article I saw in The Bee last weekend was that this would be a good year for the Perseids, with the moon being just a sliver. I could find no info
on the meteor shower this year on the web RE: Keck Observatory. Where did you get your information from? I guess the best way to know will be to go
outside tonight and look.
bufeo - 8-12-2004 at 08:06 AM
August issue of Astronomy describes this year's meteor shower. Because we're experiencing dark nights the display should be brilliant. Try
this link [url=http://www.astronomy.com/default.aspx?c=a&id=2361] for more info.
elgatoloco - 8-12-2004 at 09:20 AM
http://www.astronomy.com/default.aspx?c=a&id=2361
cristobal - 8-12-2004 at 10:45 AM
Nice site ... thanks GATO ....
Natalie Ann - 8-12-2004 at 03:35 PM
First time I ever saw the Perseid Showers was 25 years ago lying atop a boulder near the peak of Mt. Shasta. Moon was new or near that. The meteors
streaked across the sky almost constantly, and the various sizes and colors were astounding. It was like fireworks only way way better! Pretty much
lasted from dark til dawn and is an experience I'll never forget.
perseids
thebajarunner - 8-12-2004 at 06:08 PM
So, did anyone see a good show last night? Hope so, I did not crawl out to watch but hope it was better than predicted.
As to 'star sites' I like both www.astronomy.com and www.skyandtelescope.com
These are both web versions of monthly magazines, off and on I subscribe to each of them, but the web info is sufficient.
Almirante, I picked up the Keck info from either the NPR or the CBS news station I listen to, both have daily star segments.
(in your area that would be KCBS and either KUOP or KJZZ, call me and I can tell you where and when)
Baja Arriba!!
David K - 8-12-2004 at 06:32 PM
Dick, I was up late... 2am here in Oceanside... All overcast (no stars, shooting or still)... BUMMER!
We saw a bunch of em' last night...yawn...
Mexray - 8-12-2004 at 07:42 PM
We dragged our beach chairs out onto a nice flat, paved spot in our back yard. Brought the cooler, and the XW Radio player too...got real comfortable
about 10:00 PM and enjoyed the 'sky shots' as they began to increase in numbers!
We were lucky to see two flashes that came right toward us, so they didn't move across the sky, but burned real bright in one spot, like a magnesium
flare - COOL! The 'shooting stars' ranged from short, dim ones, to spectacular bright 'flares' moving between a backdrop of 'real' stars above!
We finally gave up at about 1:30 AM, and we estimated to have viewed well over 75 'flashes' - maybe more, who's counting...we gave out many 'ooohs'
and 'aaaahs' when we saw a good one - our neighbors probably thought we were a bit too much on the 'sauce'! They seemed to come in bunches - 5 , 6
or 7 flashes within 5 mins or so, then a 10 min wait for some more...
All-in-all, a real fun time...except when I had to drag my tired body off to work this morning!
Hope some of you also got to see the show - it would have been fun to set up a 35mm camera with an open, 'fish-eye' lens, and capture a bunch of the
action...
Debra - 8-12-2004 at 08:22 PM
We may be abit spoiled up here in the north. In Augest we just take it for granted, I remember visiting my grand parents up here (1963'ish , was
raised in the "city" San Francisco,
cousins and I would camp out (bed rolls) and watch the metor shower.
A couple of years later (new to Wa. I went camping in Eastern Wa. and experinced the Northern Lights for the first time) So beautiful!......I just
realized I must be as bad as Skeeter...(chased out of town, LOL) then I lived in Alaska for a year) just kidding Skeeter~!
Natalie Ann - 8-13-2004 at 10:26 AM
Totally fogged in up here. No meteors. Not alot of sun either. 