The Persied meteor shower - tonight!

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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:41 am

Is anyone hoping for clear skies tonight, so they can get a look at the Perseid meteor shower? I've seen these on odd occasions in the past and it's worth the effort. The main show will be from 2am to 4am in the UK, looking North, but I've seen Perseids at other times, so you don't have to miss a night's kip.

More info here: clicky

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:02 pm

I've got my fingers crossed but not had much luck the last couple of years Sad

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:17 pm

2-4am!

sadly where I live I won't get a good view

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:02 pm

i did have a night shift, but it was all cloudy Sad

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:49 pm

We're going for a late night walk tonight, to get away from the sodium lights. Last night it just rained.

Yesterday was the peak, but the Perseids can be seen any night around the maximum.

IIRC, from when I was an active radio ham, people with nothing better to do bounce radio signals off the ionised trails left by the meteors.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:58 pm

Why? what happens when you do Roy?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 2:52 pm

/\/\ You hear faint shouts from other radio hams. Pastor Frank's yer man to ask, he's been there, done that. Wink

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

^^^ The radio waves go further. Whereas with VHF most people manage to communicate over 20 miles, and a few people with good locations and expensive equipment manage 500 miles, with meteor scatter it is possible to communicate over 1500 miles. Just...in...very...short...bursts.

Then there are the guys with really good equipment and nothing better to do, who bounce their signal off the moon and manage 10,000 miles.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:10 pm

They should get lives Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

It was cloudy here at peak times last night.
Could vaguely make out where the moon was behind the clouds but that was it.
Not looking good for tonight Crying or Very sad

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:33 pm

I was trying to get a look last night, but Belfast skies were crappity as usual... I might try again later.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:32 pm

And other people with nothing better to do listened to those people doing similar things, just to find out what nature would allow that night.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:47 pm

thud419 wrote:

... Then there are the guys with really good equipment and nothing better to do, who bounce their signal off the moon and manage 10,000 miles.

@thud419, you'll probably appreciate this link: Echos of Apollo. One group I'm aware of worked EME on 3mW.

@ all, Spaceweather.com is a good site to visit for information on near Earth and solar phenomena.

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:58 am

Just as we were turning in late last night, the wife announced that there were clear patches in the sky. We spent the next hour standing in a field at the top of our street.

Final score after it clouded over again, Roy 5 meteors, Hayley 1. She blames her glasses, but if your not looking at exactly the right bit of sky, you see nothing. Finally we went to bed.

I love the complete silence of it all, really you expect them to go 'woosh'.

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:33 am

Roycropper wrote:

Finally we went to bed.

I love the complete silence of it all, really you expect them to go 'woosh'.

for some reason that tickled me Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Somebody fell asleep and when they woke up just after 4am it was getting light so nothing could be seen Embarassed

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

I saw my first fireball last night, it lasted about 1.5-2 full seconds. It ended with a nice flare at the end, next to an eclipse (solar or lunar), it has to be one of the coolest things I have seen in the sky.

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:54 pm

I can't see them anymore, but I remember seeing one like PF describes. It lasted long enough for me to point it out so others could see it. This was in the very rural area around Julian, CA - beautiful clear autumn night with no city lights around. We were attending a two-hour astronomy class. I almost thought I could hear a sizzle from it.

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 3:15 pm

I went out with the military boy and his lovely girlfriend last night with my Skyscout. I had printed out some satellite passes from Heavens-Above.com. The sky was too polluted to see anything other than Jupiter and a handful of stars.

The military boy just turned 21 so he wants to lose $20 in a gambling experience. I hope he does not win anything and get addicted. I'm driving him to a casino so we should be able to see something tonight on the way back.

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