Mood: Peaceful
Music: Bear McCreary - All Along The Watertower.mp3
So it's that time of year again, August, which not only means a few birthdays I need to remember but it also means it's time for the Perseids meteor shower!
That's of course if the weather isn't shite. Fortunately for me the skies cleared around 1am, perfect timing really. If the worse came to the worse though I would have probably a little bit of NASA's live stream/coverage.
For those that aren't aware, the Perseid's meteor shower occurs every year for about a month. However the best time to see them during it's peak is around the 2nd week of august (varies year by year).
At the right time providing it's dark enough and if you're looking vaguely towards the constellation Perseus you could see anywhere from 125 - 175 meteors an hour. The best ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) for 2009's shower at it's peak on the august 13th it was 173.
EDIT: This year is was 142 zhr on august 12th.
I was plesantly surprised about the community side to the shower.
Many astronomy clubs also hold special observing events during the Perseids. This year, the Newbury Astronomical Society is hosting the first-ever Twitter Meteor Watch, encouraging Tweeps (or twitter-ers) to tweet real-time observations and images. While it is originally a U.K. event, Newbury AS is calling for continued observations across the globe in hopes of creating an international Perseids party
Basically you tweeted your area code, country and the numbers of meteors you'd seen. All those tweets were then converted into map data, then placing those figures on a customised twitter feed map.
After getting the crap scared out of me by a fox (don't ask) I started taking photos in the back garden. I took a ton of photos but they were all fruitless. My aim next year is to take some photos of the Perseids and then perhaps after then get some GOOD photos! I know this won't help me a whole lot because I need a better camera.
Some links:
One last thing before I go, check out this purely EPIC meteorwatch trailer. I found it whilst surfing the net for more info on the perseids.
lol mad huh?
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment