prime time for the Perseid meteor shower tonight 8-12-10

[BOOTY MONSTER]

"The absolute best viewing is expected Thursday night - actually, between midnight Thursday and dawn on Friday. Perseid meteors should be visible every night from now until next week. At its peak, observers could see at least one meteor every minute, Cooke told me. You just have to know where and when to look - and the experience goes much more smoothly if you make a few preparations."

Cosmic Log - See (and hear) the meteor show

"The Perseids are produced by trails of grit left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle during its 133-year orbit. Earth starts plowing through the Swift-Tuttle debris in late July, and the height of the shower comes annually around Aug. 12-13. The Perseids are so named because they appear to emanate from a point in the constellation Perseus, also known as a "radiant." Because the radiant is in northern skies, Northern Hemisphere observers are in a more favorable position to see the shower."

 

[jazzsinger]

unusually for here we've got clear skies,been sitting at the window watching perseids,seen 6 meteors so far,cool stuff.

 

[GLR]

cloudy here

god damn conspiracy to keep me down

 

[Klondike Mike]

>>...The absolute best viewing is expected Thursday night - actually, between midnight Thursday and dawn on Friday.

Thanks for the reminder. Although, every year here it is the same-old, same-old. Cloudy skies here again!

 

[74IN]

Fairly clear here, but no action yet.

The first time I saw this spectacle, I was on Lake Michigan.

Some has visible smoke trails, very cool.

 

[mackmobile43]

Fairly clear here, but no action yet.

The first time I saw this spectacle, I was on Lake Michigan.

Some has visible smoke trails, very cool.

Were those from the meteorites or?

 

[hookedon6]

gee, i thought this was a radio forum,......

i everyone just gonna watch the show?

i'm gonna work some "scatter" on the higher bands

 

[jazzsinger]

gee, i thought this was a radio forum,......

i everyone just gonna watch the show?

i'm gonna work some "scatter" on the higher bands

Did you have any joy working meteor scatter?

i would imagine that could be quite a frustrating/challenging method of working dx due to the speed at which those meteors move and burn out.

 

[Carl]

i have had fog, clouds, and thunderstorms the last few days. i completely missed the peak and have had little luck the past week trying to spot any.

 

[Beetle]

Saw quite a few here last night after the neighbors turned off their back porch lights! First time in many years we've had clear skies for the Perseids. About 7 years ago I bundled up about 2am in mid-November and went outside to watch the Leonids. Now THAT was memorable, and not just from the cold. One of the best displays I've seen.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Saw quite a few here last night after the neighbors turned off their back porch lights! First time in many years we've had clear skies for the Perseids. About 7 years ago I bundled up about 2am in mid-November and went outside to watch the Leonids. Now THAT was memorable, and not just from the cold. One of the best displays I've seen.

Was that the year they predicted a storm and not just a shower? I did the same thing here,sat on the front lawn in a lawn chair and winter coat. It was frosty that night. I saw a few that burned so bright they actually caused shadows from the tress on the lawn to appear for a split second. Also experianced three instances of "electrophonic meteor sounds" that were buzzing sounds. Weird. Really weird.

Listening to Leonids - NASA Science

 

[hookedon6]

Did you have any joy working meteor scatter?

i would imagine that could be quite a frustrating/challenging method of working dx due to the speed at which those meteors move and burn out.

yes ans yes.. it can be frustrating. but i did get some meteor scatter on six.
some of the burns are REALLY short, but some others last for about 10 seconds,....... long enuf on fone for a callsign and gridsquare exchange by BOTH parties.

im gonna be around 50.125 fri night/sat morning and try again.

BTW: if some of you are using a beam antenna on six, just point it NORTH (maybe a little NNE) and listen, often the stations you will work are south of you but the meteors are NORTHERLY

 

[GLR]

After the cloud disappointment of last night I am prepared to try again this evening in hopes of some interesting sky activities.

One case of Big Red in bottles on ice, I'm ready.

 

[Beetle]

Was that the year they predicted a storm and not just a shower? I did the same thing here,sat on the front lawn in a lawn chair and winter coat. It was frosty that night. I saw a few that burned so bright they actually caused shadows from the tress on the lawn to appear for a split second. Also experianced three instances of "electrophonic meteor sounds" that were buzzing sounds. Weird. Really weird.

Listening to Leonids - NASA Science

Yep, that was the one, and I heard some sizzling sounds - at least that's how I described it. Closer to dawn, the meteors are coming in the fastest, and therefore brightest. Theriotically (that word is copyrighted, btw ), they're brightest after the sun comes up, but ... .

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

The cool thing about working meteor scatter is that you can work it any time of the day or night when there is a shower. You don't have to see the meteors in order to ping them.