Page 1 of 1 [ 13 posts ] 

Roxas_XIII
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jan 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,217
Location: Laramie, WY

12 Aug 2009, 12:12 am

Tonight is the peak annual Perseid Meteor Shower that occurs when Earth passes through the orbit of the Swift-Tuttle comet, which circles round every 230 years or so. This year's shower is supposed to be particularly heavy. If you're in North America, you've missed the first shower already, and while those were the brightest they were also the least frequent. However, if you go back out between 0000 and 0400 you should see the main shower with about 40-80 meteors per hour.


I wanted to go out to Libby Flats to see it, but my parents didn't like the idea of driving all the way out past Centennial into the mountains in the middle of the night. The only other places are the roof of my house and Prexy's Pasture at the University of Wyoming. Unfortunately there's a frikkin big tree blocking the northeastern sector of the sky from my roof, where the Perseids emanate from. Prexy's offers a better, more open view, however the University has got security floodlights all over the place, it'll be impossible to see anything with all that light.

Ah, maybe next year.


_________________
"Yeah, so this one time, I tried playing poker with tarot cards... got a full house, and about four people died." ~ Unknown comedian

Happy New Year from WP's resident fortune-teller! May the cards be ever in your favor.


DarrylZero
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Jun 2009
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,726

12 Aug 2009, 1:53 am

Unfortunately, where I'm at, there's too much cloud cover to see anything. The bright moonlight and light pollution don't help, either. I watched it a couple of years ago, but I had to drive out of state to find someplace dark enough to watch them.

Supposedly the Leonids this coming November is going to be a good show, with about twice as many meteors (estimated) as previous years and a new moon so the skies should be nice and dark (assuming I can get away from the light pollution).



Pug
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 5 Sep 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 332
Location: Stardusk

12 Aug 2009, 2:02 am

I indeed hope it will not be cloudy over here, though looking out of my window, I'm afraid I can lose all hope :S ah well, it would be nice te have those shooting stars the night before my birthday, but not essential, I hope ;)



ADoyle
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Dec 2005
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 913
Location: Southern California, USA

12 Aug 2009, 2:47 am

There's too much cloud cover and city lights in my area for me to see it. I did get to see it when I went to a week long summer camp in middle school. We actually went to a vista point not too far from the camp itself to watch it.


_________________
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason,
and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
- Galileo Galilei


Aimless
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Apr 2009
Age: 66
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,187

12 Aug 2009, 4:49 am

I've had a good view once when I was at the beach on the east coast of U.S. and it was a very clear night. It was wonderful. I would love to see it out West, on a family camping trip as a child I remember what an amazing view of the night sky could be had.



ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 87
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

12 Aug 2009, 6:41 am

My God! It's full of stars!

ruveyn



Aimless
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Apr 2009
Age: 66
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,187

12 Aug 2009, 6:48 am

I continue to be amazed at the ordinary :)



zena4
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jan 2009
Age: 63
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,054

12 Aug 2009, 6:54 am

Do you mean that it's happening NOW, where you are?
You're lucky to see that in real.



Lupine
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 9 Jun 2006
Age: 68
Gender: Female
Posts: 183

12 Aug 2009, 9:17 am

ruveyn wrote:
My God! It's full of stars!

ruveyn


:lol:



oppositedirection
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Apr 2009
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 515

12 Aug 2009, 2:24 pm

ruveyn wrote:
My God! It's full of stars!
:D



Aoi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jul 2009
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 683

12 Aug 2009, 9:38 pm

I've watched these every summer for years, weather and local light pollution permitting. So far this year I've been clouded out or blinded by a full moon. Too bad since this year's is looking quite impressive from the photos I've seen.



Woodpecker
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,625
Location: Europe

14 Aug 2009, 3:52 pm

I watched them for a while a few nights ago, I saw a lot of flashs but one nice one made a long bright line along the sky.


_________________
Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity :alien: I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.


Sarafina7
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 6 Aug 2008
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 196
Location: Israel

16 Aug 2009, 7:15 pm

I went with some people (all on the spectrum) down to the Ramon Crater to see it. It happened between sunset and moonrise.
I saw 3-4 big ones and 1-2 small ones. The big ones left a long streak in the sky. They were beautiful! I also saw the stars and was amazed by them too. I know that you can see stars every night, but this is the second time I've seen so many stars in the sky.
.