Space Weather

[Jherrith]

Well, on the other hand.....(No pun intended) You have to watch what advice you take from "J" Just one look at dredzilla says it all!
 

[dRaCX]

Well, at least that's NORMAL!
 

[Agent0013]

See how an out of context remark can mix thinks up?

[Jherrith]

PERSEID METEOR OUTBURST: Do you love the Perseid meteor shower?  This year, you will love it even more. Forecasters say the 2016 Perseids should be twice as active as usual, filling the sky with 200+ meteors per hour on peak nights between Aug. 11th and 13th.  This is happening because Earth is heading for an unusually rich stream of debris from parent comet Swift-Tuttle. Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps, observing tips, and links to live webcasts of the Perseid outburst.

[Jherrith]

PERSEID METEOR OUTBURST: Every year in August, Earth passes through a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. The shower is beloved by sky watchers. It is rich in fireballs and plays out over a two-week period of warm, starry summer nights.

This year's display is going to be even better than usual. "Our models predict an outburst on Aug. 11-12 with peak rates greater than 200 meteors/hour under ideally dark skies," explains Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "That's about twice as many Perseids as usual."



In ordinary years, Earth grazes the edge of Swift-Tuttle's debris   zone. Occasionally, though, Jupiter's   gravity tugs the huge network of dust trails closer, and Earth plows   through closer to the middle. This appears to be one of those years. Experts at NASA and elsewhere agree   that three or more streams are on a collision course with Earth--hence the outburst.

Observing tips: Go outside between midnight and   dawn on the morning of Aug. 12th. Allow about 45 minutes for your eyes to   adjust to the dark. Lie on your back and look straight up. Perseids can appear anywhere in the sky, but their tails will point back to a single point in the constellation Perseus: sky map. Increased activity may also be seen on the morning of Aug. 13th.

[sidherose]

Too bad they couldn't wait about four nights as there is a lunar eclipse on the 16th. I'm not sure when or where it is though. That would be quite spectacular - the Moon being covered whilst they meteors fly. Ah well.

So that's where Swift-Tuttle came from? Perseus. That seems to be a rather chaotic part of this arm of our galaxy, historically speaking - if myths and history are any indicators. That and the northern circumpolar stars. Oddly enough, those two spaces are often connected together in myths.

[sidherose]

Shoot. Looks like the place to see them before dawn would be somewhere out in the ocean. Midnight - maybe Eastern Europe...again, apparently. That image is from Slovakia.

Bummer.

[Jherrith]

That is odd I am in Florida which places me lower coordinate wise and I can see the meteors, one does not necessarily have to be able to see the constellation as it is just the place of origin in the sky where they radiate from, I have seen them in the past and as you know I live in Central Florida.

The constellation probably rises earlier or maybe later in your part of the country but I would think that you should be able to see several of the constellations that ride the ecliptic, Perseus is I believe South of Taurus and North of Cassiopeia ... yes just checked the magic book of mine.

I recall seeing the Perseids, several times over the years.

[thelufias]

Didn't see anything here.....darn it all.

[sidherose]

Didn't see anything here.....darn it all.

They won't be visible for another 6 days, TL

14th-15th. It's only the 8th.