Persid Meteor Shower!


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Hey everyone I'm not much of a star gazer but there is a kick-butt meteor shower best viewed tonight and tomorrow night. Actually tomorrow night is supposed to be the best night for viewing. It is a yearly thing although I've never heard of it. I live near a city with a lot of lights and was still able to see 4 of the brightest and largest meteors (over about 20 minutes) I've seen in my 38 years. Tomorrow you are supposed to be able to see one about every minute if you are in a dark area.

You don't need a telescope or anything, just get away from the city lights, kick back on a blanket and you'll be in for a treat! They appear all over, but the 4 I saw were in the Northern sky.

A link you can read up on it...

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007...meteor-shower/

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The moon will interfere with a lot of the dimmer ones. However, 100 per hour is still a pretty good rate. After midnight is the best time to watch as that is Perseus is high in the Northern sky.

It's too bad that the shower wasn't happening next week when there will be no moon out. Then you would see a real meteor storm

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Calling for thunderstorms again tonight. Tom night is going to be my best shot to get the kids out to see some action. I gotta say they're pretty attentive. A couple of years ago when we got in from hunting one night, they had my binocs out scanning the sky and said "dad, what's that white thing behind that star?" It was that Hale-Bop (sp?) comet, and I had no idea it was going by. It was so faint too, can't believe they noticed it.

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Just got back...Its 11:48, i was out for about a half hour, and saw 26...Very peculiar...Talk about high speed projectiles, man those things are cruising at a serious velocity; Actually, i wonder how fast they are traveling.... Some lasted alot longer than others while some were very tiny quick bursts. The ones that looked to be closer seemed to last longer in the sky and were a lot brighter, while the ones that looked alot further were the ones that weren't lit very long. It was also very cool to see the vapor trail or whatever it was behind the meteor...Very neat indeed, and a great night to spectate such an incredible show. This doesn't happen very often, but i feel smarter now that i had the opportunity to experience this.

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Actually, i wonder how fast they are traveling.... Some lasted alot longer than others while some were very tiny quick bursts. The ones that looked to be closer seemed to last longer in the sky and were a lot brighter, while the ones that looked alot further were the ones that weren't lit very long. It was also very cool to see the vapor trail or whatever it was behind the meteor...

Great show last night! No moon and not a cloud in the sky. Also cooled down to 60 degrees keeping the bugs at bay.

Smack according to NASA the things travel at 44 miles per second and are visible between 40 and 75 miles above the earth. Most are only the size of a pebble.

http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/meteor_worldbook.html

We went out to my dads place in the country from 10-11pm and saw one every few minutes. We drove out in the midle of a field and put blankets, pillows, and a bean bag in the back of my truck. Some were small, some medium, some large and bright, and one that was truly amazing! The tail was so long I thought it was going to hit the earth. The kids start school today so we couldn't stay out too late.:(

I could have stayed out all night!

Should be a good show again tonight.

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