Event created by Ant
Perseid meteor shower 2012
- From the comet Swift-Tuttle.
- The Radiant is 03h 04m in RA, +58°DEC.
- Visible from July 23rd to August 20th,
- Maximum on Aug 12/13th.
- With a ZHR estimate of 60.
The Full moon at the beginning of August is going to affect the visibility of the fainter meteors. But as each day progresses the Moon will be rising later and later.
Night of 5th at 21.33.
Night of 7th at 22.15.
Night of 10th at 23.05 Moon at LQ
Night of 11th at 00.40
Night of 12th at 01.15 thin crescent near Venus
The pre dawn skies will be lovely on the 11th, 12th and 13th with the thinning crescent moon passing The Pleiades, Jupiter and Venus.
Tips for meteor observing.
1. Go outside... you won't see any from indoors.
2. Dress warmly, even though it's summer it will still get chilly when your sitting still for a while.
3. If you are going to make notes of the meteors you see, take a dictaphone or voice recording app - if you look down to write notes you'll miss more than you see :)
4. Know where the radient it - but look elsewhere. For the Persieds I generally look around the Square of Pegasis. But this year will look around the Cygnus area (due to the moon).
5. Maybe a flask of something warm.
6. A recliner chair is good, laying on the ground will make you cold very quickly.
7. Something to eat.
When you see a meteor, trace the line back and if it appears to eminate from the radiant then it's a Persied. If if doesn't then it called a Sporadic. In your records make a note of the time, magnitude, constellation, Perseid or Sporadic and if it left a train or not. If there was anything special then make a note of that too (rough distance travelled (a fist at arms length is roughly 5°), colour etc).
This information can be written up later, for your own records, posted on SGL or submitted to http://www.imo.net/.
But mainly ENJOY! meteor watching is great and very relaxing.