Meteor Showers...am I missing something?

[hellothere123]

I have been outside trying to see meteor showers for a couple of years...

I get out there at the right time...like 3am, and wait and wait and wait....I maybe see 1 meteor or 2

I am out of the city and the last one was without a full moon, so I should have seen more...

Am I doing something wrong or is that just the way it goes?

Thanks!

[rowan46]

sometimes that's the way it goes. It surprises me though I must say that you only see 2 or 3 from a dark sky site during a named shower. I see that many on any ordinary night under a dark sky.

2012 Meteor Showers | StarDate Online

[sologuitarist61]

I think the name meteor showers gives the wrong impression and people expect to see them in their hundreds, whereas the reality is something like 6 or seven an hour - then you have to be looking in the right direction and the right time, so yes, a couple is about average I guess

[Starlight 1]

I have seen 2 in the night about 30 mins apart and that in a year.

[sologuitarist61]

It always amazes me that we as a group probably spend more time looking at the night sky than anyone else, yet I rarely see meteorites, how about anyone else?

[jflowers]

I think the name meteor showers gives the wrong impression and people expect to see them in their hundreds

Yes it does rather, there are exceptions but usually a few an hour at peak. Even when a named shower is not around you can usually see 1 or 2, the thing is patience. Just sit and stare at a point near the zenith, don't get bored and look around, just keep looking up and eventually you will be rewarded. Well I say rewarded, no chance of that the last couple of weeks or in the next 5 days at least if the forecast is accurate, cant see anything through this cloud!!!

[LukeSkywatcher]

My favourite meteor shower is the Geminids.

[sologuitarist61]

Well I say rewarded, no chance of that the last couple of weeks or in the next 5 days at least if the forecast is accurate, cant see anything through this cloud!!!

Yes and we are supposed to be having a 'sun and stars party' this Saturday evening, I'm hopeful but feel the weather will be the end of it. No sun, no stars and no meteor, I wouldn't be surprised

[hellothere123]

With the named meteor showers they say you should see 20 to 30 per hour...so when I see 2 meteors, I'm thinkin what is goin on?

[sanmatt]

It always amazes me that we as a group probably spend more time looking at the night sky than anyone else, yet I rarely see meteorites, how about anyone else?

If Im out at a dark spot for a night's seeing I can see on average 4 on an evening. I tend to see them around The Plough - Polaris - Cassieopea, that sort of area. I also see a lot of sats too, and a few tumblers. I do a lot of wooooooooooooooooooo and jumping up and down. I'm like a 5 yr old really.

[perrin6]

It's more like spitting than showering except for those rare moments in history such as the leonids in - when was it - something 66 ?

[Ant]

Meteors are random so it's really the luck of the draw.

You cannot say that there will be some at 3am.

The sporadic rate, I believe, is around 10 an hour. But of course you won't see all of them as you cannot see the whole sky at once.

When a shower comes along, the rate goes up - for the Persieds it's around 60 per hour (so one a minute), but moonlight, time of the night and of course luck can have a massive impact on what you see.

I remember observing from a dark site 20 years ago and as a group we saw around 600 in one night. More recent showers have been a little pants - with the 60ph highly optimistic.

Generally it's better after midnight than before apart from that it's really down to sky conditions (LP / moon) and luck.

You do need to give it time though - if you go our for 10 minutes and look up - you're not going to see a great deal.

Cheers

Ant

[StuW]

I remember a shower around the early-mid 90's? that was about 100 per minute from the outskirts of a large city, never seen anything like it since.

[RikM]

I generally see one or two in an average evenings viewing. The best meteor shower I have seen was the Perseids in 2010.

Just checked my log book I counted 24 over 3 hours (10pm - 1am). Sat out on patio chairs with my youngest. As well as the meteors, we were playing with a 8x25 monocular. We saw M31, the double cluster, Jupiter (with 1 moon and no disc detail) and couldn't split Albireo

Probably the best night's stargazing I have ever had

[Pete Presland]

i think i remember that one as well, i was working (or meant to be ) nights some were so bright they left trails for a few seconds.

as an imager i certainly don't see too many these days, but when there is a decent chance of seeing a few its nice to get the bino,s and a chair and just look up