Meteor Shower Alert

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  • Hardrock69
    DIAMOND STATUS
    • Feb 2005
    • 21833

    Meteor Shower Alert

    If you have a clear sky tonight, go outside, kickback in a lawn chair, and watch the sky for a couple of hours. Only negative is that the moon is going to be pretty bright, and you will only be able to see the very brightest meteors. Moon sets later on though, so if you want, get up early about an hour or 2 before sunrise (yeah, right haha) for your best shot.

    For more details read the article:

    The American Meteor Society, Ltd. is established to inform, encourage, and support the research activities of people who are interested in the field of Meteor Astronomy


    The well known Perseid meteor shower is predicted to peak on Friday night/Saturday morning August 12/13. This date is accurate for all areas of the world but the Far East, where observers in countries such as Japan may see similar rates on both the 12/13 and 13/14. Unfortunately the moon will be at its full phase and will be present in the sky the entire night. A full moon is so bright that the glare it produces will obscure all but the brighter meteors. Still, this display is so strong that one may see more activity with the moon present than on nearly all the other nights throughout the year, regardless of lunar conditions. The transparency of the atmosphere will play an important part in how much activity can be seen. Hazy and humid atmospheric conditions will spread the lunar glare and further reduce the meteor activity to be seen. Dry air is ideal so if you have the choice to view from mountain locations compared to lowlands, travel to the mountains!

    An even more important factor in the number of meteors to be seen will be the time of night to attempt to observe. Most potential observers will attempt to view Perseid activity as soon as it becomes dark. At this time the moon will be low in the southeastern sky and the glare will not be as bad as it will be during the middle of the night. At this time of night though, the Perseid radiant, the area of the sky where the Perseid meteors seem to shoot from, will be located low in the northern sky and only a small fraction of the possible activity can be seen. The situation improves with each passing hour as the radiant rises higher into the northeastern sky. The best rates will be seen during the last dark hour before dawn when the radiant lies highest in the sky and the moon lies low in the southwestern sky.

    The best strategy to use would be to view as late as possible on Friday night/Saturday morning August 12/13, no matter your location. Face a direction with the moon at your back or at least out of your field of view toward the darkest portion of the sky. This would be anywhere in the northern half of the sky. Use a chair or lounge chair so that you are comfortable. Standing will strain your neck and you will not be comfortable for long. Do not look straight up, rather aim you view approximately half way up in the sky making certain that no trees, hills, or buildings are blocking your view. Watch for at least 30 minutes as meteor activity appears in random groups. There will be periods when nothing at all is seen and then several meteors may appear within seconds of each other.

  • ashstralia
    ROTH ARMY ELITE
    • Feb 2004
    • 6556

    #2
    i saw one out the window last night. pretty bright, magnitude -3 or so which is about jupiter brightness. i love the celestial fireworks.

    Comment

    • Hardrock69
      DIAMOND STATUS
      • Feb 2005
      • 21833

      #3
      The Architect Of The Universe puts on the best light shows, lol.

      Saw one tonight. Did not see one since....90 minutes ago. Was setting my camera up, and it flashed in a part of the sky where the camera is not pointed.......

      Will see though. Am going back out there in a moment....

      Comment

      • Nitro Express
        DIAMOND STATUS
        • Aug 2004
        • 32798

        #4
        Architect of the Universe? Are you a mason Hardrock69?
        No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

        Comment

        • Hardrock69
          DIAMOND STATUS
          • Feb 2005
          • 21833

          #5
          Technically you might be able to say yes, as when I was 14 I was inducted into the local DeMolay chapter. Was active about a year, then never went back.

          Then in the mid-80s, read some books dealing with alternative religious history, and the role of the Knights Templar, etc., so I know as much history of the Masonic Tradition as many hardcore Masons.

          Perry included.

          I am not going to called God "Allah" or "Jehovah" or "Yahweh" or "HEY YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!".

          I always dug the title of Architect Of The Universe. Always seemed more fitting. But then, I am in the architectural field in a minor way. so what the fuck.

          Hiram Abif....man, he knew some shit. Got him killed. Oh....about 3,000 years back....

          Comment

          • Seshmeister
            ROTH ARMY WEBMASTER

            • Oct 2003
            • 35159

            #6


            Picture of one from the International Space Centre.



            Astronaut Ron Garan, currently on board the International Space Station, was taking pictures of our home world out the window — and how cool is it to be able to say that? — when he took this amazing picture of a meteor burning up in our atmosphere:

            Wow! How cool would it be to look down to see a falling star?
            He took this shot (according to the header info in the picture) on August 13 at 7:17 p.m. UT, when the ISS was above the Mongolia/China border. This was during the annual Perseid meteor shower, but that doesn’t guarantee this meteor Ron saw was a Perseid. It probably was, though. For an observer on Earth, the Perseids rain down at a rate of about 60 per hour or so. You can usually see about 5 meteors per hour that are just random bits of cosmic detritus. So only 1 meteor in 12 is not a real Perseid, making it likely this one was.

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            • ashstralia
              ROTH ARMY ELITE
              • Feb 2004
              • 6556

              #7
              that photo is mindblowing!!

              Comment

              • PETE'S BROTHER
                DIAMOND STATUS
                • Feb 2007
                • 12682

                #8
                was really hopin' to see more of these in montana big sky, but only caught one or two. i think the full moon was impedin' them. that and somewhat shoddy vision at 1 am
                Another one of those classic genius posts, sure to generate responses. You log on the next day to see what your witty gem has produced to find no one gets it and 2 knotheads want to stick their dicks in it... Well played, sir!!

                Comment

                • Blaze
                  Full Member Status

                  • Jan 2009
                  • 4371

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Hardrock69
                  The Architect Of The Universe puts on the best light shows, lol.

                  Saw one tonight. Did not see one since....90 minutes ago. Was setting my camera up, and it flashed in a part of the sky where the camera is not pointed.......

                  Will see though. Am going back out there in a moment....
                  Looking forward to seeing some of those pics, if you don't mind!

                  Btw, I think I asked this last year, but I do not recall the answer. Can a picture be taken of the moon with a regular camera. If so how? When I take a picture f the moon, it never looks like what I am seeing. :???:
                  A regular camera being 10.0 mega pix 200M zoom 12x optical f5.9 -70 8mm 1:2.8-5.0
                  Last edited by Blaze; 08-15-2011, 09:28 PM.
                  "I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. - Some come from ahead and some come from behind. - But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. - Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" ~ Dr. Seuss
                  sigpic

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                  • ashstralia
                    ROTH ARMY ELITE
                    • Feb 2004
                    • 6556

                    #10
                    you really need some kind of telephoto lens to scale the image size up, blaze. if you look in the photo section, i took a couple earlier in the year through my telescope. it's kind of equivalent to a 900mm f11 lens.

                    Comment

                    • Blaze
                      Full Member Status

                      • Jan 2009
                      • 4371

                      #11
                      Here are 2 highly compressed photos I took this month with no water marks!
                      Nothing to do with the heavens, but just if I ask for some I suppose I should show some.
                      Does anyone one know the difference between adding a file as an attachment or an inline here on the great Roth Army?
                      Attached Files
                      "I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. - Some come from ahead and some come from behind. - But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. - Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" ~ Dr. Seuss
                      sigpic

                      Comment

                      • Blaze
                        Full Member Status

                        • Jan 2009
                        • 4371

                        #12
                        Originally posted by ashstralia
                        you really need some kind of telephoto lens to scale the image size up, blaze. if you look in the photo section, i took a couple earlier in the year through my telescope. it's kind of equivalent to a 900mm f11 lens.
                        That is one of them long gangly doohickies isn't it. I gave away my telescope when I was passing. Oh well. This camera is OK. It is me. I stock a lot more than I process.
                        Did I tell the story of last year when I went to take photos of the Meteor Shower.... OMG. I have never to my memory been so scared.
                        "I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. - Some come from ahead and some come from behind. - But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. - Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" ~ Dr. Seuss
                        sigpic

                        Comment

                        • ashstralia
                          ROTH ARMY ELITE
                          • Feb 2004
                          • 6556

                          #13

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                          • Hardrock69
                            DIAMOND STATUS
                            • Feb 2005
                            • 21833

                            #14
                            Well, depends on how close you want your moon photo to be. If you want it to be really close, you can go to your local science supply store (known as the internet) and buy a telescope. How powerful you want is up to you. Then you can buy an adapter for your camera so it can take pics through the telescope. Just Google astrophotography and you can find out a lot.

                            I will grab the two best photos I took over the weekend and post them here. Thanks to the moon, I feel it was a washout. The photo I took Friday night that caught a meteor, the meteor is so fucking faint that if I look at the image on my monitor at work, I cannot see it at all.

                            So my pics are not going to be too spectacular.

                            Sesh, that is one of the most kickass meteor photos I have ever seen!

                            Comment

                            • fifth element
                              Commando
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 1224

                              #15
                              great pic, sesh!
                              “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” ~~Maria Robinson

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