Stargazing Will You Be Watching the Perseid Meteor Shower?

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The Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12, best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere around 1:00 am. Observers are encouraged to escape light pollution, with state and federal parks recommended as ideal viewing spots. The moon's brightness may obscure fainter meteors, making clear skies essential for optimal viewing. Many participants are planning outings to locations like the McDonald Observatory in Texas or local parks to enjoy the event. Overall, excitement is high, with many sharing plans and past experiences related to meteor watching.
  • #31
Sorry about the disappointment you guys had. Right now, the skies are clear.
 
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  • #33
Hoping these skies will clear some more! Excited! :smile:
 
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  • #35
Watched from about 10:30pm to 11:00pm local time in my back garden near Southampton in the south of England, UK. No clouds, but sky was somewhat hazy brown because this is a densely populated area, and view is limited by nearby trees and houses. Saw about 12 Perseids, mostly fast and fleeting but a couple brighter and more lasting, and one meteor going the other way. Included one bunch of 4 within a few seconds of one another, in general area of radiant, and another pair within seconds of each other near Cassiopeia. Also saw many satellites and aircraft, whose blinking lights are very annoying when I'm trying to spot Perseids.
 
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  • #36
Front range, 0200-0300 MDT, spotted a couple dozen (no camera). Even got one so bright it made me blink.
 
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  • #37
We were out from about 12:40 to 2:20 and it was marvelous :smile:. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and we probably saw about 30-40, including 7-8 really long, bright ones that rolled across the sky relatively slowly.
 
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  • #38
Moon was pretty bright

but had a good time
we live in rural Ozarks on a small lake so grandkids and i floated out to the middle on inner tubes
moon was bright but we saw several really nice long trails, one showered sparks across about twenty degrees nearly overhead.

What they enjoyed most though was the neighborhood bats sometimes flying by just arm's length away. Nobody suffered a single mosquito bite.
 
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  • #39
Lucky for me I should be able to see them from my back porch right overhead! No need to drive anywhere, just sitback relax and gaze into the night sky
 
  • #40
I was assuming that the show was basically over for this year, but I just went to shut an upstairs window (at 9.45pm local time) and happened to look out - and saw a very bright Perseid, visibly slowing down at the end, leaving a trail for a few moments. That was from indoors with some lights on! So I went outside for another look, but came in after a few minutes without having seen any more.
 
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  • #41
I counted 11 before heavy cloud cover rolled in and remained until I gave up 2 hours later. I was tickled with each one, but it hadn't been enough! My little girl couldn't stay awake long enough to watch them and make her own wishes. She did see a few months back though.
 
  • #42
If she's going to know that you had seen some, you could give her some (unused :wink:) wishes from yours.
 
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  • #43
Fervent Freyja said:
My little girl couldn't stay awake long enough to watch them and make her own wishes. She did see a few months back though.
I really wish she saw them, Freyja, but I'd have a hard time staying up on a normal day, too, to be honest. Excitement and a nicely tuned ukulele, however, is better the caffeine :smile:.

Glad you were able to see some, though!
 
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  • #44
Had a fantastic night of viewing on Thursday (8/11); dozens of meteors all night long. I was able to capture a bunch with time-lapse photography, will post a video when I get a chance.
 
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  • #46
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  • #47
Here's a link to my 8/11/16 timelapse:



I've been struggling with the various compressions that happen- the native size is 1600 x 1068 and looks great; I rescaled to 1280 x 720 for Youtube... Hope you like it!
 
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  • #48
Andy Resnick said:
Hope you like it!
Yes !
i clicked tool icon and selected 1/4 speed...
 
  • #49
Andy Resnick said:
I've been struggling with the various compressions that happen- the native size is 1600 x 1068 and looks great; I rescaled to 1280 x 720 for Youtube... Hope you like it!
That's awesome! I like it a lot!
 
  • #50
Thanks, everyone! Here's August 12:

 
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