Perseid's on the Rise!

[Unitron48]

The August Perseid Meteor shower is by far my favorite! There are typically plenty of meteors to keep you awake and looking, and the temperatures warm enough to keep you comfortable. While last evening was a few days ahead of the peak, several of us took advantage of what looked to be reasonably good skies starting at midnight and continuing until dawn. The attached NASA chart depicts the average number of meteors by date to give you an idea of expected activity.

We started our session a little before midnight and continued until the clouds rolled in from the South and completely closed in the skies. We observed 65 meteors before calling it a night. Several left very bright trails and one relatively "slow mover" travelling through Cassiopeia really impressed. We are planning a follow-on session later in the week to get closer to the peak night, hopefully with better pre-dawn sky conditions.

Of note, "the night of Aug. 12-13 will be another great opportunity to see the Perseids: with a full Moon (and lower meteor activity) during the Perseids’ peak in 2022 and a waning crescent high in the sky for 2023, this might be your best chance to do some summer skywatching for a few years" (NASA credit).

Dave

[kt4hx]

Very nice Dave. It is indeed that time of year again, and this year the moon is cooperative. Mary and I are heading over to our dark site house for the show. Hopefully the skies will be somewhat cooperative. Good luck with your next meteor watch!

[Bigzmey]

Impressive toll Dave! I was out on Friday night and caught over 10 meteors just by randomly looking away from the EP.

[Unitron48]

Very nice Dave. It is indeed that time of year again, and this year the moon is cooperative. Mary and I are heading over to our dark site house for the show. Hopefully the skies will be somewhat cooperative. Good luck with your next meteor watch!

Thanks, Alan! We're hoping Thursday pre-dawn will be better!

Dave

[Unitron48]

Impressive toll Dave! I was out on Friday night and caught over 10 meteors just by randomly looking away from the EP.

Thanks, Andrey! In past years we have been able to capture over a 100! Sometimes it's nice to get away from the EP and enjoy the naked beauty of the night sky!!

Dave

[j.gardavsky]

On the 9th of August, I have seen the first Perseids speeder.
It has shown a bright trace well above my head, flying towards northern Aquila.

Looking forward to the Perseids show,
JG

[Unitron48]

We conducted a second observing session this morning, lasting 5 hours from 00:30 to 05:30. We observed 102 meteors, mostly Perseid's. At least 10 were extremely bright, Jupiter magnitude (-2.3), leaving long trails. One spectacular Perseid at 02:50 left a trail of at least 30 degrees.

Dave

[helicon]

Great reports on the meteors Dave and congrats on winning today's TSS Visual Report of the Day!

[John Baars]

Well done Dave!
Congratulations on the VROD!

[Unitron48]

Well done Dave!
Congratulations on the VROD!

Thanks, John! I thoroughly enjoy the more active meteor showers!

Dave

[Unitron48]

On the 9th of August, I have seen the first Perseids speeder.
It has shown a bright trace well above my head, flying towards northern Aquila.

Looking forward to the Perseids show,
JG

Thanks, JG! The Perseid Meteor Shower normally provides some really incredible meteors!!

Dave

[Makuser]

Hi Dave. Thanks for the nice meteor report. Our daily thunderstorm occurred early at 2:30pm in the afternoon yesterday, then the skies cleared up, so I went out about 4am and caught 8 of these remnants from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Thanks for your report Dave, I hope to see you sometime this year here in Florida, and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD Award today.