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Posts tagged: Perseids
Perseid Fail
August 13, 2010, 11:29 am View CommentsAfter a line of thunderstorms blew through the area, it seemed like we’d have a nice clear view of the sky for the Perseid meteor shower last night.
Then a bunch of stupid clouds and haze rolled in and blocked everything, eventually turning into rain. I know because I woke up almost every hour, ran to the window, then went back to bed disappointed yet stupidly hopeful that, if I checked back an hour later, the clouds would move out and reveal a spectacular pre-dawn display.
Well that never happened. In fact, the stupid, jerky clouds are still hiding the sky as I write this, and I’m exhausted from taking a series of one-hour naps. I’m still irrationally hopeful that the weather will clear tonight, despite all weather forecasts to the contrary. The rest of me wants to make other plans and wait for the Orionids in October.
Stupid clouds.
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The Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight
August 12, 2010, 3:57 pm View CommentsThe Perseids, an annual meteor shower, will peak tonight in the northern hemisphere. Each year, the Earth passes through the debris trail left behind by the Swift-Tuttle comet as it makes its 130-year trip around the sun. At the shower’s peak, there can be as many as 60 meteors per hour, so if you have a clear view of the sky tonight, all you need to do is look up. Plus, as an added bonus, there will be a thin crescent moon tonight, so that means less moonlight to interfere with the meteors.
You’ll see the most meteors between midnight and dawn, since that’s the time of day you’ll be staring up through the atmosphere on the leading side of the Earth as it we pass through and burn up bits of comet dust, but there should be a good show all night. If you’ve never stayed up (or woken up early) to watch a meteor shower, you owe yourself.
I hoped to get a glimpse of some meteors this morning, but mother nature decided to bring a line of thunderstorms through the Baltimore area. Hopefully the weather will cooperate tonight and early tomorrow morning. If not, I’ll have to wait for the Orionid meteor shower in October.