Thanks for the report. Daniel did report 3+1 at 10:27. So clearly Wednesday night was better than Tuesday night; I wish I would have gone outside last night. I do love meteor showers; I've never seen a "storm", so for me the bright ones are the most exciting, and everyone I know loves to see them. And the best ones are visible regardless of the moon. Oh well. Next year is favorable from a moon perspective though. I look forward to it being on a weekend again though in a few years. Craig -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Kim Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 8:56 PM To: 'Utah Astronomy' Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Perseids HI all. I went up to the Skyline Drive above Fairview (about 9,500 feet elevation) to see some Perseids, both last night and the night before, but this is the first chance that Ive had to report my experiences. I hope yall dont mind if I share. WARNING: The commentary that follows is a bit lengthy. Due to interference from the moon this year I didnt expect much, but since I love to watch meteor showers anyway, I decided to go see what was up (no pun intended).Tuesday evening my family went with me. We arrived at about 10:00; the air was warm, with no wind or clouds and above average transparency and seeing. We had about an hour without interference from moonlight, but even after moonrise we continued to see a few meteors. Between five of us looking in different directions, Id say that we saw perhaps two dozen Perseids. We did see one bolide that traversed about one third of the sky toward the south. This was not a serious observing trip but a family outing, and we made no formal observations or records of our experience. Last night I had a scheduled trip with the boy scouts, but we went to the same spot. We began observing after dinner, around 9:30, and I finally quit about 12:30. Except for some wind, the conditions were similar to the night before, but this time the sky put on quite a show. We probably saw two to three times as many meteors as on Tuesday night, but most were much brighter, we saw no fewer that a dozen bolides, the brightest of which easily rivaled Jupiter. In fact, it passed just above Jupiter, had a distinctly greenish hue, and left a train that lasted for several seconds. At about 10:29 we witnessed a sudden surge in activity that reminded me of the Leonid storm of 2001 (or was it 2002?). Within about 10 seconds, we saw four bolides (maybe mag -5 or -6. I have a hard time estimating brightness that exceeds the brightest stars), all traveling in the same direction, to the south. About 30 seconds later another bolide similar to the previous four followed the same path to the south. Each of these five left a persistent train. Even after moonrise we continued to see a number of bolides. Im surprised by the ho-hum reports of this years Perseid shower, and especially the equally unenthusiastic remarks about meteor showers in general. Ive shared the following experiences with this group before, but I want to repeat them so that newer observers such as Brent Johnson wont miss out on what I believe to be some of the best observing experiences ever. Last year the moon and weather were both favorable for the Perseid shower, so I drove a couple of miles out of town (Mt. Pleasant) to pick a dark spot to enjoy. My son and I observed for about 2½ hours, and during that time I made two one-hour counts. I logged nearly 100 Perseids, plus ten or so sporadics, for a count of over 100 meteors EACH hour. It was the most productive Perseid shower that Ive witnessed. The rule of thumb, of course, is the need for clear, dark skies, but that night was only so-so in that regard. Brent, you may have been underwhelmed this year, and I certainly understand why, but try again with good weather and no interference from the moon. Finally (yes, Im almost finished), I just have to address a couple of myths about meteor showers in general: (1) No shower members are visible until the radiant is above the horizon. This is simply false. Just as shower members may appear anywhere in the sky, the radiant can be below the horizon yet a shower meteor can traverse the entire sky, from horizon to horizon. (2) Meteor observing requires very dark skies. I observed my most memorable Perseid shower from my parents backyard in Orem. We saw many meteors. During the shower I asked a certain young lady to marry me she said yes. (3) (With apologies to Daniel Turner.) I have observed spectacular meteor showers in December (Geminids 100+ observed per hour), and January (Quadrantids maybe 40 or 50 observed per hour). (4) Ignore the published rates. Ive often observed many more meteors than are commonly predicted. (5) You wont see nearly as many meteors when the moon is up. Yes, the faint ones will be much harder to see, but some of the most spectacular meteors that Ive observed appeared when the moon was up. (6) You wont see many meteors until after midnight. Its true that the earth sweeps up more meteors after midnight, but I always begin observing after dark and Im never disappointed. I think the difference is minimal. (7) Meteor showers are not as predictable as the published data imply. If you have even marginal conditions, go for it you just never know what you might see. I apologize for this incredibly long post, but meteor showers are a passion for me. By the way, did anyone else observe the sudden burst of activity last night at around 10:30 that I mentioned above? Im curious Kim _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com