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After a minute or 2 it started getting bigger and brighter still coming directly towards me.

You need to share this info. A few more people like you and we'll be able to triangulate the site of impact (if there is one). To quote the Bad Astronomer:

And if you did witness it, you should file a report with the IMO, so they can collect all the info - it may help lead to finding meteorites, pieces that have made it all the way down to the ground!

Or at least contact the BadAss himself, see links in TFS.

For meteor showers the statement "before dawn" is correct for virtually everyone, anywhere. The reason is simple: the Earth is rotating towards the forward motion of our orbital path and we tend to run into the most particles (meteors) at that time. Bugs on a windshield. You are right in bitching that in this case, the Perseid meteor shower is more visible for Norther Hemisphere observers. Not likely you'll see many down in Argentina.

I should note the best display of meteors is only going to happen when you are out at a dark rural location with an unobstructed horizon. Rarely do they tell you the forecast rates are for an ideal situation that few could possibly achieve. You will see less than 100 per hour but one meteor per minute is likely at peak and its pretty impressive to watch.

As to what part of the world will see it best does depend on your longitude, so it is related to your timezone. Good observation. The point of maximum meteor stream density, the peak of the meteor shower, can be narrow or wide. The Perseids are an old meteor shower seen for thousands of years and its peak is fairly broad, many hours. Therefor there is some latitude in your position.

The best source of information about meteor showers, including their predicted peak time, is going to be found on the International Meteor Organization (IMO) website. They have a "live" update running for major showers like the Perseids. Consult their yearly calendar for predicted 'peak' dates. Many yearly astronomical handbooks provide meteor shower information as well. [shameless plug] I wrote an iPhone app (Meteor Shower Guide) using IMO and American Meteor Society (AMS) data that calculates your peak time based on your phones timezone setting, and its in local time! No need to wait for someone to tell you about a meteor shower, it will add it to your iPhone's calendar if you like.

The question that always drives me crazy is when people ask "where do I look?". Just look up! If you go out to a dark site with a clear horizon you will see plenty of meteors during the Persied shower. You'd have to be asleep or looking at the ground to miss them. If its clear at your location Saturday night to Sunday morning get out and watch.

If you add the word "fiction" to science, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Museum in Seattle is pretty awesome. Otherwise, consider trying to catch a meteor shower - they're often better-documented re: ideal viewing times in the US.

Here's a link to some detailed info on the shower:
http://www.imo.net/calendar/2007

According to it, it peaks on April 22nd at 22:30 UT, which puts it at 6:30pm EDT, or 8:30am on April 23rd for Sydney, Australia. So the middle of the night between April 22 and April 23 would be good for you.

There are a lot of predictions from different people, who all agree pretty much on one point: the best chances for increased activity is around 4:45 GMT on the 19th, maybe a little later (up to 6:30 GMT). That's the 'easy' part...

The hard part is to predict how many meteors there will be. The more optimistic predictions say something like 2 per minute at the time of the maximum. Still a pretty good show I'd say...

The sad news is that most of the meteors are expected to be rather faint. No big fireball show like in 1998 this time... Luckily it's near new moon, so that sometimes annoyingly bright thing won't bother us this year, but still you should find a dark spot as far away as possible from bright light sources (street lights, cities, ...)

Btw, the International Meteor Organization collects observation reports. Check http://www.imo.net/visual for an explanation of the observation method and http://www.imo.net/visual/report/electronic for the report form.

Conclusion: it's nothing like the magnificient outbursts we had between 1998 and 2002 (which sometimes had thousands of meteors per hour), but it's still a good chance to see some meteors.

There are a lot of predictions from different people, who all agree pretty much on one point: the best chances for increased activity is around 4:45 GMT on the 19th, maybe a little later (up to 6:30 GMT). That's the 'easy' part...

The hard part is to predict how many meteors there will be. The more optimistic predictions say something like 2 per minute at the time of the maximum. Still a pretty good show I'd say...

The sad news is that most of the meteors are expected to be rather faint. No big fireball show like in 1998 this time... Luckily it's near new moon, so that sometimes annoyingly bright thing won't bother us this year, but still you should find a dark spot as far away as possible from bright light sources (street lights, cities, ...)

Btw, the International Meteor Organization collects observation reports. Check http://www.imo.net/visual for an explanation of the observation method and http://www.imo.net/visual/report/electronic for the report form.

Conclusion: it's nothing like the magnificient outbursts we had between 1998 and 2002 (which sometimes had thousands of meteors per hour), but it's still a good chance to see some meteors.

There are a lot of predictions from different people, who all agree pretty much on one point: the best chances for increased activity is around 4:45 GMT on the 19th, maybe a little later (up to 6:30 GMT). That's the 'easy' part...

The hard part is to predict how many meteors there will be. The more optimistic predictions say something like 2 per minute at the time of the maximum. Still a pretty good show I'd say...

The sad news is that most of the meteors are expected to be rather faint. No big fireball show like in 1998 this time... Luckily it's near new moon, so that sometimes annoyingly bright thing won't bother us this year, but still you should find a dark spot as far away as possible from bright light sources (street lights, cities, ...)

Btw, the International Meteor Organization collects observation reports. Check http://www.imo.net/visual for an explanation of the observation method and http://www.imo.net/visual/report/electronic for the report form.

Conclusion: it's nothing like the magnificient outbursts we had between 1998 and 2002 (which sometimes had thousands of meteors per hour), but it's still a good chance to see some meteors.

1. Use the best FM radio you have. In most cases, this is your car radio. AM/MW doesn't work.
2. Find the most open frequency possible. It's best if you can find a frequency where you hear only noise, but meteor-reflected signals can override weak stations, so don't give up if you can't find a completely open spot. In the U.S., be careful that you don't use an "open" frequency that's right next to a strong local station. It might not actually be open.
3. Listen!.

The International Meteor Organization has some guidelines online for reporting your observations of the Geminids. Take a look at http://www.imo.net/news/news.html#geminids2004 Good luck... Luc

The most important thing with meteor observations is a good view at as much of the sky as possible. Thus you need dark skies and as few obstacles (trees, buildings, hills,...) as possible.

Check the website of the International Meteor Organisation for more info!

Benny

NAMN (the North American Meteor Network) or the IMO (International Meteor Organisation, which is actually amateur - same as NAMN) are good starting points, or try the Google Directory or DMOZ Open Directory meteor sections for much more background reading. I strongly, strongly recommend doing some research before November, getting a bit of practice in, then do what I've done - book some time off work! :-)

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"I'm not downloaded, I'm just loaded and down"

While watching meteors still rocks, there is a nice mechanism that detects meteors using radiowaves. In short, you tune your radio to a radiostation that you wouldn't normally receive (because it's below the horizon). Then you wait for a meteor. When one shows up, it leaves a ionized trail, which will reflect the radio waves: you hear the meteor coming by!

More information: http://www.imo.net/radio/
I am member of a small observatory in the Netherlands. We are quite active during meteor showers, for a report of the last Leonids shower, visit http://www.lansbergen.demon.nl/uk/meteors/leonid20 00.html(some nice pictures are included :)

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