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Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks August 12-13
The Perseids have been active in our skies for a couple of weeks already, but the peak of the meteor shower is coming up in just a few days. Overnight at the end of August 12th and the beginning of August 13th, observers in clear and dark conditions can expect to see up to 100 meteors per hour. The meteor shower should be particularly good this year because it occurs just a day before the new moon, so the sky should be even darker than usual. Forbes has an article on how astronomers figured out where such meteor showers were coming from:
In 1833, the regular Leonid meteor shower became spectacular, with 1000 meteors per hour creating a meteor storm. For the next 32 years, the Leonids were normal and quiet again, but in 1866, another storm appeared. John Couch Adams, the British astronomer who failed to find Neptune, correctly surmised where meteor showers came from, a picture that's been spectacularly confirmed for all known meteor showers, including this week's coming Perseids!
I just saw an article on google news that claimed women are discriminated against in the office with cold air conditioning. You're doing it on purpose, you goddam misogynistic assholes!
Now regarding the Perseids meteor shower, that's cool! This year will be perfect if the sky is not overcast. Try ISO 1600-3200, F2.8, 30s if you can and work from there (please comments if you have other suggestions). And don't forget to bring a tripod and cable release!
As an amateur astronomer for over sixty years, it really pisses me off when people constantly spew the lie that you can see a meteor shower. I have a lot of film of meteor shows, but it is only with over exposed film in very remote locations looked at very closely after the fact that you can maybe see a meteor. The people that normally claim to see them are liars. They are full of shit anti-science assholes that only spew that lie because they hate astronomy and are trying to hurt it. To hurt it.
You can't see this without special equipment.
that support Study. [rice.edu] a3out bylaWs ago, many of you
You can't see them with the naked eye. That is why Republicans keep repeating this lie in order to damage science. It's because they hate us.
I've always wondered how come the very large number of satellites in Earth orbit and also the space station don't get hit by the swarms of objects that are responsible for meteor showers.
Many of the larger objects and also space debris have been mapped and the ISS takes precautionary measures whenever there is a period of increased risk, but we haven't mapped the small objects that give rise to meteor showers so it's in the lap of the gods. And yet, we don't hear of the ISS getting hit during meteor showers, nor are satellites being knocked out of commission.
How come? I assume that "space is big" is the answer, but even so, meteor showers can be so dense that the total absense of reported damage year after year seems a bit unusual.
Or this is the same 'up to' as your ISP promises. There have been lots of storms that have never come close to their peak predicted value. And even that is an average - you'll go a half hour and not see nary a thing and then in five minutes see fifteen of them go by and then a five minute break and then see another twenty over the next ten minutes.
That said, yes the Perseids are often the best of the year and most credible reporting sources are saying this one should be better than average. But as an (very!) amateur astronomer I'd tone down the hype a little. It can only lead to false expectation and wouldn't diminish the glory if it is accurate.