Perseid Meteor Shower: Time for a Night Run Sunday or Monday

Well, it's August and again our planet has (literally) made another circle and is soon to intercept the cloud of galactic dust and crud that will produce the annual Perseid Meteor shower when the Earth passes through it.

So...here in the northeast, the 2 prime nights are Sunday into Monday and Monday into Tuesday.

Here's what Astronomy.com has to say about it:

If you ask most skygazers to name their favorite meteor shower, the odds are good that “Perseid” will be the first word out of their mouths. This annual shower seemingly has it all: It offers a consistently high rate of meteors year after year; it produces a higher percentage of bright ones than most other showers; it occurs in August when many people take summer vacation; and it happens at a time when nice weather and reasonable nighttime temperatures are common north of the equator. No other major shower can boast all four of these attributes.

And this year’s Perseid meteor shower promises one other significant advantage: It peaks under a Moon-free sky. From mid-northern latitudes, the waxing crescent Moon sets shortly after 10 p.m. local daylight time on the 11th. As always, you’ll see more meteors at a viewing site far from artificial lights.

 

If predictions hold viewers in North America should see up to 80 meteors per hour — still an average of more than one per minute — in the hour or two before twilight starts to break shortly after 4 a.m. local daylight time. If cloudy skies prevail on the 12th, look on the morning of the 13th, when rates will be somewhat lower but still impressive.

And from the same site, here's where to look in the sky.  That's Polaris--AKA the North Star--hanging at the 10:00 position.  So your general viewing orientation should be facing northeast.  The caption "Radiant" there in the center simply refers to the approximate location from which the meteors will appear to radiate from:

 

 

I have NEVER yet done this--but I am reminded that at my age there are only so many summers remaining to me--but I am sorely tempted to set my alarm for, say 2:00 am early Monday morning (provided it's clear) and go for a run. 

 

It could be magical, and who doesn't need a touch more magic in their lives?

Perseid Meteor Shower THIS WEEK....and Ultrarunning

Via Boing Boing (a remarkable site for those of us with a streak of geek):

Boing Boing points us to Space.com (here) where we read:

According to the best estimates, in 2010 the Earth is predicted to cut through the densest part of the Perseid stream sometime around 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday. The best window of opportunity to see the shower will be the late-night hours of Wednesday on through the first light of dawn on the morning of Thursday, and then again during the late-night hours of Aug. 12 into the predawn hours of Aug. 13. The Moon, whose bright light almost totally wrecked last year's shower, will have zero impact this year; unlike last year when it was just a few days past full, this year it will be new on Monday, Aug. 9, meaning that there will be absolutely no interference from it at all.

A very good shower will produce about one meteor per minute for a given observer under a dark country sky. Any light pollution or moonlight considerably reduces the count.

The August Perseids are among the strongest of the readily observed annual meteor showers, and at maximum activity nominally yields 90 or 100 meteors per hour. Anyone in a city or near bright suburban lights will see far fewer. [Video: Perseid

However, observers with exceptional skies often record even larger numbers. Typically during an overnight watch, the Perseids are capable of producing a number of bright, flaring and fragmenting meteors, which leave fine trains in their wake.

On the night of shower maximum, the Perseid radiant is not far from the famous "Double Star Cluster" of Perseus (hence the name, "Perseid"). Low in the northeast during the early evening, it rises higher in the sky until morning twilight ends observing.

So we'll have 2 chances: late Wed night into Thurs pre-dawn; and again Thurs late into Fri pre-dawn.

Link to Ultrarunnning: one of the best celestial sites I ever saw came one morning, pre-dawn, as I was running the Harshman Road 5 mile loop around my home.  Suddenly a large fireball raced across the sky, leaving a vivid green and yellow trail. 

I was stunned and literally open mouthed in awe at the brilliance and colors.  I mean, this meteor was BIG.  Now, the Perseids are more of the "shooting star" variety of meteor, not usually large or flashy, but who knows?