Perseid meteor shower set to be extra-spectacular this year

[oneh2obabe]

The summer's best shooting star show is expected be even more spectacular this year, thanks to an unusual "outburst" that only happens about once a decade.

Astronomers predict the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on the night of Aug. 11-12, will produce about double the number of meteors as it normally does.

Meteor shower calendar
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/meteo ... -1.1311681

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The Perseids happen each August as Earth passes through the stream of dust and debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. As those particles or meteoroids smash into the Earth's atmosphere and burn up, they produce bright streaks across the sky that we see as meteors or shooting stars.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/perse ... -1.3699395

[bazinga42]

Thanks for posting.

I've never been much of a star gazer, but I went up the Connector a bit a few years ago for the Perseids and I gotta say... it was amazing. I think I'll check it out again. Thanks for the reminder.

[Jlabute]

Every one in a while, one leaves a smoke trail.

[SmartieParts]

Every one in a while, one leaves a smoke trail.

I wonder if that's what I saw last time. We saw a line that looked like the meteorite "scarred" the sky. It stayed visible for maybe half a minute. At first I thought it was just a line "burned" in my eye (you know, like how when you look at a bright light and then look away and you still see it) but when I said, "anyone else seeing that" everyone else laughed and said they figured it was just them seeing it.

It was quite bright though... so if a smoke trail what are we seeing? Moonlight reflecting on it?

[Jlabute]

Hmm, well if it did burn an image in your retina, you'd think you would see it everywhere else you look.

I saw a meteor in an apparent slow decline towards the horizon as it must had been coming in on an angle that would be more towards me. Near the end, it lit up as bright as a street light and lasted quite a while 15 seconds or so (guessing) as it went through a lot of atmosphere. After it burned out, I could see smoke in the sky.

So moon-light, or from city lights. I think you probably saw something there.

[oneh2obabe]

The heavens will be bursting with shooting stars this week.

Thursday night into early Friday, the annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak with double the normal number of meteors. Scientists call this an outburst, and they say it could reach up to 200 meteors per hour.

Prime viewing should be in the pre-dawn hours of Friday, after the moon sets.

The last Perseids outburst was in 2009. Thanks to a gravity nudge from Jupiter, debris from comet Swift-Tuttle could stray closer to Earth again. These scattered specks of dust — a trail in the comet’s wake — are what flash as they enter the atmosphere at a mind-blowing 132,000 mph and burn up.

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016 ... -hour.html

[whatwhat]

Can't wait to go camping this weekend! The meteor shower is going to be awesome and make camping even better, if that is even possible.

[Tannah]

From what I've read the peek will be on the night of Aug. 11 and 12, The best viewing times are between 3 a.m. and dawn local time.
Look early and look often.

Give your eyes time to adjust to the dark. NASA recommends starting about 45 minutes early.

While the best viewing is in the dark hours before dawn, the Perseids produce lots of "fireballs" or bright meteors that are visible even when it isn't totally dark. Peter Brown, a professor with the Meteor Physics Group at Western University in London, Ont., says that around 10 p.m., shortly after sunset, brighter meteors will be visible as spectacular "grazing" meteors that travel across much of the sky and can last for many seconds.