I know we are all about lumen- and throw-monster flashlights, but tonight, turn them off and watch a light spectacle from Mother Nature. The Perseid meteors likely peaked last night, but tonight would be a good chance to spy a few if you have clear, dark skies. Try to get out about midnight local time so you have an hour or two before moonrise, which, of course, hampers viewing.
Don’t believe the media hype. It is often poorly written and misleading. You will not see 100 per hour unless you are under the darkest of skies, have very keen visual acuity, and happen to be looking at peak time. What you likely will see, even tonight, under good conditions, are maybe 10 to 20 meteors per hour. A few of them will likely be as bright or brighter than Venus, and will leave “smoking” ionization trails in the sky.
Also, to tie back into flashlights, good chance to carry your favorite red/white light. I find the Nitecore EC-11 works well. Two button. Direct both to a low red (preserving night viz), and 900 lumen turbo for when you hear branches snap nearby : )
I went out on Sunday night to a darker area to view the meteor shower (the next few nights were forecast to be cloudy). This was supposed to be before the peak and I saw about 10 in an hour, two of them were very satisfying long, slow, and bright ones. I also saw more satellites than I’ve ever seen before.
Afterwards I took advantage of the dark open spaces by playing with some of my brightest flashlights.
Only saw 3 meteors last night during an hour of viewing before the moon rose.
Always wish for a new moon and clear skies for viewing the Perseids every August 11th.
Mars, Saturn and Jupiter were spectacularly visible to the naked eye.Could not locate Uranus or Neptune with binoculars and did not notice any satellites.
"SkyView Lite" (the free version of "SkyView" from developer "Terminal Eleven LLC") is an interesting cell phone astronomy application as it uses the camera on your phone to both search for and identify celestial objects.
Yes seems a bit of a weak display this year though the radiant is quite low at that time. I only saw 10 Perseids in 90 minutes, but a few were quite nice. One was a pinkish “219b” tint, and left a nice train.
I am going to try again tonight, but it seems that the shower might not be as strong this year. Check out the live ZHR at imo.net to see how things are trending across the globe.
NeNeNe — Google wants to be your friend. The answers we can give you will vary depending on where you live and how much schooling you’ve had. Give us more of a clue about where you’re coming from so we can try to give you answers appropriate to your ability to make use of them.
I ask that because it sounds like you’re starting with very little information. For example you’ve almost certainly seen Venus and Jupiter and Saturn if you have access to the night and early morning skies at all, where you live. For another example can we assume you know what the “plane of the ecliptic” is, or should we start simpler?
Your question seems like an invitation to recreational typing, it could spur a whole lot of work on the part of people here that won’t help you much unless you give us an idea where you’re starting in understanding basic astronomy.
You want a wide field of view so no binocs or scopes. Just get out away from city lights, let your eyes adapt and look up maybe 45 degrees from the horizon. On peak night of a strong shower, you should not have to wait long. Check out IMO or AMS and you can get a ton of information.
Back in 1998 I took my first shot at it and got lucky. Colorful, fireball-class Leonid meteors zoomed overhead reminiscent of SCUD missiles (for those who remember that conflict). It got me hooked.
During the years, I have seen the most Perseid meteors on the evening of August 11th and the Perseids are the best of the annual meteor showers for easy viewing in my opinion.
There are many objects (both natural and man-made) and phenomena (like the Northern Lights and Eclipses) in the sky that you can view with the naked eye. You do not need a telescope or binoculars just a clear sky and sometimes being at the right place at the right time.
It is easy to obtain enjoyment without taking much time or experience and you will be able to impress your friends and family with your new knowledge.
1) Use this link to determine which planets you should be able see from your location and when you can see them and where to look for them.You can enter or change your geographical location and select the particular time and date for when you will be looking for the planets.You can also select a particular planet.
2) Use the "SkyView Lite" app (the free version of "SkyView" from developer "Terminal Eleven LLC") on your cell phone and you will have a virtual map of the sky on your phone. While using the app, you hold your phone out at arms length (looking at the phone and the sky at the same time) and move the phone to locate the "target indicator circle" displayed by the app on the phone's screen over any celestial object on the phone's screen and the app will tell you (in writing at the bottom of the screen) what you are looking at.
The app also lets you search for a particular object by name and you then move the phone so that the "target indicator circle" is on the object you are searching for to find the object in the sky.The app also shows a virtual horizon and you can point the phone below that to see what is there that you cannot see.It also indicates which direction you are looking.It is a pretty amazing app for free, but I am not sure how much LTE data it uses in case you have a monthly data limit as I normally use it with Wi-Fi near my house which fortunately has no nearby night time light pollution.
Sometimes it takes my phone a little while to synchronize the virtual map with the actual sky because I leave the app setting on the default auto-calibrate and auto-locate option, but you can manually calibrate and provide your location with an option in the settings after selecting the icon that looks like a "wrench". After you use the app for a while, you will notice that it is easier to use than my explanations.
This YouTube video demonstrates some basic features of the "SkyView Lite" app:
Many years ago I was down in Big Bend park in Texas. Way off from the normal camping spots.
One of the darkest sky places you can still find.
You forget what the night sky is supposed to look like.
Looking up I could imagine what the ancestors must have dreamed up looking at the same sky.
I dumb lucked into the meteor show.
Wonderful. Naked eyeballs worked fine.
But I also had low power ultra wide bionocs to look through.
Always seemed to be looking in the wrong direction. But caught some of them.
I’ve found opportunities to go for a perside watch in the past few decades but only managed to glimpse a few shooting stars.
Things radically changed when i got organized and brought mattresses, sleeping bags, pillows, warm cloth, gloves and everything to get comfortable lying in the wild in the middle of the night for a couple hours, often in mountainous areas.
Standing outside in the cold looking at the sky becomes quite uncomfortable very quickly and does not allow enough time to catch that monster fireball that crosses the sky while leaving a multicolored trail you’ll forever remember and talk about.
Bottom line: for a serious watch plan your night out and get comfortable.
1. regarding the Perseids…it’s always in August. locally, hot/humid/huge mosquitoes. 20 minutes max for me.
2. last night, i saw more satellites than meteors since +3 magnitude is about the lower limit with the haze.
3. this morning’s Moon (4AMEDT) wiped out any chance of seeing many meteors, but the sky was clearer.
