BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.

Subject: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 10:23 AM

"No matter where you live worldwide, the 2015 Perseid meteor shower will probably be fine on the mornings of August 11, 12, 13 and 14, with the nod going to August 13. On a dark, moonless night, you can often see 50 or more meteors per hour from northerly latitudes, and from southerly latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps about one-third that many meteors."

link to follow

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 10:25 AM

earthsky site

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Don Firth
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 01:22 PM

Thanks for the heads up on that, leeneia!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Mr Red
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 02:20 PM

Not sure if it is relevant but it was said on UK TV that last night was the best for them. Is there a different optimum due to the time difference UK/US?

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 03:33 PM

I dunno. I think if a person's up that late either day, it's worth a look, providing the sky isn't overcast.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 03:58 PM

We have a hazy sky from all the fires that have been burning here in Northern California. We're ten miles from the nearest city, but the sky is reflecting the city lights and making it hard to see all but the major constellations.
My wife camped in the yard last night and saw eight shooting stars. I got up at 4:30 AM and stayed outside for 10 minutes without seeing anything. It was just too bright and too hazy to see much.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Aug 15 - 05:16 PM

Wednesday night to Thursday morning, around midnight, is the best time in the UK. In about an hour from now, as it happens! Look north-east. Naked eye only! It's supposed to be cloudy here in Cornwall but so far the sky is clear. Fingers crossed!

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Mr Red
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 04:12 AM

I watched last night. ½ hour before midnight 10 (ish) seen though some may have been missed in far peripheral vision. Only a couple in the ¼ hour after 12. But worth it, the sky was relatively clear.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 04:15 AM

I went out about 1 AM Thursday in California, and was seeing about one a minute. Nothing spectacular, but a nice display. I quit when the show slowed down, but I was satisfied. The sky is much clearer tonight, and we get a good view of the Milky Way.
That's how I judge visibility. If I can see the Milky Way, it's quite clear - happens a lot here out in the sticks.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Aug 15 - 10:27 AM

I'm happy for you, Joe. I think one a minute is pretty good.

My sister has never seen a shooting star in her life. I saw a few while in the Grand Canyon.

In addition, I've seen big green fireballs twice - one in rural Nebraska, and one in Kansas City. I'm glad that both times I was with a friend who saw it too, confirming that it wasn't some kind of optical illusion.

I read a book about dust and air pollution a few years ago, and was surprised to learn that debris from meteors is a significant component of household dust. That makes dust seem less dirty.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: maeve
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 07:42 AM

Up at midnight to forestall a noisy, foraging [for chickens] raccoon, we stayed for more than an hour watching the meteors. Such a treat!

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 09:48 AM

Wonderful!

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Aug 15 - 02:33 PM

My son and I turned the pool up to 90 and watched while floating on our backs

Lots of small meteors but only 3 big ones with long tails in the 90 minutes after 1AM. True night vision took about 20 minutes to develop. tHEY SEEM TO LAST A TENTH OF A SECOND AT BEST.

fIRE BALLS can last several minutes.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Don Firth
Date: 15 Aug 15 - 12:32 AM

Rats and double rats!!

We've had very warm weather for the last couple of weeks, but at the crucial time, the sky became overcast. Very warm and muggy.

Rain for the next couple of days.

I repeat: Rats!!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 15 Aug 15 - 10:19 AM

A friend of mine was in Las Vegas, and can you believe it, it rained and was overcast.

Don, what bad luck for you. I'm sorry to hear of it.

Donuel - such luxury. That's brilliant - floating in the pool and watching the Perseids. You say "only 3 big ones with long tails," but most people will live and die without seeing even one big one with a long tail.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Donuel
Date: 15 Aug 15 - 04:24 PM

After a night shift at IBM making circuit boards I rested in a hammock at home and by accident saw the August meteor show. Somehow I just figured that the night sky normally has dozens of shooting stars but we don't look up enough to see them.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Don Firth
Date: 16 Aug 15 - 12:22 AM

Back in 1956, I was in Denver, Colorado. One summer evening I was enjoying a warm, balmy evening flopped out on a lawn chair, with a friend on a nearby lawn chair. We were both gazing at the evening sky—it was about 8:00 p.m.—when a bloody-great meteor streaked across the sky, lighting up the whole landscape. Then suddenly it flashed and broke into three smaller parts that streaked on, then faded out.

A few seconds later we heard an explosion, like distant cannon fire. And actually felt a slight shock wave. Then came three smaller explosions. We heard the sounds echoing off of—what? The distant Rocky Mountains?

She turned to me and said, "Did you see that!??"

"Yeah!" I responded, eloquently.

The following day, I expected to find something about it in the newspapers and/or on the radio. It had to have been seen—and heard over a wide area.

But—nuthin'!! Weird!

Don Firth

P. S. John Denver's Colorado Mountain High: "…I've seen it raining fire in the sky…."

(Inspired by watching a meteor shower while up in the Colorado Mountains.)

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 Aug 15 - 04:01 AM

I saw a star moving fairly slowly in vaguely an east to west direction and couldn't see it blink or anything. I reasoned it was not a plane - they do pass over from London to North America and Ireland. There were lights that blinked at times too.
I reckon it could have been the International Space Station, a first for me.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Don Firth
Date: 16 Aug 15 - 09:42 PM

In 1960, NASA launched one of the first communications satellites, called "Echo." It consisted of a 100 foot in diameter silvered Mylar balloon, which, once in orbit, deployed and inflated. It was a passive communications satellite which would, as its name implied, simply reflected signals back to earth.

One evening in late summer of 1960, my parents and I stood out in the front yard and watched it pass over our house—wa-a-a-a-ay up there. A very bright star-like light in the distant sky. It was followed by another dimmer light that slowly waxed and waned. The last stage of the multistage booster rocket at also gone into orbit and was slowly tumbling end over end. Most impressive!

But peppered by micrometeorites, Echo began to shrink and pucker, until it disappeared from view. It may still be up there, but more likely, fell back into the atmosphere and burned up.

Two years later, in 1962, a more successful communications satellite went into orbit—Telstar 1. It relayed transAtlantic telephone calls and television signals. Ten months later, in 1963, Telstar 2 went into orbit.

==========

Anybody want to go on the Mars One project? To establish the first colony on Mars?

Sounds Epic! But keep in mind that it will be a one-way trip, you will be living in what looks like a high-tech igloo (several joined together with tunnels), and you won't be able to go outside without a pressure suit (quite chic!).

No more trips to the local Burger-King. But you might meet Dejah Thoris. And maybe even Tars Tarkis…..

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 17 Aug 15 - 02:21 AM

No more trips to the local Burger-King ...

That's got to be reason enough.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Aug 15 - 05:17 PM

Don Firth, we were in Denver at the exact same time.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: GUEST,Frank
Date: 17 Aug 15 - 11:59 PM

Speaking of Telstar, the Ventures had an instrumental hit tune of the same name released in 1962.
The closing bars purported to be the sound of the radio signal emanating from the orbiting Telstar.
A great instrumental hit from the era of the best - The Shadows.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Aug 15 - 10:31 AM

I remember that tune - I just went to YouTube to listen to it. Another good tune by the Ventures was "Walk - Don't Run." Also on YouTube.

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Aug 15 - 02:51 PM

On my first job as a radio announcer in 1968 or 89, I DJ-ed at an "easy listening" station. "Telstar" was one of the most requested records at the time, followed by "Lara's Theme."

A kick in the butt! The radio station's studio was off the lobby of a hotel on Seattle's waterfront (the Edgewater Inn) and I had heard that the Tijuana Brass was in town to do a concert. So that weekend, I heavied up on TB records.

I didn't know it at the time, but the TB was staying at the Edgewater. Music from the station was piped through the hotel, and as I was sitting there at the broadcast board, two members of the TB walked into the studio to tell me they really liked my choice of music!

Incidentally, the best radio job I had was as an announcer for a classical music station. Read a little news at the top of the hour, a few commercials here and there, and play lo-o-o-ng cuts from records while sitting back, drinking coffee, and listening to music that I enjoy--and getting paid pretty well to do it!

But I digress. Now back to our regular broadcast....

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Aug 15 - 02:58 PM

'Scuse me. A little slop of the fingers....

That was 1967 or 68 that I was working for the "easy-listening" station.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Aug 15 - 02:58 PM

'Scuse me. A little slop of the fingers....

That was 1967 or 68 that I was working for the "easy-listening" station.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: It's time for the Perseid meteors.
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 19 Aug 15 - 09:50 AM

I reckon it could have been the International Space Station, a first for me.

That is what you described Mr. Red.
In any location you get a run of evenings when it appears and then a run without.

You can get predictions for any location.
I use "Heavens Above" site.